Calories are Good!

There is so much focus now in our society (and even in my most recent post) about how we need to limit out calorie intake. Count your calories. Count your points. Count your intake. Calories in = calories out.  But is all of this focus on calorie counting really a good thing?

Yes....and no.  Counting is good.  But when it becomes a race to the bottom line, we can really send our bodies for a loop.  So the real question becomes, when does counting become a bad thing?

For starters, it's a bad thing to count calories when you goal is to eat as little as possible.  In a sense, calories are good.  Think of it as fuel for your body.  If you don't have enough fuel in your tank you risk being "stranded" halfway through your day.  This can make for good short term results, but in the long term your body won't like you very much.

Another drawback of eating as few calories as possible is the risk you run of your body going into survival mode.  If your body feels like it is being shorted on "fuel", it will actually start to convert any extra calories into stored fat.  If you think you're going to lose weight by skipping breakfast and lunch and then eating a 1000-1200 calorie dinner, think again.  You are setting yourself up for failure.  Most dietitians agree that the minimum calorie intake should be around 1200 calories per day (consult your doctor or dietitian for their recommendation).  This will provide you with enough fuel for the day while maintaining a low enough intake to help maintain or reduce your overall weight.

In the end, just remember that it's all about a healthy balance.  To many calories can lead to weight gain, and so can too few calories.  Find a balance that works for you.  The more you know about your body, the better your can strike that perfect balance and find success!

Calories 101

Everyone works out, right? We have all been at a point in our lives when we face the music and realize that our normal everyday activity just isn't going to cut it for maintaining a healthy body weight. So, for most people the solution is the same; go to the gym and workout. And not just workout, but a cardiovascular workout. This means that your heart rate is elevated for 20 minutes or more and you are working not only your legs and arm, but also your heart. These are all good things. However, we often exert all of this effort with little results. So the questions becomes, "What should I do if this isn't working?"

For starters, you must realize that a healthy body weight requires more than just 20 minutes of cardio work every other day. Doing situps won't melt away your stomach fat. We have to attack the problem at the root...and for most red blooded Americans, that would mean we need to look at our diet. At the end of the day you can burn 1000 calories at the gym, but if you are consuming 5000 calories each day you aren't going to get the results you want. So the first thing is our diet.

I did some research on what the USDA recommends for someone my size (6'2" - 205lbs). Here is what I found So, the USDA recommends I consume 2800 calories a day. The only problem is that the average American today consumes somewhere around 3800 calories. We know that 1 pound of body weight = approximately 3500 calories, you can see how it's so easy to put on an extra pound here and there from our extra calories.

Here is what the math looks like:

Average American: 3800 calories/day

What I should eat: 2800 calories/day

extra per day: 1000 calories

That's 7000 extra calories per week which is equal to 2 pounds of additional body weight per week!

So, how do we tackle an extra 7000 calories per week?! For starters, start with this list of small items:

Choose one main course or desert each day where you can substitute:
Choose the grilled vs. fried chicken or skip the cheesecake for fresh fruit salad. You can save anywhere between 150-300 calories per meal by substituting.

Eat your favorite fruits and veggies without the dip:
this is the best way to ruin a healthy between meal snack.

Eliminate sodas and soft drinks from your diet:

Sodas contain more empty calories than almost any other "food" item. Example: a 20oz. Coca-Cola contains almost the same amount of calories as a Chick-fil-A Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich! If you cannot completely eliminate these drinks, try reducing to only ONE per day.

What other ways can we make small steps towards reducing our overall calorie intake? What ideas have worked for you?

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