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| Featured Article: Why Do We Gain Weight? |
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The reasons you gain weight are varied, complex, and to some extent a mystery: Even experts
don't know everything yet. But how your body puts on the pounds is really quite
simple. Food provides calories, and calories -- whether from a chocolate bar or a carrot
stick -- provide energy. If you eat more calories than you use, you'll gain weight, and if
you use more calories than you eat, you'll lose weight. Let's take a closer look at the process.
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| Calories Defined |
The word "calorie" seems to have taken on an importance nowadays out of proportion to its simple
meaning. A calorie is nothing more than a unit of measurement, like an inch or a pound. An
inch is a measure of distance or length, and a calorie is a measure of energy.
Technically speaking, one calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one
gram of water by one degree Celsius. Calories are a way to measure the amount of energy contained
in foods. A orange, for instance, has about 50 calories. That means when you eat an orange, your
body gains about 50 units of energy it can use to fuel physical activity.
Calories can come from three main nutrients in food: carbohydrates, fat, and protein. They can
also come from alcohol, which is not a nutrient but still provides calories. As your body digests
what you have eaten, it converts carbohydrates, fat, protein, and alcohol into glucose. Your
body's cells use glucose to fuel everything you do, from breathing and digesting your food to
running, talking, and even reading this article.
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Carbohydrates, fat, protein, and alcohol all provide calories, but they supply them in different
amounts. Fat provides 9 calories per gram, while alcohol suppies 7 calories per gram. Protein and
carbohydrate provides 4 calories per gram each.
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When you take in more calories than your body needs, that extra energy is stored as fat in your
body. This excess energy is what makes the numbers on your scale go up or make your jeans feel
so snug. The only way to get rid of that stored energy is to burn it -- by using up more
energy in physical activity than you take in through food, or eating less calories
while maintaining the same activity level so that there is an overall calorie deficit.
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| Making peace with calories |
Losing weight is not something one can do overnight. A carefully planned weight loss program
requires guidance and support. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformantion floating around
and lots of desperate people are want to believe losing weight without effort is possible and get
ripped off.
Every day one can open up a magazine or newspaper and see advertisements touting some new product,
pill or patch that will take excess weight off quickly. Everyone seems to be looking for that "magic"
weight loss pill. Millions of Americans are trying to lose weight, spending billions of dollars every
year on diet programs and products. Often those who try, do lose some weight. But, if you check
with the same people a year later, you will find that nearly all have regained the weight they
lost.
Being seriously overweight, and more significantly obese, can develop into a number of diseases
and serious health problems. It is now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive,
the excess frequently is taking too much fat.
Collectively, Americans are heavier than ever. Partly, it is because we are more sedentary now. But
equally as important is the fact that the fat content in our diet has changed dramatically.
People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially
drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle loss. When the weight
returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by
exercising regularly.
Your goal should be to watch your energy intake (the number of calories you eat) as well as your
energy output (how much physical activity you get). According to the experts -- and proven by
the simple math -- this is the best way to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
So if you are serious about losing weight, skip the pills and potions and make up your mind to
eat less (or maybe it is to eat right) and move more.
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