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Calories - Why Count Them?
To control your weight!
When you:
- Consume more calories than your body requires you gain weight.
- Consume less calories than your body requires you lose weight.
- Consume calories equal to those which your body requires you maintain your weight.
Remember this. No matter what diet plan you may be considering, the above rules apply!
First lets find out what a calorie is ...
Calorie:
a unit of heat energy in the cgs system, defined as the quantity of heat required at 1 atmosphere to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water through 1 degree C, usually from 14.5 degrees C to 15.5 degrees C (MEAN CALORIE) || (physiol.) a unit of heat energy derived by the body from food, equal to 1 kilogram calorie (Webster's Dictionary)
Simply put:
Our bodies derive heat energy from the foods we consume. In order to track how much energy our bodies require and how much energy foods contain, we use the Calorie as the unit of measurement.
So ... how many calories does your body require?
Sounds like a simple question, right? Well, it's not quite that easy. Several factors such as age, sex, height, weight and activity level are all considerations when figuring how many calories your body requires. Your body requires a minimum amount of daily calories just to live! Unfortunately, many of us consume too many calories and become over weight.
What is considered Over weight?
Another not-so-simple question. In the past the "Height-Weight" table was the popular standard. Using this table you could find a healthy weight range for yourself based on your sex, age and height. Lately, "Body Mass Index" or BMI has become the preferred basis for determining a healthy weight range.
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