What is calorie?

We always see the word 'calorie' and we know they have got to do with our weight, but how exactly? It is basically a measure of how much energy the food will give us. For example, food with 300 cal can definitely give us more energy than food of 50 cal. Oh, 'cal' is the short-form of calorie obviously, and 'kcal' (kilocalorie) is most often interchangeably used; they basically mean the same thing.

When we say energy, we really mean food that when digested, is chemically broken down and infused into our blood stream to contribute to the equation of energy creation for moving, breathing and thinking.

Only carbohydrates (including fiber), fats, proteins, organic acids, polyols, and ethanol contain food energy. All foods are made up of a combination of these six nutrients. Everything else in food is non-caloric, including (but not limited to) water, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, caffeine, spices and natural flavors. Tea and coffee also have no calories without sugar or milk added.

Fats, naturally, have the largest amount of energy per gram, 9 cal/g, compared to the other 5 nutrients. Proteins and most carbohydrates have about 4 cal/g. Carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed, such as fiber or lactose in lactose-intolerant individuals, contribute less food energy. Polyols (including sugar alcohols) and organic acids have fewer than 4 cal/g.

So why do we need to understand calorie? The answer can be quite simply expressed in the equation below:

Input = Output,

if not,

excess Input = FATS

The equation in simple English will mean that if our body does not use up the food energy (calories) that we have consumed, they will basically be stored so that it can be used later....... Why so?! Why is our body so dumb? Why doesn't they simply get 'shitted' out? Well, that will be a history lesson that covers human evolution. Will explain that in another day's blog ,look forward to that!

Read more about your day's calories intake here and how your weight is really determined by your lifestyle.

Find out how to calculate your Daily Recommended Calorie Need.

Click here to find out how to read food nutrition facts label and how it helps you calculate your true calories intake.

Calories in a night-out

Think about this... a casual outing with friends downtown, ate buffet at Sakura Orchard, everything there looks delicious, from the Sashimi to the deserts and the free flow of soft drinks!! Mmmm.... one can get hungry just thinking about it... That's not all! After some few hours of chit-chatting over dinner, it's time to get happening at some clubs! Down a few beers and a few vodkas, not so much of a dancer though... so it's about time to get home, but before that, let's have some supper first... Roti Prata (similar to the Mexican wrap except that it comes with curry and sometimes sugar upon request) at the nearby coffee shop, plus another can of green tea to 'detox' after the crazy drinking, now that's healthy isn't it? And it's time for bed!

Sounds familiar?? Seems so like the typical night-out of just about anyone in any country and now just Singapore, the hang-outs may be different but the intake of food... I believe... is similar in most developed countries... But what's wrong! That's life man! Food and drinks!

That's exactly the point... food and drinks, sedentary lifestyle otherwise, will determine the type of clothes you can fit into. Many factors can be discussed in just this short night-out activity.

For this blog, let's start with calories-intake.

How much your body requires for a day's work can be easily calculated using a formula, which takes into account your current weight, height, age, gender and exercise intensity per week. But don't worry about the calculation, you can get it done here. For an average Singaporean women, it's about 1800 cal per day, assuming you exercise about once or twice a week in Yoga or aerobics.

Looking back into the buffet dinner, assuming you eat some sashimi, fried ebi, green beans, some cakes, 3 scoops of the ice cream, some fried vegetables, oysters, 2 cups of soft drinks, half bowl of miso soup, half bowl of corn soup etc... not much, but let's see the break down in calories:

some sashimi = 280 cal
fried ebi = 500 cal
green beans = 25 cal
some cakes = 300 cal
3 scoops of the ice cream = 300 cal
some vegetables = 52 cal
oysters = 50 cal
2 cups of soft drinks = 200 cal
half bowl of miso soup = 40 cal
half bowl of corn soup = 100 cal
Total calories consumed = 1847 cal

More detailed break down of food calories is available here (use the search engine, type main words, e.g. miso soup, type only 'miso', searches better)

Let's recall again how much calories do we need in a day? About 1800 cal. And we've consumed the entire day's needs in one whooping meal!! Not to mention the rest of the supper and beers and vodkas... they contain calories too! (Click here to find out how you can calculate your exact Daily Recommended Calorie Need.)

So what happens after you have consumed so much more calories? They turn into fats of course!
My lifestyle = my weight? DEFINITELY.