All About Calories

You know by now that eating and physical activity affect your weight. Eating provides your body with the energy it needs while physical activity uses calories for energy. So whatever your goal - weight loss, maintenance, or weight gain - the key to success is finding the right ways to balance the calories you take in with the calories you burn off.

What is a Calorie?
The calorie is a unit of energy. When you eat something, the number of calories it contains is actually the amount of energy that the food provides the body. The calorie is also the measure that your body uses for energy output. The body uses calories for many fuctions such as breathing, sitting, and exercising. So the calorie is used to measure both the amount fo energy contained in foods that you consume, as well as the amount fo energy that your body uses during activity.

Where do Calories come from?
Calories come from 3 of the 6 classes of nutrients - carbohydrate, protein, and fat. The other 3 classes of nutrients (water, vitamins, and minerals) do not provide the body any energy.

• 1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Calories are also found in alcohol but  because it can't be used in the body to promote growth, maintenance, or repair, it is not considered a nutrient. Alcohol is a toxin that is broken down as an energy source and can be converted into fat.

• 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

How are Calories used and saved?
While the function of each calorie producing nutrient is different, the result of excessive intake is the same - FAT STORAGE!!
Carbohydrate is broken down into glucose for immediate energy needs, and the surplus is stored as glycogen for long-term energy needs and brain function. However, after the glycogen stores are filled, the excess carbohydrate is stored as FAT. The nutrient Fat is initially broken down and used for its primary functions, such as providing cell structure. However, any excess fat fragments will be reassembled and stored in the FAT cells. Protein will also encounter the same fate. Once protein has met immediate energy needs and provided the body with other building and repairing functions, the excess will be converted into FAT and stored away.

All foods supply energy in the form of calories; however, some provide more calories than others. No single food or class of food is “fattening” by itself. When the calories provided in food are not needed by the body, the excess is stored in the body in the form of fat. This storage process happens no matter what food the calories came from. And while the storage of most cells is limited, fat tissue is able to store an unending amount of fat. So all that being said, finding your personal balance of calories in to calories out is very important. Read my next post for strategies you can use to find that correct calorie balance!