Nutrition basics-Calories 2

   Last time was about the definition of a calorie as a way to measure the energy going into the body.Today I will talk about how a calorie can be used to measure how much energy you spend.The first thing someone should know is the basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of daily energy(calories) expended at rest.By rest I mean by doing nothing or to say it more clearly lying in bed all day watching TV or something like that.I could also say that it is the sufficient energy released in order to keep the vital organs functioning which while true creates the misconception that you will die if you dont take that amount of calories(energy).The amount of calories consisting your BMR are needed in order to stay in the same weight.If the calories are not enough for the body to sustain its functions at this weight,it will start consuming itself in order to do that.

Burning calories.

   But it is true that you dont spend all the day doing nothing.You go to work,walk around,work out and generally you have various activities in your life.By doing all these activities you spend more energy.Theoretically you get something like BMR + calorie expenditure from activities.I just described the so called maintenance calories.The maintenance calories is how much energy someone spends in a day (by doing things not resting only) while staying in the same weight.

   So it seems simple.You can spend more calories to lose weight and spend less to gain weight.It seems though that you forgot the other part of the equation discussed last time.By combining the various aspects of the in and out parts results are quicker.A simple plan would look like this:eating more+ spending less=gain weight,eating less+spending more=lose weight .Duh that was easy to figure out right?Then why people have trouble achieving their goals?Well I mentioned that our body isn't so simple as a furnace and there are a lot of things to consider that I will describe in future posts.To conclude calorie monitoring is an easy way to understand how our body operates in terms of weight fluctuations.It has flaws that I will mention later but it is a good start for someone who tries to understand his\her body.