Calorie Definition and Weight Loss

The food calorie is sometimes capitalized as Calorie to distinguish it from the chemistry calorie; however, this capitalization is rarely observed in practice.

The Nutrition Calorie

Nutritionists measure the energy content of food in "calories" (sometimes capitalized and abbreviated as Cal or sometimes C, or abbreviated kcal as if small calories were being used), where each food calorie represents 4,186 joules. This is equivalent to 1000 of the calories used in chemistry, and thus the food Calorie would be called a kilocalorie if small calories were being used. However, in chemistry calories have been deprecated as a scientific unit of measure in favor of joules, and therefore in common modern usage the word "calorie" usually refers to a food calorie.

This situation provides two ways of talking about the amount of calories in food which look quite different but that express the exact same amount of energy. One may say that dietary fat has nine kilocalories (kcal) per gram, while proteins and carbohydrates have four kcal per gram, or, one may say that fat has nine Calories per gram while carbohydrates and proteins have four Calories per gram.

The amount of food energy in a particular food is measured by completely burning the food in a bomb calorimeter, a method known as direct calorimetry. Dieticians recommend counting calories to avoid obesity. The government of the United Kingdom recommends consumption of no more than 2000 Calories (2000 kcal) by women each day and 2500 Calories (2500 kcal) by men each day.

The Physics and chemistry calorie

In physics or chemistry, a calorie (abbreviated cal) is a unit of energy that equals the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of one gram of water by 1 degree Celsius, at a pressure of 1 atm. This amount of heat depends somewhat on the initial temperature of the water, which results in various different units sharing the name of "calorie" but having slightly different energy values:

* the 15 °C calorie,
* the 4 °C calorie,da
* the mean 0 °C to 100 °C calorie,
* the International Steam Table calorie,
* the thermochemical calorie,

The slight variations in these units can be seen if you convert them to joules. For example, one 15 °C calorie is the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of 1 g of water from 14.5 °C to 15.5 °C. This is approximately equal to 4.1855 J or 3.968×10-3 Btu. The International Steam Table calorie is approximately equal to 4.1868 J and the thermochemical calorie 4.184 J.
Of these various units, what is most commonly meant by calorie in cntemporary English text is the 15 °C calorie.

The nutritional Calorie represents 1000 of these 15 °C calories. Since this could be a source of confusion and error, these units are now deprecated. The International System of Units (SI) unit for heat (and for all other forms of energy) is the joule (J), while the (obsolete) cgs (centimeter gram second system of units) system uses the erg (unit of energy and mechanical work in the centimeter-gram-second system) - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Before start losing weight and counting calories you must first calculate the number of calories your body needs everyday, because this amount changes from person to person, depending on sex, age, weight, muscle content or height. Averages are situated around 2000 calories for women and 2500 for men. An easy, but not so accurate calculation is that for every 500 less than your normal amount of calories eaten every day you will lose up to one pound (453,6g) per week. 

Counting calories must be included as part of your diet, because when you loss weight is best to know how many calories your food has, and so ensuring that the amount of calories burned each day is more than the amount stored.  All nutritionists agree that a healthy low fat diet without counting calories could not exists, so take your time and solve that problem with various calorie calculators.

By knowing all the time the amount of calories consumed you can control how much you can eat and how it will affect your body. When dieting and counting the calories you can eat almost anything as long as you do not exceed the number of calories burned every day.

When you eat fewer calories, your body is forced to consume the fat stored to make up the deficit in your calorie count. Nutritionist’s advice is that you must combine psychical exercises with healthy eating in order to create some calorie deficit.

Resources:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here 

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details

Boost Energy & Control Hunger

Protein is found in all of your body's cells. It is the essential nutrient that is responsible for the maintenance and repair of all of your organs, tissues, muscles, brain and bones. This individual built in repair kit occurs at the cellular level in our bodies. Protein regulates everything - our blood circulation, our metabolism and our immune system. Individuals who lack sufficient protein in their bodies have weaker immune systems than people who consume adequate protein in their diets. Also, people who are constantly on yo-yo diets where they lose and gain weight back frequently usually become protein deficient and have weaker immune systems. This fact has been proven by researchers who have found that these yo-yo dieters have about a third lower the number of killer cell activity than normal individuals. The so-called killer blood cells are essential for the immune system to function properly.

All foods are sources of energy; however, protein provides a greater boost in energy levels since it is absorbed slowly and thus produces a constant source of energy. Protein has real energy-staying power for your active, healthy, lifestyle. Fats and carbohydrates produce quick bursts of energy but cannot be relied upon to provide the body with a continuous source of energy, since they are digested and metabolized more quickly than protein. Fats and carbohydrates also tend to be stored as fat the body for later use. The Protein that we're discussing is lean protein (lean meats, skinless poultry, seafood, egg whites, low-fat dairy products, legumes and beans, soy and tofu foods, skim and low- fat cheeses, and good-fat nuts). Lean proteins are also excellent sources of selenium, which. Is a mineral that protects the body against dangerous tree radicals that can destroy normal cells in the body. These free radicals can damage many different types of cells including connective tissue, which causes joint and muscle inflammation.

High-saturated fat protein products like fatty meats, hard cheeses, whole fat milk dairy products, whole eggs, mayonnaise, luncheon and smoked meats including bacon, sausage, and hot dogs are definitely not good sources of energy production. The reason for this is, that even though these products have some protein content, its value is offset by the saturated fat content of these foods. The saturated fat content of these foods do more harm to the body (heart disease, strokes, hypertension, high cholesterol and some forms of cancer) than the protein portion of the food can repair. These are called harmful proteins and are not recommended for any healthful weight-loss program.

For appetite control, lean protein tops the charts for staying power. By adding a small portion of lean protein to your meal, you'll control hunger pangs for hours. Lean protein also has the advantage of being lower in calories than many foods, particularly saturated fat protein product refined carbohydrates and saturated fat foods. Once you substitute saturated-fat protein products, you defeat the appetite-controlling factor of the protein. The fat content of saturated- fat protein foods prevents the brain's appetite-control center from shutting down. In other words, you'll get hungry soon after your meal of a saturated protein food.

Your body needs between 15-30 of your total daily calories, however, can be dangerous, because it strains the kidneys. This is one of the reasons among many why low-carbohydrate, high saturated fat protein diets are dangerous to your health.

Resoures:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details

Being Trapped in the BAGGIES!

Remember when you weighed over 300 pounds and you literally felt “stuffed” into your clothes?  Zippered pants and tailored shirts just weren’t your “style”, or closer to the truth, you couldn’t find any zippered pants that fit you well or shirts that didn’t peep open of pop buttons!  Elastic became your closest buddy!  Do you recall how self-conscience you were to not bend over for fear of busting out your seat?  Or how about the way your large thighs would rub so much against the inside seam of your pants, you were glad that nobody could see that you had splitting material in between your legs?

Those are awful and painful memories of what life was like before your gastric bypass weight-loss surgery!  It almost feels as if those memories are a whole lifetime behind you now, doesn’t it?  And for those who have had the surgery and are still working toward their goal weight, those memories aren’t far enough away yet.

Many gastric bypass patients, as they slim down, do not know how to wear smaller-size clothing.  They find the freedoms of loose-fitting garments to be refreshing, less binding, and more relaxing.  They often adore this newly-found delight and are happy with the way their clothing “hangs” on them instead of wraps tightly around their body.

These same patients who wear the loose clothing often have issues with thinking they have not lost enough weight.  They will say things like, “the scale shows I’ve lost weight, but when I see myself in the mirror, I still look so large.” 

For those patients who are feeling that way, I want to make a suggestion that just might be the simplest fix; I’ve dubbed this to be my “Getting Rid of the Baggies” campaign.

And I don’t mean sandwich baggies either!

Losing weight so quickly is an adventure, to say the least.  We go through a lot of size changes every few weeks.  I recall when I was losing, I was going to the thrift stores every three weeks to buy more clothing to fit me until the next drop in size came.  Not very expensive when they are “used” items.  It was something I had to do!

Some patients have no clue that they are trapped in their baggies until someone points that out to them.  This should be done in the kindest of ways, or in the manner that suits your friendship.  If you truly are friends with someone who is trapped in the baggies, then you can be blunt and to the point by saying, “Get out of those baggies!”  Others may require a gentler tone if you are to remain friends.

What if nobody is telling you that you’re trapped in the baggies?  Does that mean you’re not?

NO.  It probably means that they are too afraid to tell you at risk of hurting your feelings.

This is where I jump in… I’m going to give you some clues right now as to how to judge whether or not you are still wearing baggy clothes unnecessarily.

You know you’re trapped in the baggies when:

You’ve lost 50 pounds and you haven’t put on the next smaller clothing size.  Fifty pounds is a LOT, and it SHOWS!

The shoulder seams are nearing closer to your elbows.

Your shirts or sweaters fit you like short dresses.

You can grab a huge fistful of material and still not be touching your body. 

Your shirt or dresses fit you like oversized maternity wear.

Your shirts have leftover “stretch bumps” stuck in them where you don’t have bumps like that anymore.

Your feet shift back and forth inside your shoes when you walk.

Your pantyhose can be pulled up to almost your armpits.

You become tangled as you walk because your pant legs get knotted up in between your legs.

Your half slip falls right off of you and unto the floor.

Your tank tops have become slings for the… 
Your sleeves flap in the wind like sails.

Your turtlenecks are now tortoise-necks that don’t’ even touch your neck.

Your rings are falling off.  Put them AWAY until you can get them resized… I’ve seen the tears of people who’ve lost their rings!

Your socks stretch above the knees.

The rump of your pants sag low and appear to be harboring pockets of air.

Getting the idea now?  If you are guilty of any one of these baggie symptoms, I strongly urge you to go to your nearest store and buy a smaller size!

I can promise you, that if you get out of the baggies, you will feel so much better about yourself, you weight-loss achievements, and begin to appreciate in a deeper sense what the surgery has done for you.  It’s time to stop beating yourself up with unfounded criticism.

This certainly WAS a rough lesson on you, wasn’t it?  Well, at least you have a clue now and you didn’t have to get mad at a friend telling you!  And if one day your fiend DOES tell you that you’re trapped in the baggies, tell them “thank you” and mean it by  wearing clothes that flatter you.

And for the FRIENDS who need to drop the bomb on someone trapped in the baggies…. if you’re too shy to tell them to their face, mail them this article!

Resources:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details

Avoid Holiday Weight Gain ~ Otherwise Your Waistline May Pay for It!

As the holidays approach, a feeling of dread creeps in. Not only is money getting tighter, but your pants are, too. It's the same old story. Colder weather keeps you stuck indoors, while the yummy holiday cooking fattens you up. Not this year. Not me! I refuse to gain those holiday pounds and you can, too. No, you don't have to sign any contracts at an expensive gym. You can get the body you want on a limited budget.

You may not realize it, but workout videos are more fun and exciting than they used to be.

Workout videos are also much less expensive than a gym membership or buying home workout equipment like a treadmill or elliptical trainer.

If the thought of buying workout videos reminds you of leg warmers and striped leotards, you've got some catching up to do. You're not stuck with the boring workout videos of the 80s and 90s anymore. Believe it or not, the same sought-after trainers who get paid the big bucks to train celebrities can be on call to train you in your own home for pennies a day.

Some of the newest fitness trends are available on video. 

Ballet: 

Have you always envied a ballet dancer's lean and graceful body? Several ballet videos are now available as workout videos. One of the most popular choices right now was created by the famous New York City Ballet. Although you won't learn to be the next prima ballerina training with exercise video at home, you will shape and lengthen your muscles for a graceful body.

Belly Dancing:

Shimmy your way to a great waistline. Whether you want an instructional video to teach you proper belly dancing technique or you just want to exercise with belly dance moves, you'll find a wide variety of videos available.

Exotic Dancing: 

You read that right. If you've ever thought it would be fun to learn sexy moves, then this is for you. In the privacy and safety of your own home, you can bump and gyrate to your heart's content. I have also heard that laughter is good for your abs, so you'll have that covered as well, especially if you have a mirror in your workout room.

Yoga or Pilates: 

If you're looking for a sleek, lean body, firm core, or more flexibility, then there are hundreds of yoga and Pilates videos to choose from. You'll find yoga for adults as well as yoga for kids. Yes, kids get stressed, too. Yoga is a great way to teach them to relax.

Fitness videos for kids: 

Oftentimes kids can be the best motivators. If you put in a Sesame Street dance video and your three year old asks you to dance with Elmo, you can hardly say "no".

Once you've chosen a trend or video you are interested in, set a specific time each day to "meet" with your personal trainer. It's best to rotate at least two different forms of exercise (or videos) to avoid repetitive use strains. You can do different videos each day, or alternate a walk, bike ride or other activity you enjoy on your non-video days. As long as you are moving, you're keeping those spare pounds from firmly attaching to your body.

So, don't sign that costly gym membership agreement just yet. Blow the dust off the exercise videos in your cabinet, get some good walking shoes, or check out the hottest trends at your favorite online store. It's the frugal way to go.

Resources:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details

The Image About How You Look | Could Be Stopping You from Reaching Your Weight Loss Goals

When someone joins my personal coaching program, one of the first things I ask them to do is to describe exactly what their body is going to look like once I help them reach their goal weight. I ask them to do this in writing – not over the phone, and here’s why…

Deeply imbedded negative thoughts are what cause us to have difficulties in any weight loss or health enhancement program – in fact, our past failures can almost always be traced back to negative thoughts that we didn’t even realize we had.

Most of our negative thinking comes out when we write things down on paper (or on the computer). 

I challenge you to write out 10 brief descriptions about how your body will look in 30 days if you were coached by someone like me – someone who knows exactly how to transform the human body no matter what stage of the game you’re currently at.

Go ahead, take a moment and write out what your face would look like, what your arms would look like, what your legs and your butt would look like – would your skin look different, would your muscles be tighter, would you be leaner – detail everything, then come right back.

Did you do it?

Make your list now before reading any further – I want you to walk away with some profound knowledge of yourself when you’re done reading this article.
OK, now that you have your list, let me show you something that you can use to judge whether or not you’ve been causing yourself to fail in your attempts to lose weight and keep it off.

Here are some examples of statements that a good friend of mine used to have before he and I began working together – statements that were literally holding him back from success:

Face–more chiseled features, no double chin, no doughy jowls or puffy cheeks, no bags under the eyes.

Other than improved facial shape, I really have no complaints at all about my face, hair, eyes, nose, ears.

Neck–no double chin or “wattle”

Chest–no gynecomastia (womanly breasts), muscular instead. Look, ma, I can see my ribcage and pectoral muscles instead of a soft mattress of flab.

Arms–hard sinewy curves instead of soft breadsticks. Seeing veins and muscles instead of smooth fat.

Abdomen–are there really abs hiding in there? They’ve never made an appearance in 50 years! It’d be nice to have a tight waist not uncomfortably sliced by too-tight underwear.

Legs–less of a conical shape, more elongated and solid. Although my calves have always been rather large and firm–my best body part, next to my brain.

Buttocks–less sag, more form

Back–could be a lot less hairy, would be nice to see a “V” shape instead of a truncated pyramid.

Can you see why he might have had a few troubles in the past reaching his goal?

But I’ll let you in on a little secret – this guy is in great shape now and enjoying life more than ever, and he’s a pleasure to speak with each week in our coaching calls.

Now here’s a list from a woman who recently completed one of my coaching programs – this list was written out after our first session together – watch how positive every statement is:

WHAT MY BODY IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE
———————————–
my face will be thinner, more defined
my posture will be great all of the time
my legs will be free of cellulite and extra fat
my butt will be sculpted and defined
my abs will be tight and defined
my arms will be cut and defined and strong and sexy!
my chest will be lifted and shapely
my back will show definition and be sexy!
I will feel the urge to walk around naked all the time! (around my house and my husband, of course)
I will walk confidently knowing that I look great!
I will compliment my awesome body with cool clothes that show it off 
I will wear a bikini from now on!!! No shorts over the bottom!
I will wear those short shorts I have sitting in my closet
my skin will be clear
I will be unbelievably beautiful and sexy!!!

When making your list, make sure to avoid using any negatives, and have fun with this exercise – the short time you take out of your day to make your list will save you tons of time and frustration in the near future.

Resources:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details

Are You Using The Weight Loss Secret That Personal Trainers Use all the time

Whether you like him or not, you have to respect Dr Phil just because of one thing.

He continually asks his guests one simple question: "How's it working for you?"

Success in anything comes from FINDING WHAT WORKS then DOING WHAT WORKS.

I am going to reveal to you the Secret Weight Loss Formula that Celebrity personal trainer don't want you to know about.

Before I reveal the secret, first I need to explain to you that there is process that your body goes through to burn body fat.

So how does your body burn fat?

It is a 2 steps process and in order you need to:

1. Release the fat from the fat cells and only then
2. You can burn the fat

That process is the same for every human being. I will outline the steps and then show you how you can easily apply some fundamental rules to allow your body to burn the maximum amount of fat with less effort and minimum time. Once you understand that simple process, you can easily see why you are not getting the results that you want. Even bigger, you will finally see that getting that dream body is getting so much closer to reality that you will be extremely motivated to get started as soon as you can.

How does your body release the fat from the cells?

Before you can turn your body into a fat burning machine, here what needs to happen: your body fat need to be released from the fat cells. You can accomplish this step successfully with your nutrition program. Here are some specific tips that you can apply right away to achieve that.

1. Eat 4-6 small, frequent meals and never skip meals.
2. Include small amounts of good fats.
3. Eat natural foods; avoid processed & refined foods
4. Eat lean proteins with each meal.
5. Eat more complex carbs, fruits & vegetables.

The most misunderstood weight loss strategy. How to burn the *fat* instead of burning muscles.

Releasing fat from the fat cells is not the end of it; actually, it is just the beginning. Because the fat needs to be transported from the fat cells to your muscles so it can be burned there. This is done through your blood and the cardiovascular system is responsible for that. The more effective is that system, the more effective your body will become at burning fat. You can improve your cardio vascular system by doing so cardio training.  However, don't go out yet and spend 1 hour on the treadmill because you probably not going to be doing too much good like that.

The reason is excessive cardio combined with a restrictive diet burns fat but mostly muscle tissue. That is not a good thing at all, because muscle tissue is where you burn the fat and if you are burning away muscle tissue, you are burning your ability to burn more fat in the future (weight loss plateau). You just don't cut the hand that feed you. So cardio burns fat and it can also burn muscle tissue, this is a huge dilemma. Damn if you do, damn if you don't. But wait there is a solution to that…

You need to do some MODERATE cardio training. The key word here is moderate.
Doing too much cardio can be detrimental and I am sure you have seen those people that are doing cardio on a daily basis and still not getting anywhere. The result is a low metabolism. Low metabolism means, your body fat is not going anywhere, anytime soon. Here is what you need to do:

1. Do some moderate cardio training; the key word here is moderate
2. Never diet but consume little fewer calories that you will burn (No starvation diets, Please...)

The world most efficient "fat burner" is FREE and You already have it.

Before I reveal to you how personal trainer get those celebrities in the best shape of their life in such short period there is one more thing that I want you to understand. Because it is very important.
Weight loss marketers always claim that they have the magic "fat burner" that will melt your fat away. The problem is that they have a new one coming out every year, so I wonder if the one from last year was so effective, why we need a new one. There is only one thing that actually burn body fat is you already have it. It does not come in a bottle or a special recipe. Body fat can only be burned inside of your muscle tissue. I repeat Body fat can only be burn in your muscle tissue. This is the most important concept for you to grasp.

Your muscle tissue is your best friend when it comes to burn body fat. You need to preserve muscle tissues in order to keep losing weight. Most people go on a starvation diet combined a lot of cardio to lose weight. At first it may seems like this is working because they are losing scale weight. Now think about, scale weight does not tell you if weight loss is from fat, water or muscle tissue. Scale weight by itself is not a good indicator of success.

- Losing water is only temporary. 
- Losing muscle will simply lower your metabolism and put you in the Yo-Yo dieting bandwagon. This should be avoided at all cost.
- Losing fat while maintaining muscle mass is what your main goal should be. 

To maintain muscle tissues you need to:

1. Do some resistance training. (This is not optional, it is mandatory)


The secret

Now that you understand the whole fat burning process, I am going to reveal to you how celebrity personal trainers do to get those amazing transformations. The strategy is to combine all the steps that I outlined so the body works as a unit.  First the trainer makes sure that his client is eating the proper food on a regular basis.

By that I mean eating so that fat WILL be released from the fat cells. Then and only then they exercise the body to burn the fat. The important idea to take from this is:

"The fat can ONLY be burned after it is released from the fat cells".

If you know anybody that has been exercising like a maniac and they don't seem to go anywhere, now you know why.

The reverse is also true, Do you know somebody that is eating properly but they are not including cardio AND resistance training. Now you know why their body  still look the same.

All you need to do is to combine a nutrition program, along with some MODERATE cardio program and maintain muscle mass with resistance training. Everything is combined with one goal in mind: Turning your body into an Automatic fat burning machine. It is that easy.

Don't like the results you have been getting?  Then CHANGE YOUR STRATEGY.

How do you change your strategy? How do you find one that works?

DO NOT continue doing something just because "THEY" say it's the way things should be done. Allow yourself to choose the solution that will work for you, regardless of what it may be. The only way for you to know who is right is to measure your progress and ACTUALLY track your results.

CHANGE IS HARD, but it's also worth it. Not getting results makes change EXTREMELY HARD.

Get support from friends, family or a coach.

Losing weight is not as hard at it seems once you know what to do. Stop now and get statred on "The 2 Wek Diet System" - because you will receive weight loss secrets that you will not get anywhere else. The result will be that body that you've always wanted.

Resources:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details

Are You Struggling With Weight Loss Management?

It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to lose five pounds or more than 50 pounds; all of the same simple laws of physics determine whether or not you will lose weight and how fast your weight loss will occur. While everyone is different, if everyone remembered these simple guidelines and put them into practice, then they would find that these guidelines would generally lead to weight loss without the aid of any special diet plans, books, or medications.

Our weight is determined by the amount of energy that we take in as food, and the amount of energy we expend in the activities of our day. Energy is measured in calories. If your weight remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories that you are burning each and every day. If you’re slowly gaining weight over time, it is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you burn through your daily activities.

Everyone is in control of the amount of food he or she consumes each day, so as a result, our intake of calories is something we can control with relative simplicity. To some degree, we are also able to control our output of energy, or the number of calories we burn each day. The number of calories we burn each day is dependent upon:

1. Our basal metabolic rate (BMR)
2. The number of calories we burn per hour simply by being alive and maintaining bodily functions and
3. Our level of physical activity

For some people, due to genetic (inherited) factors or other conditions, their resting metabolic rate can be slightly higher or lower than average. Our weight also plays a role in determining how many calories we burn at rest – the more calories that are required to maintain your body in its present state, the greater your body weight. As an example, a person that weighs around a hundred pounds requires less energy (food) to maintain body weight than a person who weighs 200 pounds.

Lifestyle and work habits partially determine how many calories we need each day. Someone whose job involves heavy physical labor will naturally burn more calories in a day than someone who sits at a desk most of the day (a sedentary job). For people who do not have jobs that require intense physical activity, you need exercise or increased physical activity to increase the number of calories burned.

As a rough estimate, an average woman aged 31-50 who leads a sedentary lifestyle needs about 1800 calories per day to maintain a normal weight. A man of the same age requires about 2200 calories. Participating in a moderate level of physical activity (exercising 3-5 days per week) requires about 200 additional calories per day.

In order to lose weight rather than maintain it, you will want to eat sensible, well balanced meals with small portion sizes, cut down or reduce your intake of daily calories, try with your best efforts to eliminate fats from your diet and ensure that you exercise on a regular basis.

Resources:

The 2 Week Diet System - Click Here

Menu Planning Central: Making life easier for busy individuals and families - like yours when it comes to meal planning. Click here for details