Cebu City – Calories are the amount of energy released when your body breaks down (digests and absorbs) food. They are usually found in the food that we eat. The more calories a food has, the more energy it can provide to your body. We need to consume a certain number of calories to provide us with the energy that is needed to function in our daily routine. The average calorie intake for men is around 2,500kcal a day while the average calorie intake for women is around 2,000kcal a day. However, these values still vary depending on age, size, and the degree of the physical activities we do daily.
Foods and drinks that contain high amounts of calories are those that are high in fat or sugar like fast foods and sodas while foods and drinks that contain fewer calories are those alternative foods and drinks like home-cooked meals with few vegetables and fruits in them and water, coffee, and tea.
As mentioned, calories are usually found in foods, and to ensure the right amount of calorie intake and reduce its consumption, it is important to constantly check the calorie content that is indicated in the packaging of the food we buy. However, sometimes labels in the food packaging are misleading as at times it mentions per serving which means that it could be only 1/10th of the actual pack instead of 100 grams. Doing some research about servings is also recommended.
According to some studies, being reckless and not minding your daily calorie intake will lead you to become overweight or obese. It is important to note that whenever you increase your caloric intake, it is also necessary to use up these calories. Note that the body already has stored excess body fat that additional food intake can add up to the unused calories that will lead to overweight and obesity.
So, what do calories in and calories out mean? And how can this contribute to being healthy or not?
Calories are basically the calories we take into our body from the foods we consume while calories out are the number of calories we release or burn through the energy we use during our physical activities and metabolic processes. For some, burning calories may be quite confusing thinking that burning thousands of calories while doing cardio will help them lose weight. Burning calories and taking too many calories after is useless when we try to lose weight as weight loss requires a calorie deficit. That means practicing mindfulness on the number of calorie intake and practicing portions while eating is important to note when losing weight.
Thus, being mindful of how many calories we take in and release, will lead us to maintain a stable weight or lose weight if we are planning to lose some. // AA VI Ronalyn C. Dela Cerna
