All of the calories
 All you need to know about their counting and cutting, and why you should avoid fats and carbohydrates.

It's true: all diets are based on one simple rule - to consume fewer calories than you burn. Rights are violated, administered count carbohydrates, fat ban, the definition of the index and food stuff, stuff. So why the experts in this area again defended the initial principles and approaches - counting calories?


Do not liked in high school biology? No problem. This intensive course is a science of calories you will be caught very quickly. You will learn to make the right food choices (and serving sizes), which will be putting his plate and minimize your daily calorie budget. And the result will be the rapid loss of kilograms.

Q: (B): To be precise, what calories?

Reply (O): From a scientific point of view, the calories - a measure of the potential energy of the products. Technically, 1 calorie - the amount of energy it takes to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. Usually we get calories through food, their number can be found on food labels, and is denoted as kilocalories (kcal), or kcal (kilocalorie) (which is equivalent to 1000 calories). Calories are like gasoline. In the same way, it makes you move your car, calories energize our body.

Q: How our body processes calories?

A: The enzymes in our digestive system break down the chemical bonds that hold the molecules together food. Your digestive system at this time produces the energy contained in these relationships, making it available for use.

Q: What does our body with energy?

A: It helps to carry out all kinds of activities, from breathing, thinking, hair growth to larger tasks like running a marathon, or carrying a fetus during pregnancy. However, when you do not get the calories you consume (perhaps today you decided to do gymnastics) calories deposited in the liver or glycogenic stocks. Glycogen - a quick, easily accessible energy reserves. The ability to store calories means that you do not need to constantly have to keep your body in motion. Normally, the body requires feeding every three to four hours. When the liver stores the maximum amount of glycogen, it begins to be deposited in the muscles for short-term reserves (used for the movement of your body during training).

In addition to the liver and muscles, you have a free supply of calories (about 300 - 400, depending on your weight and metabolism), which can consume as needed during the day. When you consume more than the body can stock up in your temporary supply, begin to turn calories into fat and distributed throughout the body.

Q: How many calories we need to burn to lose 400 grams?

A: Approximately 3500. This means that you need to consume 100 calories less per day for 35 days, or 500 fewer calories for 7 days or daily walk for an hour 22 days. But the most the best option is a combination of reducing caloric intake and increasing traffic. Remember, even if you exercise more than usual, calories are subject to the rule: if you consume more than you burn, you gain weight again.

Q: How do scientists determine the calorie content of foods?

A: Usually they use a variety of laboratory techniques to separate the component of high-calorie products (macronutrients protein, fat and carbohydrate) from the non-nutritive substances like water and minerals. They calculate the weight of each macronutrient in grams and then multiplied by the corresponding amount of calories: fat - 9 calories per gram; proteins and carbohydrates - 4 calories per gram.

Q: How do scientists counted how many calories a person burns during exercise?

A: They put a plastic tube into the subject's mouth and the amount of oxygen that he inhales and uses during a particular activity (eg, walking, rowing or cycling). Each liter of oxygen consumed about 4.8 calories. As your activity level increases, you can grab and use more oxygen, which allows you to work longer, harder and burn more calories (and fat).

Q: How many calories you need to eat per day to maintain my weight?

A: This is the set of formulas that depend on your height and weight (what you're heavier, the more calories you burn), age (the older you are, the less calories you need to), and activity level (fans of computer solitaire utilize less than marathoners) . For example, 25-year-old woman at a height 165, weight 56 ​​kg and high activity (for example, takes six days a week) takes about 2570 calories a day to maintain your weight at the time as a 40-year-old woman with an increase of 160, weighing in at 49 kilograms and the average activity (takes three days per week) required at 640 calories less (1930).

Q: You can distribute the calories so that there is more on special occasions and holidays?

A: Theoretically, yes. If you know that you go to a party on Saturday night and did not want to limit myself much you can save, say, 100 calories from your usual diet from Sunday to Friday and get 600 calories to break away at a party. By the end of week, number of calories consumed, and therefore the weight remains normal. In practice, this strategy may not go through. It's quite tricky to cut calories, but not everyone is willing to go hungry, and not so easy to fool your metabolism. What really can do is to lose a bit of weight to gain it again.

Place order to save calories on days when you realize that you need to limit the amount of calories, try to eat less high-calorie food, but hearty. For example, if you usually eat for lunch turkey sandwich, replace it with a salad with turkey. You need fewer calories from bread, but will feel well-fed, thanks to the fibers in the greenery and vegetables. In addition, you do not come at the scheduled event is hungry, and therefore less harmful and eat high-calorie food. Another option: try to practice a bit more before and after the party. Each additional kilometer burns 50 calories.