Calories, for so long have been treated like a bad word. We cringe at the numbers of calories in different foods. We make dinner selections based on the calorie count of certain entrees. What exactly is a calorie and how many should we consume each day? The answer to that question depends on several factors including age, gender, height and level of activity.
Our bodies require calories each day in order to thrive. Calories represent energy for the body. Without calories, food has no sustenance for building muscle, bone, tissue or fat. Our body uses the calories we need and then stores the rest as fat. That is why the calorie count for each individual varies to a certain degree.
It makes sense that a person who is active will burn more calories than a person who lives a sedentary lifestyle. But did you know that the more muscular your body is the more calories you will burn off? For every pound of muscle in your body, you burn 35-50 calories per day without doing anything extra to expend it.
3500 calories of unused energy equals one pound of fat stored in the body. This means for every pound you want to lose, you will need to create a deficit of 3500 calories. When you first start a weight loss plan, it sometimes seems to take forever for those first few pounds to come off. This is probably due to the loss of muscle mass in the body. Once you start building muscle, the extra fat will burn off much quicker.
Remember, when counting calories that your daily intake should not fall below 1200 calories, unless under a doctor’s supervision. When you lose weight too fast, you cause your metabolism to slow down as your body begins to protect its resources. Once you return to a regular diet, your weight will escalate and this is what causes the dreaded yo-yo weight loss/gain syndrome.
By participating fully in the Fitness4Her Diet and 30 Minutes To A New You Exercise Program, it will be easy to reduce your caloric intake and shed those unwanted pounds without going hungry. Best of all it takes only 30 minutes a day. Leaving you extra time for all of those other important things in your schedule.
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