As an automobile needs gas or fuel to keep it running efficiently, your body needs the right amount of calories to function well and at its best.

Here’s how it works:

Whenever you eat any type of food, your body takes in food in the form of calories and uses it to burn or metabolize it. This is then used to produce energy in the form of heat.

What is a calorie?

A calorie is the amount of energy it takes to increase the temperature of one kilogram of water to one degree on a Celsius thermometer.

Understanding How To Count Calories

Whenever you read the label on any food, it lists the amount of calories it has. For example, if you were to eat a slice of 100% whole wheat bread (depending on the brand of course), one slice might have 100 calories. What this means is, your body will use 100 units of it as heat to burn and metabolize 100% the whole wheat bread.

To further understand, here is a breakdown of the amount of calories found in 1 gram of foods consisting of fat, protein, and carbohydrates:

• Fat = 9 c.
• Protein = 4 c.
• Carbohydrates = 4 c.

So, as you can see, carbohydrates and protein give you less than half as many calories as fat does. That’s why high-fat foods such as french fries or donuts are high in calories, while low-fat foods such as skinless chicken breast are not. But, keep in mind that you still have to be aware of the calories that are found in some low-fat foods as well. Pay special attention to the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates the foods have.

Now, that you know what the “good” calories are found in food, let’s talk about the “bad” or empty ones that many foods have.

So, what are empty calories?

Basically, they have no beneficial nutrients in them at all. Nutrients such as fiber, vitamins and minerals. For instance, a candy bar would be considered a food with empty calories.

How many calories do you need?

It all depends on your individual lifestyle choices (choosing to exercise or not, choosing to eat more than the right amount of calories your body needs or not). The amount of calories you will need also has a lot to do with your gender. Because most men have more muscles and their body’s frame has more matter, men will certainly need more calories than women.

So, remember that all calories whether empty or not, will give you energy.

• But if you take in more calories or energy than what your body needs, you will gain weight.
• And if you take in less calories than what you use up or burn throughout the day, then you will lose weight.