Burn Calories Safely, Lose Weight, and Keep It Off!
If you want to lose weight and keep it off for good, you need to reduce and also burn calories; there is just no getting around this fact! Eating is like filling up the gas tank on a car. To empty that tank, you need to stop filling it and also get the car moving!
While this may seem simple enough, many people don’t understand even what a calorie is, much less how to track calories burned throughout the day, and how many they need to burn to lose weight and get into shape. To help you better understand how to balance your daily calorie intake with the energy you need to burn to stay at a healthy weight, let’s take a look at what calories are, how they contribute to your body’s weight, and how calories burned equals weight loss and fitness.
- What is a calorie?
A calorie is actually a unit of measurement; it’s the amount of heat needed to raise the degree of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. This means that a calorie is not a physical ingredient in food or what you drink, but is a way of measuring the potential energy of foods you eat. The more calories in food, the more energy provided to your body for physical activity through the day.
This may sound like you should have as many calories as possible, as eating more means more potential energy for activity. However, the body takes any unused calories, or those that are not burned through physical activity, and converts them into fat. This fat is then stored and is ready to be used when you aren’t getting enough calories for everyday energy. Unfortunately many people today consume far too many calories than what they need throughout the day, which is how and why they then become overweight.
- How are calories burned in the body?
The energy from calories is used by your body every single minute, even when asleep; your heart, lungs, brain, nervous system, and other muscles and tissue need that energy to function. Even blinking your eyelids takes energy! It’s good to remember, though, that your body’s major systems and functions don’t need that much energy, meaning not that many calories, to work throughout the day.
There are a few variables about how your body uses energy from calories to function. For instance, your body works harder to maintain muscle than it does fat, so a person who is more muscular will usually be burning more calories throughout the day than someone who doesn’t have the same muscle tone.
Also, the more the muscles themselves work, the more energy your body will consume, even if you don’t think you’re challenging those muscles with a workout routine. As an example, a person who stands up at their job may burn more calories than someone who sits in a chair all day, because the muscles of their legs are working hard to hold up the body’s weight and keep the body balanced. Their body needs more energy for that added work or demand they’re putting on their muscles, so they’re typically burning more calories.
- Are all calories alike?
If you’re thinking of investing in a calorie counter or food calorie calculator, note that many varieties offer to track carbs, sugar, and other such nutrients along with calories. You may wonder if this is needed or if you should just track your daily calorie intake alone.
Note that, because a calorie is a unit of measurement, all calories are alike, but the foods from which you get calories are very different. Sugary foods can spike your blood glucose levels and then cause them to crash, causing you to feel hungry and possibly reach for a snack. Also, while you want to track or calculate your calories per day, you also don’t want to consume just “empty calories,” meaning foods that are devoid of the vitamins, trace minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants you need for good health. It does no good to lose weight but to have a weakened immune system, poor blood circulation, and poor heart health!
Consider, too, that protein will feed your muscles and make them strong enough to support the physical activity needed for exercising and for burning calories, so it’s good to track how much protein you’re getting every day. Keep this in mind when shopping for a calories burned calculator or when just tracking your own eating, as your overall nutritional needs and weight management is about more than just burning calories!
- How do you decide how many calories to consume and how many to burn?
Rather than ask yourself, “How many calories do I burn to lose weight?” you might instead ask, “How many calories do I need to stay healthy and then also lose weight?” Remember, your body needs a certain number of calories to even function, and if you reduce your calorie intake too severely, and especially without filling up on the nutritious foods you need, your body can actually begin to feed off its own muscles and not just your fat! Without a healthy calorie intake and good nutrition, you could lose weight but suffer damage to your heart, liver, and even your brain.
Your doctor is the best source of information as to how many calories you need personally, but one thing you might consider is tracking your calories per day for a full week, without changing your diet. The next week, reduce your calorie consumption by 5% or 10%. The week after, reduce it by another 5% or 10%, while still getting your calories from nutritious foods like fresh vegetables, raw fruit, lean protein sources, and whole grains.
Note if this reduction helps with your weight loss goals; you can then also add in calories burned through added activity like walking, running, and biking. Making these two simple changes, of just reducing your calorie intake by a slight percentage while increasing your calories burned with more physical activity, will result in safe, effective, and permanent weight loss.