Calories are not Enemies

Calories are not the enemy of healthy eating. Calories are units of energy.  They are much maligned and misunderstood.  Can you imagine getting upset and worrying about "gallons" of gasoline or "watts" in a light bulb.  A better understanding of calories and how they affect your life should help you make better food choices.

Here are some basics:

-Calories are a unit of energy
-The more calories a food contains, the more energy you get from that food.
-A healthy diet typically can include around 2,000 calories per day.
-The number of needed calories depends on many factors including: Metabolism (how fast your body burns the energy/calories it has), your activity level (a professional soccer player needs more calories than a high school science teacher to function during a typical workday), weight and gender.
-1 Pound of body weight equates to 3,500 calories
-In order to lose 1 pound you must burn 3,500 more calories than you eat.
-A typical 1 hour cardio workout can burn up to 700 calories while you are exercising.  However, your metabolism will remain higher following exercise so you can continue to burn extra calories even at rest following a workout.
-Muscle tissue requires more calories than fat.  A person who is muscular will burn more calories while at rest than a person who is leaner.
-Drinks (except for water) contain calories.  Some drinks at Starbucks contain up to 800 calories (about 40% of your total calories for the day).  A typical fountain coke (20+ oz.) will contain over 10% of your total calories for the day.

Some tips to maximize your calories:
1.)  The type of Calories you ingest are not important to weight loss or gain.  However, the type of calories you eat are very important when it comes to overall health.
2.)  You should be getting about 65% of your calories from Carbohydrates.  There are 2 types of Carbs, Simple (basic sugar found in cookies, cake and soda) and complex (fruit, veggies and whole grains).  Make wise carb choices and go with complex carbs for the vast majority of your 65% (1300) calories per day.
3.)  Protein should be about 10% of your calories and Fat should be around 25%.
4.)  Don't drink your calories.  Most people don't mentally compute the calories that they are drinking.  But a soda, ice tea or lemonade at lunch at dinner can really add up quickly.  Make water your beverage for at least one meal a day.

I hope that wasn't too technical or confusing.  Quit treating calories like an unwanted relative.  Gain a good understanding of them and how they affect your health.  Make wise calorie choices.