Calories – Are All Calories Equal When It Comes To Weight Loss?

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A calorie is a calorie is a calorie – Or Is It?

Which calories are best?

It does not matter where your calories come from; be it protein, fat or carbohydrate they all have the same effect. Have too many of them and you will put on weight. Or that’s what some would leave you to believe. Certainly, if you subscribe to the Enery Input-Out Approach.

Behind the complications of the multiple different approaches to weight and fat loss are two basic models or theories of weight gain:

  1. Energy Input-Output Model
  2. Metabolic Model

Its not the source of the calories that make the real difference, but the number of calories in total, per day consumed.  This is what one of the explanations of weight gain and weight loss will have you believe.  In actual fact this has been the most dominant explanation of weight gain since the late 50″s. But is this correct?

Is this not one of the major reasons that people battle some much to lose weight?

Want to find more about how calories and weight lose are related? It may not be a simple as you think?

In our coming series I will look at this issue and give you some simple guidelines, which well may explain why you can exercise and still put on weight or how prisoners on low calorie diets still gain weight. And the confusing of all how you can have a high calorie ( 3000 calories) diet and yet lose weight!

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Fat and Lazy – Think Again

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So your fat because your lazy and lie around – think again!  The common point of view is that people put on weight because they are lazy and don’t exercise. Weight gain, especially excessive weight is seen as a moral issue.  Fat people are lazy and hopeless cases.  They lie around, don’t exercise and eat excessively, consequently they became fat.  So if they were’nt such lazy and hopeless cases and walked or exercised now or then, they would not have turned out as such blobs.

Well that is what some would have you believe.  In actual fact, the truth is far from this.  Fat people find it very difficult to exercise,because they are fat and not the other way around.  There weight gain is not caused by a lack of exercise – there are a variety of different reason for gaining weight which well discuss in the coming days, but the lack of exercise is not one of then.  Sure you should exercise because it is very good for certain heath markers, but not weight loss.

So you are not lazy because you are fat and don’t exercise.  It is just that it is very hard to exercise because you are overweight and not the orther way around.  Being overweight makes you have very little inclination to exercise and it is certainly not easy nor pleasant.  So how do you get out of this loop?  Do you have any ideas

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Can You Have Fat Loss without Weight Training?

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So have your determined your body composition yet?

Do you know whether you are carry the ‘right’ amount of body fat for your age and activity level?

If you have do so and this is a necessary step before designing any weight loss program. What’s the verdict, a shock or did you know surmise the news already.

So now you have discovered, you have got some body fat to lose. (Note: body fat lose does not have to necessarily mean weight loss).  Maybe you will lose some body weight during this process maybe you won’t!

Nevertheless, resulting from your identification of your BMI level you will find yourself in one of three positions:

  • You are underweight. Yes it happens.
  • You find that you are have  ideal or slightly over body fat levels.
  • If you are excessively overweight, then there is a further step you should undertake before deciding how to deal with this fat load, by having a look at how it is distributed around your body.

The Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) will give you a better clue and also let you know whether your body fat distribution is problematic in that predisposes you to heart and weight related conditions. People with an apple shape versus a pear shape are more disposed to weight related illnesses. To calculate your WHR measure your waist at your belly button and the largest circumference for your hips. Divide the Waist Measurement by the Hip Measurement and if the resultant is greater than 0.85, indicates an excessive abdominal level of body fat (i.e. apple shape) and a high likelihood of weight related health complications later in life if you don’t do anything about it.

How do you reduce body fat?

Eating or dieting is an important element of any fat loss program. We won’t concern ourselves with this at the moment, but address another component of an effective fat loss program which does not receive as much attention, namely; exercise.

Yes, an exercise program.

Not only is exercise an important part of a fat loss program, but it is absolutely necessary for general health reasons, if for nothing else.
The exercise regime for a fat loss program should comprise mainly of weight training, in conjunction with longer duration cardiovascular activities in order to create a calorie deficit and burn fat. The main reason for weight training at this stage of your weight loss program is that it boosts your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and this is very important for calorie burning. Also, for women, weight training and weight impact exercises are very important for the maintenance of bone density.

So, in short, there are many reasons why weight training should be incorporated into a fat loss program and especially so for women for their general health.

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Is Body Fat Necessary?

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Body fat has got such a bad reputation that most people think it is important to minimize the amount of body fat they carry. This can be a big mistake as it is really a case of some body fat is necessary, but too much is problematic.

Why is body fat necessary?

  • It is essential for the maintenance of reproduction
  • Absolutely necessary to maintain to general health, and not just sexual health
  • lowest body fat percentage threshold in women is between 8 – 12%, and 18 -22% is quite viable
  • It is thought that, in women a body fat level of below 17% may be indicative of the start of an eating disorder. Don’t stress though, as many female athletes have body fat levels below this
  • If your body fat level however is above 30% suggest obesity and serious attention should be given to body fat reduction

How do you determine your body fat level?
The easiest and most commonly used method is the Body Mass Index (BMI) or Quetelet Index which categorizes you according to your ideal weight for your height. A simplistic method and a useful way to screen whether you should adopt a more accurate measure. This approach has many inaccuracies to it and should only be used as an indicator.

The more accurate BMI is determined by dividing your body weight, in kilograms by the square of your height, in meters.

See an early blog for details on this or the actually example on the index page of InYourBestShape.com, the website of which this blog is part of.

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Body Fat Vs Body Weight

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I have written about this issue before as there is great confusion between losing body weight versus losing body fat. If you look at the searches conducted on the Internet, you will see the major focus is on losing body weight and the phrase, “losing weight” is not just a pseudonym for losing body fat.

Well, what is the difference between the terms ‘body weight’ and ‘body fat’?

Body weight is the mass of your entire body, including all fat, muscle, bone, organs, fluid and skin. It is most commonly measured in lbs or kg.
Body fat is the sum total of all your adipose and fat tissue and most commonly is expresses as a body fat percentage. Fat and adipose tissue is spread through out the body and can be found under the skin (hence some of those funny wrinkles and puckering that our skin can get), around organs, abdomen and hips (which in excess can be pretty dangerous for our health and contributes to hypertension, cardiac risks and diabetes in excess), in muscles and the blood stream. Body fat is categorised into either essential and stored body fat.

So you can see there is a distinct difference between the two and an awareness of body fat is more important than body weight.

Why is this so?

Well often, your weight may increase but your body fat may decrease (specifically what you are aiming to achieve through exercise), or you may be losing weight but picking up body fat. This often can occur with starvation or yo-yo type diets.

So while it is more important to monitor body fat changes, it does not mean that body fat is necessarily always a bad thing. Tomorrow I will discuss why body fat is necessary, especially for women.

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Does Gluten Get An Unnecessary Bad Rap?

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Suddenly it’s popular to avoid gluten. Does this mean that gluten intolerance is on the increase or is there something else at play? The major reason why people should avoid gluten is if they suffer from Coeliac disease, which is diagnosed by the taking of a biopsy of the intestine or a blood test.

Coeliac Disease is very different from ‘gluten intolerance’. People suffering from Coeliac Disease need to give up gluten as a medical necessity, as gluten triggers an attack of the lining of the small intestine resulting in symptoms of diarrhoea, constipation and bloating, as well as, mouth ulcers, bad skin, joint pain and depression. It can also lead infertility, miscarriages osteoporosis and bowel cancer. This is a serious disease and very different from ‘gluten intolerance’ which is linked to IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), headaches and mood swings.

Made from Flour That Includes Gluten

A lot of people now are self-diagnosing ‘gluten intolerance’ as if it is very prevalent occurrence and consequently avoid flour, rye and barley, which is a very good source of carbohydrate. Whilst Coeliac Disease is very under-diagnosed there is no evidence that ‘gluten intolerance’ is on the increase. Real intolerance to gluten is easily diagnosed and if one truly suffers from coeliac-type symptoms then avoiding a bread crumb is a necessity. but cutting out starches that contain gluten because it is fashionable or according to self-diagnosis could actually be harmful to your diet as a means of reducing calories can result in very low calorie diets which over the long term will be harmful.

Being gluten free is very fashionable and gluten free foods is seen as a sign of being health conscious. The sale of gluten-free has grown rapidly in the last five years with an increase of over 30%. But, just what is gluten that it is so harmful and why so suddenly that such extreme action is required?

Gluten is a protein and occurs in a wide range of foods from bread, pasta, gravy and beer. it is believed, falsely that gluten causes, water retention, increases weight because it contains sugar and increases body weight. It is believed that if you cut out gluten then you will lose weight. Consequently, people switch from flours containing gluten (wheat, rye barley, ) to rice, cornmeal and buck wheat they will lose weight. The evidence is to the contrary and it is not unusual to put on 12 – 20 kg instead. Furthermore, many gluten-free products can contain extra sugar and fat and is generally packed with salt – not a healthy diet choice.

In January this year, a study from the University of Portsmouth in the UK, stated that gluten intolerance was one of the ‘make-believe’ allergies and showed that as many as 20% of adults wrongly believed they had a problem with certain foods (i.e. food intolerances) and gluten was the highest on this list.

So don’t make the faulty assumption that by cutting out gluten you will lose weight and resort to by expensive substitutes without a proper test. In more cases than not, self-diagnosis will result in a wrong diagnosis. Just because a ‘gluten-free’ diet is followed by celebrities, such as, Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow does not make it right. Eliminating these food groups can result in low energy levels, hypoglycaemic headaches and light-headedness. So don’t spend an unnecessary fortune, waste your time searching for those magic foods and falsely believe you will automatically lose weight.

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Weight Lose Programs Reviewed

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There are tons of weight lose programs online that claim to be able to help you trim those fat and get the body you have always dream of. How do you know which ones are the proven ones and which ones are simply BS? Here we review 3 leading programs that provide proven weight lose programs.

FatLoss4Idiots

What started out as a forum for weight loss information quickly turned into THE place that people go to for information on how to lose their weight. FatLoss4Idiots system features a very unique eating plan generator that was designed based on the theory of Shifting Calorie. Users simply indicate what they like to eat and the system generates an eating plan for them. The concept of Shifting Calorie is based on preventing the metabolism system from getting

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Low GI Carbs – How to Use The GI Tables

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In my previous post I discussed what the Glycaemic Index is, this time around we continue to expand on it and why it should be used as a systems for meal planning in your weight loss program.

Generally, glucose is assigned a numerical value of 100 – basically the reference point against which the digestion and absorption rate of other carbohydrates are compared.

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Having Trouble Knowing What to Eat on Your Diet – Use Low GI!

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Does counting calories drive you mad?

Do you never know what food is good for you to lose weight and which ones to completely avoid?

Does every meal you face challenge you with this question, “What can I eat to lose weight”?

It does not have to be such a difficult and challenging or should I say frustrating exercise if you use the Glycaemic Index (GI) as a guide.

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