USN Advice:
Nutrition Tips - All About Calories
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The Truth About Calories. What is a calorie? A calorie is considered
in scientific terms one unit of energy. This energy is used to
walk, talk, breath, sleep, stretch or run. All activities burn
calories. The human body exerts its energy by using calories it
receives from food. Thus when we speak of calories we associate
the term with dieting and weight loss.
In general terms, foods contain calories. We may see them described
in other terms such as a carbohydrate, a fat and a protein. These
terms are measured in units called grams. So the basic building
block of each gram is a defined number of calories.
• 1 gram of carbohydrates contain
four (4) calories
• 1 gram of protein contains four
(4) calories
• 1 gram of fat contains nine
(9) calories
While you eat, food is broken down inside of your stomach and
metabolized into your blood stream. It is either used and burned
up efficiently through activity or stored in our cells and fat
cells are created. A total of 3,500 stored calories equal one
(1) pound of body fat. Tus, in order to lose that one-pound of
fat, we have to burn up 3,500 calories per exercise to remove
it. It sounds a little easier than it looks on paper.
Your body will need to a certain amount of calories in order
to maintain itself properly. The act of breathing, walking, running,
sleeping and talking all burn a certain amount of calories. This
rate is called the Basal Metabolism Rate or (BMR) as it is known.
It is calculated differently for both men and women. When your
body is at rest it does not burn as many calories as when it
is exercising
Physical activities such as jogging, walking, and skiing also
help burn calories. The more physical exercise you get, the more
calories you will burn. Thus you are keeping your body in shape
by eating right and working off the excess calories through exercise.
Thus, exercise in general helps to keep your metabolism rate
higher and continues to burn fat long after the exercising is
done. It will also help your body burn excess fat efficiently
at rest.
If you are looking to start losing some of those extra pounds,
remember each pound is 3,500 calories that you must burn in order
to lose one pound of fat. You will want to first consult a physician
as with starting any new diet or exercise program. |
