Count Your Calories not Your Carbs

Count Your Calories not Your Carbs

Many persons get persuaded by fitness professionals and gym trainers into counting their daily intake of carbohydrates. After doing a couple of Biochemistry courses I realized how wrong and misleading this is. I realized that the important factor in losing weight is not your Carbohydrate intake but your Calorie intake . So what is the difference between Calories and Carbohydrates ? Don’t worry if you don’t, many persons don’t know the difference they just go by what their trainers say. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy and it also the one of the most important nutrients. When digested carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which is utilized for its energy by cells, organs and tissues.  According to Medline Plus “Carbohydrates are called simple or complex, depending on their chemical structure. Simple carbohydrates include sugars found naturally in foods such as fruits, vegetables, milk, and milk products. They also include sugars added during food processing and refining. Complex carbohydrates include whole grain breads and cereals, starchy vegetables and legumes.”

So what are calories and why are they so important to weight loss ? Calories are basically the units used to measure energy, so it’s the Calorie count of foods tells you the amount of energy in the food, it is usually measured in kJ(kilojoules); 1 calorie is 4.18 kJ. All foods which you consume have calories but they each have a different amount for example according to Keith Ayoob, Ed.D., R.D , pure fat contains nine calories(37 kJ) per gram, Protein and carbohydrates each have four calories(17 kJ) per gram of pure protein or pure carbohydrate and pure alcohol has seven calories (29 kJ) per gram. 

However you body only requires a certain amount of calories daily to carry out the necessary biological activities to keep you alive. When you intake more calories than you body needs in a day it stores the excess calories as fats. The amount of calories you need in a day varies depending on factors such as your age, gender, and daily activities. Calorie King has a tool that helps you to calculate your daily Caloric requirement, click here to calculate your daily requirement. Once you have an average on how much calories you need to intake daily , you can now count your calories and cut out any excess calories you consume during the day. It is very easy to keep track of your daily calorie intake because the back of the package of most foods tells you how many calories are in one serving. You can also find the calorie count for more complex foods at Calorie King . Approximately 3500 calories makes up 1 pound of fat so if you intake 500 calories less or burn 500 calories per day you would lose approximately  1 pound per week. You must be careful when exercising and calorie counting because you do not want to drop your daily calorie intake under the required amount. This would put stress on your organs because they would not be getting the required amount of energy to do their job.  You must cater for the amount of calories you burn during exercising. Eating low-calorie foods such as Corn, Banana and Coffee can help you to maintain you calorie intake, Learning how to cook low-calorie meals will also be a plus. However you shouldn’t be too afraid of certain high calorie healthy foods such as Nuts and Avocado , they are actually very beneficial to weight loss when eaten in  moderation.

Learn more revealing facts about the Medicinal Properties and Weight Managing Properties of Coffee, Paw-Paw/Papaya, Bananas, Pineapples and more in our e-book “Food For Thought“. Click here for a preview or to Download the book.
Subscribe to us to get the medicinal wonders of foods E-mailed to you so you wont miss a thing. If you subscribe you will also be the first to know about discounts and free offers on our other upcoming books. 

The post Count Your Calories not Your Carbs appeared first on One Pound Less.