Why Calories Count in an Exercise Weight Loss Program

Personal Training in New York City

Are you counting your calories? We often hear about calories regarding diets and various foods on the market. However, the counting of calories should just be the beginning. When you start a program of dieting and exercising, it’s important to track the calories properly.

Calorie Basics

Firstly, you know that dieters want to reduce their calorie intake, but what exactly is a calorie? Calories are units that you use to gauge how much energy value a food has. You can obtain calories from four sources: alcohol, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. However, you should be aware that alcohol and fats have a much higher density of calories, than carbohydrates and proteins do.

So, the Question of the Day is: how many calories do you need daily? In most cases, you need about 2,000 calories per day, though this figure can vary. However, to determine more accurately the quantity of calories you need daily, consider three factors: your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), the amount of energy that you use during physical activity and exercising, and the thermic effect of food. However, you can use some basic exercise weight loss formulas to make the calculations easier:

* If you are sedentary: (weight * 14) = estimated calories per day

* If you are moderately active: (weight * 17) = estimated calories per day

* If you are very active: (weight * 20) = estimated calories per day

While “sedentary” speaks for itself, “moderately active” includes 3-4 weekly aerobic sessions, and “very active” involves 5-7 aerobic sessions weekly.

Quality and Not Just Quantity

However, when following a fitness program, it’s just as important to focus on the quality of calories that you intake, rather than just the quantity of calories. While soft drinks and junk food are high in calories they’re mostly “empty calories,” meaning that the calories contain no nutritional value. Such calories will make you feel full, but you’ll be running on empty soon.

So how should you meet your daily calorie intake? If you’re following a fitness program, it’s important that your nutritional plan includes a diet that is moderate in protein; and includes many vegetables, a low-to-moderate amount of fat, and a low amount of starchy carbohydrates. This distribution of calories will help you to burn fat while developing muscles. With the help of a personal trainer in nyc you’ll also look and feel fantastic!

Burning Fat AND Pounds

Speaking of fat, a direct correlation exists between calories and fat. When getting into shape, it’s important to focus on burning and fat and building muscle, rather than simply losing weight. A gain or loss of 3,500 calories will respectively result in a gain or loss of roughly one pound of fat. To get into shape, you’ll need to minimize your fat intake while maximizing your fat burning. For instance, devouring a bacon double-cheeseburger after performing cardiovascular exercise would be quite counterproductive.

So there you have it. When following a fitness program, calories (and other stuff) count!

Tags: Burning Fat AND Pounds, counting your calories, Exercise Weight Loss Program, fat burning, fitness and health nyc, fitness program nyc, PERSONAL TRAINER NYC, personal training nyc