Weight Loss Tips #3

Calories

Many people do not understand how important calories are in weight loss. The moment you understand how it works then weight loss will be a downhill task for you.Calories are units of energy that your body needs for you to go about your daily activities.

How are calories converted to fat then?

One pound of fat (450 grams) equals 3500 calories and to gain one pound of fat in a week you need to eat 500 extra calories per day. That also means for you to burn one pound of fat you need to exercise and lose 500 extra calories. Rocket science? no. This means if you just keep on piling your calories, your body will have more energy than it needs, and that will be converted and stored as fat.

See an active woman needs around 1200-1400 calories per day, and an active man needs around 2000-2500 calories per day. For ladies that means you meals should be approximately 400-450 calories per meal, three meals a day. Now lets have a look:

Most fruits and vegetables have acceptable amounts of calories, but i would like to focus on junk food:

• 2 stuffed Oreos have 140 calories.
• 500 ml bottle Coca-cola  has 210 calories
• 50g bar cadbury Chocolate has 260 calories.
• 1 piece of chicken has 306 calories
• 1 hamburger has 280 calories
• Small plate of fries has 365 calories
• 1 sausage has 143 calories
• 50 grams ice cream tube has 145 calories
• 1 piece of pizza has 285 calories
• 1 slice of chocolate cake has 352 calories
• 1 cookie has 78 calories

Etc

This means if you have Coke+Chicken+Chips+sausage= 1024 calories in one meal
or if you have a piece of pizza+coke+hamburger= 766 calories in one meal
If you decide to buy the small pack of Oreo that goes for 30 shillings (6 pieces)= 420 calories already.

And remember, all these are one meal (lunch), you haven't counted breakfast and supper and those in between snacks and sodas.

This explains why clean eating and exercise are very important in weight loss:
1. Clean eating ensures you avoid excessive caloric intake
2. exercise ensures you lose the excess calories

Now this doesnt mean that you avoid these foods altogether, you can set aside a day when you are allowed to have a piece of this and that (known as cheat day).
Also avoid being too petty on calories, but also ensure that you are aware at the back of your mind roughly the amount of work calories in fast food will put you to.

Now let us assume you have taken the above mentioned junk food, do you know how much exercise it would take you to burn it and avoid it piling into fat?

Ati to burn the calories in that piece of deep fried chicken you will have to cycle for 65 minutes!
And 4 stuffed Oreos would take you 1.3 hours of weight lifting,
For that small bar of Cadburys Chocolate, you would require 30 minutes of swimming to burn them calories.

It is time you started eating clean, drop junk food and without even exercising i will assure you that your clothes will start getting baggy within a month of clean eating. Then after that you can now include these light exercises we talked about. And there you have it, the possible reasons why you have been unable to lose that weight and keep fit.

Haya twende kazi!
Adhis ♥