The Calorie Formula -understand Them And Lose Them
|
We have all heard of those new diets, Atkins, low carb, high protein etc. Some of us have tried them with good results. There's no doubt about that they work.
They all have one thing in common though - they give us the impression that we no longer have to think about, or bother about, calories.
Nothing could be more far from the truth, unfortunatly. Calories still do count! What these new diets basically do is that they make you feel more satisfied on fewer calories. There are no mystical ingredients or unknown secrets that can change the lawof energy balance. In other words, nothing will ever change thefact that if your metabolic system doesn't consume more energy than you take in, you will gain weight. If your metabolic systemconsumes more energy than you take in, you will lose weight.Period. The universe is made that way.
What are calories then? Are they some small evil molecules hidingin the food, just waiting to invade your body and make your lifea fatty hell? No, of coarse they're not.
A calorie is just a word that defines a certain amount of energy,nothing else.
One calorie is the energy it takes to heat one gram of water onedegree celcius. Mostly on food packages, the amount of caloriesare presented as kcal, which means kilo calories i.e. 1000 calories. So, one kcal is the energy it takes to heat one kilo,or one liter, of water one degree celcius. When a fitness chartor table says you burn for example 250 calories per half hourwhen jogging, it means 250 kilocalories.
Since calories are energy units, they apply to all kinds ofenergy, not only food. For example lighting a 60W lightbulbobviously takes some energy. The energy it takes to light it for1,5 hour equals the calories you'll get when eating 1 piece ofcheesecake! If you could fill your car up with BigMacs, youcould travel almost 0.5 mile on one BigMac!
Does this knowledge make us any happier? Perhaps not but it cangive us an idea on how different excercises will burn calories.Calories are consumed by performing work, in physical meaning.The amount of calories consumed equals power multiplied withdistance, power x distance.
What does it mean? It means that the higher the power applied toan exercise and the longer the distance this power is in effect,the more calories are burned.
You can easily see that this explains why low intensity traininglike walking can be very effective, provided the distance is ofsignificant length. You can also see that if you apply more poweri.e. higher intensity, you will burn more calories compared towalking slowly the same distance.
Many people avoid to start excercising because last time theymade an attempt they started at a high intensity level. The result is horrorful memories of short-of- breath, nearly-fainting, close- to- death feelings. The assumption that highintensity is the only way to burn calories is probably the reasonmost of us never develop a habit of regular exercise.
Next time you decide to improve your fitness level, remember theformula power x distance. Start by walking in a pleasant pace inlet say half an hour three times a week. Increase the time(distance) by a quarter of an hour for the next three weeks.
After four weeks you will feel better, look better and healthierand you will also discover that you have automatically increasedyour walking speed. Without even notice. What does that mean? It means that you have automatically increased the power factorin the formula wich in turn means more calories burned!
The next step in your training program is your own choise. Youcan either increase distance or pump up your walking speed. Ifyou have the time, why not both?
More fitness tips articles at:http://www.3crow.com/truefitnesstips/
|
|
|
The Best Carbs For Low Carbers
With the popularity of low carb diets such as Atkins, The Zone, and South Beach, more and more people are becoming aware of the bad effects to the body of too much carbohydrate consumption. As people try to cut down on their carb intake, it should be noted that not all carbs are created equal.In a nutshell, there are two kinds of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Some refer to them as bad and good carbs, fast and slow digestion carbs and other possibly confusing lingo. Here's the scoop.SIMPLE CARBS are those carbohydrates that are most often ha...(related: Weight Loss)
Can Caffeine Tights Beat Cellulite?
At around £350 pounds a treatment, Lipo-Dissolve the so called "flab-jab" injection that dissolves fatty tissue in the knees is costly, painful and requires ugly plasters on both knees, as recent pictures of Gerri Halliwell and Nicole Kidman show.There is an alternative however, that involves no effort, discomfort or sticking plasters, wearing Coffee Tights!Coffee Tights or Caffeine Tights as they are also known as are normal-looking sheer tights that are impregnated with caffeine. As your legs warm up, the caffeine is released into the skin and there it breaks d...(related: Weight Loss)
Living With Your Diet
Recently, I was reading about a diet plan where you throw everything out of your pantry. Although this sounds like great news for the supermarkets, over the short-term, this leaves very few choices for you to actually eat.Can you exist on salad, topped with Flax seed oil dressing, for the rest of your life?People believe that they must pay penance for their eating sins. Dietary and exercise torture seems to be good for the conscience and the prescription of the day. How else can we explain "off the wall" diets and "extreme" exercise programs?Whatever happened to eating in moderation and using common sense...(related: Weight Loss)
Bye-bye Bread
I don't know about you, but I absolutely love bread - not the soft, fluffy, rubber stuff sold as an edible napkin, but the scrunchy, chewy, whole grain staff of life bread. I can pass by decorated cakes without a twinge and eyeball ice cream as if were something alien and unappealing. But show me a slice of rich pumpernickel or marbled rye, and my knees buckle. There are breads that make sandwich filling unimportant: olive and herb rolls, panetone, extra sourdough, cheese rolls, raisin bagels, onion bread, poppyseed, sesame seed, an...(related: Weight Loss)
5 Surefire Ways To Weight Management
You have finally decided to tackle weight management and lose that pesky weight but you still don't know where to start. Sometimes it is tougher to get started than to keep going! Before you do, there are a few things to think about first.1. How much weight do you want to lose? First, if you are overweight, a loss of 5 to 15 percent of you...(related: Weight Loss)
Is Body Mass Index Or Bmi A Real Measure Of Obesity Or Is It Flawed?
Body Mass Index (bmi)A Misleading measure of ObesityMany professionals use body mass index also known as bmi as a measure of excess fat or obesity, but the system is totally flawed and misleading. So...Don't use body mass index, otherwise known as bmi, as a measuring stick to see if you are overweight or obese, because it's totally misleading.Yes if you are obese, the body mass index measurement will tell you that you are obese, there's no doubt about that, however...You could be only a bit overweight and the bmi tells you that you are obese.Also...You could be totally normal and the body mass index could tell you that you are overweight. So...Why is bmi used?That's a ...(related: Weight Loss)
Lasting Weight Loss: No Discipline Required
"I'd love to lose weight, but I don't have the discipline."If I had to lose weight the way the diet mongers say we need to, I'd never lose an ounce. Or maybe I would, but it certainly wouldn't stick. And then, what's the point?And if I had to make myself work out, well that wouldn't be likely to happen either. The truth is ...(related: Weight Loss)
The Jack Lalanne Diet - Are You Tough Enough?
There's no way you can separate the Jack LaLanne diet from the Jack LaLanne lifestyle. And anyone who knows anything about this undisputed Godfather of fitness knows that his lifestyle is definitely not for the faint hearted.Fortunately, there is a way to benefit from his example without being a superman... or woman. I'll let you in on this simple secret ...(related: Weight Loss)
site-map - Copyright © 2007 | Contact Webmaster - shukra1111 [AT] yahoo.com | All Rights Reserved | Weight Loss