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Calories and Kilocalories (kcal)
All About Calories
Calories are the units of energy contained in the food and drink we
consume. Calories are either burned to produce energy or, if excess
to requirements, stored as fat.
It's easy to get confused about calories and kilocalories since, in
a nutrition context, values are actually given for the number of
kilocalories in a food, but referred to simply as calories.
In scientific terms:
1000 calories = 1 kilocalorie = 1 kcal = the energy it takes to
raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1°C.
In nutrition terms:
ie. What you'll find on food packaging, calories = kilocalories and
are used interchangeably.
In some instances food energy is measured in kilojoules - mostly by
the scientific community - though some food packaging also gives
kilojoule (kJ) values. 1 kilocalorie = 4.2 kilojoules.
Counting Calories
Most medical professionals agree that making sure that calories
consumed are less than calories expended is the best way to lose
weight. Here are the tools
you will need to make calorie counting easy.
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The Best Way to Lose Weight
To lose weight, the
energy intake from food must be less than the energy output. This
is why calorie counting is the most effective weight loss method. It
goes straight to the heart of the problem - no fad diets, pills or
special eating plans are necessary.
Losing weight through calorie counting
is relatively easy. You won't have to put normal life on hold while
calorie counting. Added benefits are that calorie counting raises
your awareness of what your body needs; educates you about what's in
what you eat, and helps you learn how to eat healthy for life.
Starting to Calorie Count
First you'll need to work out how many calories you need each day to
maintain your current weight, and how many to lose weight at a rate
of 1-2lbs a week. Next you need to keep track of how many calories are in the foods
and drinks you consume each day, to make sure you have a negative
calorie balance. You can do this by keeping a food diary and checking the calorie
content of what you eat from a calorie counting book.
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How to Make Your Body Burn More
Calories You can make weight loss quicker and easier by increasing your
metabolic rate and burning more calories – here’s how:
Metabolic Rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A
body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a
day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories
daily but burning only 2000 will gain weight at the rate of about
1lb a week. This explains why that ‘lucky’ person across the table from you
doesn’t get fat from all that junk food.
You can do quite a lot to speed up your metabolism – the secret of
burning calories lies in knowing what determines your metabolic rate
and what you can do to influence it.
You burn calories to provide energy for three main functions:
- Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive – even
when you are lying down, doing nothing. BMR accounts for
approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.
- Burning Calories for Activity
This is the energy used during movement – from lifting your arm to
operate the remote control to cleaning the windows. This accounts
for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.
- Dietary Thermogenesis
The ‘thermogenic effect’ described as meal-induced heat production –
the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing
and using food.
You can influence all these factors, and speed up your rate of
burning calories using some, or all, of the following tactics:
- Build Muscle
Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of
muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In
a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training
boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is
‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body
tissue even when you’re not moving.
Training with weights just 3 times a week for around 20 minutes is
enough to build muscle. Not only will you be burning more calories,
you’ll look better – whatever your weight.
- Move More
Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through
daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. Simply
being aware of this fact – and taking every opportunity to move can
make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn.
The trick is to keep the ‘keep moving’ message in mind. Write the
word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice
them when you’re sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move
– here’s some ideas for burning calories:
Tap your feet
Swing your legs
Drum your fingers
Stand up and stretch
Move your head from side to side
Change position
Wriggle and fidget
Pace up and down
Don’t use the internal phone – go in person
Park in the furthest corner of the
parking lot
Stand up when you’re on the phone
Clench and release your muscles
You’ll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you
remember that you’re looking for them! Keep thinking ‘keep moving’.
- Eat Spicy Food
There is evidence to show that spices, especially chili, can raise
the metabolic rate by up to 50% for up to 3 hours after you’ve eaten
a spicy meal.
Drinks containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does
green tea.
- Aerobic Exercise
As well as the actual amount of calories burned during exercise –
studies have shown that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you
burn more calories for several hours afterwards.
Try 30 minute sessions of heart rate raising exercise, such as
vigorous walking, step aerobics, jogging or swimming, 3-4 times a
week.
- Eat Little and Often
There is some evidence to suggest that eating small, regular meals
will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent
meals. There are two reasons why meal frequency may affect your
metabolism. First, levels of thyroid hormones begin to drop within
hours of eating a meal, and metabolism slows. Secondly, it may be
that the thermogenic effect of eating several small meals is
slightly higher than eating the same amount of calories all at once.
Provided your small meals don’t degenerate into quick-fix, high fat,
high sugar snacks, eating little and often can also help to control
hunger and make you less likely binge.
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