What are Calories?

In order to be able to lose weight effectively it is vital to understand the importance of calories and how to calculate the amount of calories required for your body to lose weight. In weight loss, your diet plays 80% responsible for achieving the desired results.

Most people are engaged in different weight loss programs with the hope of losing weight.

But, have you ever stopped to ask yourself what is it that helps people to lose weight? The simple answer is, 'calories you take in versus the calories you expend'. For you to be able to calculate and effectively burn the calories to lose weight, you need to understand what calories are.

In nutrition, calories are defined as the unit of energy that is obtained from foods and drinks. Your body cells need the calories to function normally and that is why you need to ensure that you meet your daily calorie intake. What you need to understand is that any food item that contains calories has the potential to increase your energy intake. Now, people who don't understand the importance of calories in the body, end up gaining or losing too much weight.

To be able to understand the dynamics of weight loss and weight gain, you need to understand what the calories are and what their role is in their body.

Calories as mentioned above are units of energy. They are the ones that provide the body with energy for its normal functions. However, the calorie intake is directly linked to the energy expenditure.

This means that for you to be able to lose weight, the energy expenditure needs to be higher than the calorie intake. To gain weight, you need to maintain a higher energy intake than the energy expenditure, i.e. a caloric surplus. The opposite is true if you want to lose weight wherein you must burn more than you take in.