Share this Image On Your Site
Based on previous articles, we know that many have been wrong in weight loss program. Today we will be sharing the fundamentals and most important factor for weight loss which is the calorie. Weight loss and slimming are all about calorie in and calorie out in your body.
What are calories?
Calories are energy that our body uses as fuel for our daily activities provided from consumption of food. Calories are usually being measure as kcal.
In scientific term, a calorie is actually the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water through 1 °C and often used to measure the energy value of foods.
How calorie affect our weight?
While calories are a specific number we have seen on the food label, but it is important to understand that everyone body is different. The same food with the same calorie will be different for the different person based on the factor of age, gender, body type and activity levels. For example, an active people who exercise regularly will need more calories than those who are more sedentary.
With that said, calories affect your weight management through 3 phases which are calories deficits, calorie surplus and also calorie maintenance.
A calorie deficit is a state where your body burns more calories than you consume either from eating less or exercise more. For example, if your body is using 2,500 calories a day but you only eat 2,000 calories per day, you have created a deficit of 500 calories per day. A calorie deficit forces the body to convert fat inside our body as energy for our daily activities. Hence, we lose weight.
A calorie surplus is a state where you consume more calories than the body burns either from eating more or exercise less. For example, if your body is using 2,500 calories a day but you eat 3,000 calories per day, you have created a surplus of 500 calories per day. A calorie will convert the extra calories on food into fat in our body. Hence, we gain weight.
A calorie maintenance is a state where your body burns and consume the same calories from food. For example, if your body is using 2,500 calories a day and you eat 2,500 calories per day, your body has an equilibrium of calories. In this situation, our weight will remain the same.
Since every single individual is different, it is important to know where your calorie equilibrium level to better manage your weight is.
Why Diet Works?
Have you seen friends around you lost a lot of weight through diets such as salad diet, fruits diet, and yogurt diet? You always amazed at how quickly they have lost their weight in just 2 months. This worked because they are having extreme calorie deficits.
For example, 1 large apple is 120 calories. Those who go for fruits diet will usually consume 4 to 5 apples per day which will be around 600 – 700 calories per day. This is EXTREME CALORIES DEFICITS will cause someone to lose weight very fast in the first 2 months. BUT!! 99.9% of people who follow this kind of diet will always face weight stagnant after 2 months. No matter how hard they tried, they will no longer lose weight. Furthermore, having one source of food is very unhealthy as we are lacking micronutrient. The worst case is after they stop dieting, their weight will be rebound far worse than the weight before they started.
Are you one of the people who go through this stage? Do you feel very helpless? Stay tuned for our next tips for us to explain why our body weight will be stagnant after some time of losing weight.