CALORIES- What are they and why do they matter?
Hola, and welcome back to my blog! Happy Monday Everyone!!
Today we are gonna talk about calories- some people love them, others hate them. But no matter what your take is on them, there is no getting rid of the fact that they exist (no matter what you call them). So let's understand this "thing" that seems to dictate our eating habits (or not).
The definition of a "calorie" is the amount of energy needed to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. However, since the calorie as we know it is actually a kilocalorie, our definition would be the amount of energy needed to raise one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.
The simple math equation we use to understand calories is a balanced equation- calories in vs calories out. If we want to lose weight, we need to have less calories in than calories out. If we want to gain weight (usually muscle), the opposite is true- we need to take more calories in than calories out.
"Calories in" comes from the food we eat. That's basically all there is to it. But "calories out" is determined by our metabolism, which is made up of a four basic processes. These processes are:
Today we are gonna talk about calories- some people love them, others hate them. But no matter what your take is on them, there is no getting rid of the fact that they exist (no matter what you call them). So let's understand this "thing" that seems to dictate our eating habits (or not).
The definition of a "calorie" is the amount of energy needed to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. However, since the calorie as we know it is actually a kilocalorie, our definition would be the amount of energy needed to raise one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.
The simple math equation we use to understand calories is a balanced equation- calories in vs calories out. If we want to lose weight, we need to have less calories in than calories out. If we want to gain weight (usually muscle), the opposite is true- we need to take more calories in than calories out.
"Calories in" comes from the food we eat. That's basically all there is to it. But "calories out" is determined by our metabolism, which is made up of a four basic processes. These processes are:
- Basal Metabolic Rate - cals burned in basic body functions and processes
- Thermic Effect of Food - cals burned by eating food, like in digestion
- Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis - cals burned in activity outside of exercise, such as doing dishes
- Physical Activity - cals burned in exercise
Since the "calories out" part is so complex, there are a myriad of ways to increase your metabolism and therefore increase the amount of calories in you can take without gaining weight.
But this post isn't about weight loss or weight gain- that is for a later time!
To sum all of this up, calories are simply a unit of energy. Foods have a certain amount of energy in them (this is the energy that it will give you, not the amount of energy needed to digest it. Usually, the higher the calorie count, the easier it is to digest, if the food is made up of sugars and saturated fats). There is so much on this topic, but it starts to blend in with weight loss and gain! Stay tuned for more on that!
Hannah
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