Blog#11

Kangil Heo

Dr. Smith

English 101

29 May 2014

Calories In vs. Calories Out

People have a misconception that when it comes to weight loss, they believe that healthier foods have an upper hand in losing weight than so called "junk food." Everything is all about calories in vs. calories out. The amount of calories that you eat and the amount of calories you expend reflect your overall weight and not the type of food you eat. This has been proven by the First Law of Thermodynamics. Even if you eat healthy foods, you might still not lose weight if you’re not counting your calories. Also, as long as you’re counting your calories, you can eat whatever you want and last longer in a diet. Overall, people who want to lose weight must focus on counting their calories.

What exactly are calories? According to What Are Calories? What Is A Calorie?  “A calorie is a unit of energy. In nutrition and everyday language, calories refer to energy consumption through eating and drinking and energy usage through physical activity. For example, an apple may have 80 calories, while a 1 mile walk may use up about 100 calories.” Calories come from three essential macronutrients, which are fats, carbohydrates, and protein, also one non-essential macronutrient which is alcohol. While some foods such as fruits and vegetables have few calories, others like pop tarts have a lot of calories. Carbohydrates and protein provide 4 calories per gram; fat contains 9 calories per gram and alcohol contains 7 grams per gram. Calories are essential for bodily functions but too much or too little, can have a negative effect.

Do people need to eat a certain type of food to lose weight? There are usually two groups of food that people classify as, one is healthy food and the other junk food. Most people don’t actually know the reason why healthy foods are considered healthy. Healthy foods are foods that are filled with micronutrients and overall beneficial for your health. For example, healthy foods have a lot of vitamins, minerals, and also fiber. Junk food on the other hand, is food that have zero to no micronutrients and have a high sugar, sodium, and fat content. These foods with little to no micronutrients are called empty calories. According to What are Empty Calories, empty calories are “calories from solid fats and/or added sugars. Solid fats and added sugars add calories to the food but few or no nutrients. For this reason, the calories from solid fats and added sugars in a food are often called empty calories. Learning more about solid fats and added sugars can help you make better food and drink choices.” Even though Healthy foods are more beneficial for your overall health, when it comes to weight loss you can still technically gain weight or not lose any weight just by eating healthy. You still need to be at a caloric deficit in order for you to lose weight. This is why you need to count your calories in order to know how much you’ve eaten throughout the day. A lot of people assume that they are no eating a lot however if they actually count their calories it will come out to be more than expected. According to How much do you really eat each day? “Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center asked a group of dietitians and a group of non-dietitians to estimate their own calorie intake for 7 days. Analysis showed that the diet doctors had a better idea of their daily consumption than the non-dietitians, but they still underestimated the calories they consumed by around 10%.” It all comes down to counting your calories. As long as you’re in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight no matter what.

The first law of thermodynamics proves the theory of calories in vs. calories out. How does the First law of thermodynamics have anything to do with weight loss? According to the Laws of Thermodynamics, “Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved; it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another.” Since calorie is also a measurement of energy, any calorie you consume is a calorie, it doesn’t matter where the calorie comes from. This scientifically proves that you can eat anything you want as long as you’re counting your calories and eating at a caloric deficit.

Counting your calories has another added benefit which is longevity of the diet itself. A lot of people tend to go on these so called “fad” diets to lose weight really quickly to gain it all back or more. The phrase fad diet originally refers to individual diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance, and enjoy temporary popularity. These fad diets can’t be done over a long period of time and only meant to lose weight quickly for a wedding or photo shoot and etc. Coming off from one of these fad diets, the weight will come right back and will sometimes double. According to Fast diet, Fad diet “Weight often goes back on as fat, leaving you with more fat and less protein than you started off with, which leaves you feeling even more out of shape than before, and can start off a vicious circle of yo-yo dieting.” Yo-yo dieting usually happens right after a fad diet and According to The Ins and Outs of Yo-Yo Dieting, “If weight loss is one of your concerns, then chances is you have heard of yo-yo dieting. Yo-yo dieting occurs when you lose a significant amount of weight but eventually gain it back. It is also called "weight cycling" because of its cycle or repetitive pattern of weight loss and weight gain. Fad diets, as the name suggest are just fads, they come and go, however count calories can be done for the rest of your life without dealing with negative side effects.

You don’t have to eat certain types of food or healthy food in fact to lose weight. You can eat anything you want as long as you’re counting your calories and in caloric deficit. Even if you eat healthy foods, you might not be able to lose weight. Counting calories also helps you to last longer on a diet than these “fad” diets out there today. The first law of thermodynamics also proves the concept of calories in vs. calories out. Because according to the first law thermodynamics, energy can’t be created or destroyed. According to Daily Calorie Intake – Why Calories In vs. Calories out Is the Key to Your Diet, “No matter what the goal of your diet is and no matter what terrible sources of information you’ve been exposed to, the single most important part of every single diet plan is calories. More specifically, your total daily calorie intake. Like I’ve mentioned before, calories are everything. They are the true key to an effective diet plan regardless of any other aspect of it. No other dietary factor influences what your body does anywhere near the level that calories do.” When it comes to losing weight, calories in vs. calories out and counting calorie, are the most important things in losing weight.

References:

"Calories." Calories. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories.html>.

"The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Is a calorie a calorie?. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/5/899S.full>.

Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, n.d. Web. 28 May 2014.

"What are Empty Calories?." What are Empty Calories?. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html>.

"." . N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <https://my.biggestloserclub.com.au/food-fitness/underestimating-calories.html>.

"LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS." LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookener1.html>.

"Fast diet, fad diet - TheSite.org." TheSiteorg. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.thesite.org/your-body/fitness-and-diet/fast-diet-fad-diet-7460.html>.

"The Ins and Outs of Yo Yo Dieting." / Fitness / Weight Loss. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/the-ins-and-outs-of-yo-yo-dieting.html#b>.

"Daily Calorie Intake – Why Calories In vs Calories Out Is The Key To Your Diet." A Calorie Counter. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014. <http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/daily-calorie-intake-calories-in-vs-calories-out/>.

 

 

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories.html

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/5/899S.full

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263028.php

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/empty-calories.html

https://my.biggestloserclub.com.au/food-fitness/underestimating-calories.html

http://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookener1.html

http://www.thesite.org/your-body/fitness-and-diet/fast-diet-fad-diet-7460.html

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/the-ins-and-outs-of-yo-yo-dieting.html#b

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/daily-calorie-intake-calories-in-vs-calories-out/