Many people consider the calories in foods to decide whether or not to eat them. But should they really be such a determining factor? If we said that calories are irrelevant, we would be lying. However, we need to understand more about how we should use them to make our choices (or not).
In this text, we will show you the truth about calories, without complications and nutritional terrorism. Come with us!
Do calories make you fat?
Excess calories make you fat. However, it’s not just food that should be included in your analysis. To lose weight, for example, you need to create a calorie deficit. In other words, consume fewer calories than you burn. This equation depends on your diet, exercise, routine, age, gender, and other factors.
Therefore, it is necessary to understand how many calories we need daily to balance with how much we acquire through food. Remember that eating is essential to acquire energy for our daily activities and to keep the body functioning.
How many calories do we consume at rest?
Now that you know that the important thing is the difference between the calories we consume and the calories we burn, it's good to understand how many calories we consume per day. Each person has a basal metabolism, which is the amount of calories needed for the organs to function, so that all processes occur correctly. To find out exactly how much, you need to do tests, such as bioimpedance. The test, among other things, measures your basal metabolism.
However, there is a trend, an average, of calories burned by men and women daily.
Basal metabolism in man
1650 calories is the average amount needed for an average man to maintain his heartbeat, breathing, digestion and other vital processes for the body. Therefore, 1650 calories is the average male basal metabolism. If he does nothing for a day, this is the amount he will need.
For work activities and routine tasks, the body requires, on average, 600 calories. If he exercises, the calories expended in training are added. A one-hour run requires another 600 calories. So, per day, this man would expend 1,650 of his basal metabolism + 600 of his routine activities and 600 of his running. A total of 2,850 calories. If he consumes fewer calories than this amount, he tends to lose weight; if he consumes more, he gains weight.
Body composition, however, does not depend on calories but rather on macronutrients. For hypertrophy, for example, the diet needs to have a higher protein content and strength exercises. The greater amount of muscle, in fact, increases the basal metabolism.
Remember that the body is complex. Therefore, personalized monitoring is the best option. A person who starts an exercise and nutrition program now will have different results depending on their individual characteristics.
Basal metabolism in women
Women burn 1,400 calories per day to maintain their vital functions. 200 fewer calories than men? That's right. The explanation is that men naturally have more muscle mass than women. Muscles require greater caloric expenditure to maintain.
Add 600 calories to this basal metabolism for daily activities and another 500 if you are breastfeeding. If you do a sport, such as running, you will still burn a few hundred more calories.
A woman, therefore, burns about 2,000 calories per day, 2,600 if she does some sport. The logic of the calorie deficit is the same. If she consumes fewer calories than she burns, she tends to lose weight; if she burns more, she gains weight.
Calorie restriction: opposite effect
The fact that a calorie deficit is necessary for weight loss leads many people to follow very restrictive diets. However, as we have explained, the body, even at rest, needs energy to function. When this energy is not available through food, as a survival instinct, the body begins to burn fewer calories than before. At first, the weight loss effect is greater, but then it slows down, plateaus or even results in weight gain.
How does this happen?
By saving energy, the body stores nutrients in the form of fat. In addition to this survival mechanism, people tend not to be able to sustain radical calorie restriction for long. As a result, they tend to have episodes of binge eating. The ideal is to achieve a balanced diet, without restrictions, but with awareness of what is necessary for your body and a more enjoyable life.
How many calories are equivalent to 1 kilo?
That's 7,000 calories. That is, more than double what a woman who doesn't exercise consumes in a day. This means that we don't gain or lose weight overnight. Unless, of course, you suffer from binge eating. To reach that amount, you need to eat a lot of food.
Remember, too, that eating more from time to time is normal and healthy. Normally, we eat larger quantities on special occasions. Dr. Sophie Deram, in her book “The Weight of Diets,” states that the body is capable of dealing with these episodes. Of course, it shouldn’t be routine. The key word is always balance.
Consuming only adequate amount of calories does not mean health
It is possible to consume the same amount of calories with a healthy diet or with low-nutrition, ultra-processed foods. Therefore, calories alone cannot be used to assess whether your diet is good. As we have already shown in an article on the glycemic index, the way we consume food also counts a lot. Simply adding an egg to bread changes the way the body absorbs nutrients and stores energy.
It is also important to remember that the body needs all macronutrients - protein, carbohydrates, fiber and fats - and various micronutrients - vitamins and minerals. Therefore, we must have a varied diet with the necessary quantities of all these items.
Bold, for example, has the same amount of calories (or more) than other protein bars. However, our bar provides the macronutrients in a balanced way.
Stop counting calories
Our final tip is that you don’t obsess over calories. Focus on eating good foods, investing in physical exercise and a healthy sleep routine. Also look for sources of information that tell the truth about food, without complications or terrorism, like Bold does. Sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss a thing!
