Why watching Calories is no more a foolproof obesity fighting cheat code?
How many times have you tried to fit into that old pair of denims from college? And exactly how may times have you failed in the attempt? Well, this problem is not yours or mine alone. We all are obsessed with the concept of having the perfect body but we fail to maintain the Utopian standards of exercising or dieting.
Try as many times as you may, you are probably never going to stick to a fancy diet longer than half a week. Moreover, you tend to count everything by what the calorie counter states and end up eating the wrong stuff.
Sadly, the crux of all obesity nowadays is the single word — Calories!
From those salads and slaws, we consider healthy just because they are raw – to the muffin, we stay away from thinking it to be fatty — wrong options about the true meaning and idea of the calorie is the blame taker.
Burning calories is the key to Weight Loss
According to a study by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, it is essential that you burn more calories than you consume in a day.
Think deep — What most tend to emulate is the concept of sticking to things that are low caloric in terms of measurement. Eat those slaws or whatever as much as you may, you will still stick to your weight unless you rigorously frame and indulge in the correct ‘calorie burning’ methodology.
Do those fancy smart wearable tech actually maps the calories you burn?
Maybe! Technology has its limits and these devices weigh or measure the best estimates. Therefore, these gadgets could at the very best, offer you the best guesses. Thus, the treadmill monitor that shows you need to run a mile more than what you ran yesterday to strike off those extra calories might not always be correct.
Why can a machine/gadget not tell me how many calories to lose?
Well! It is important to know that ‘a calorie’ is a variable. For example, a slice of pizza could have “xxx” calories laced to to it at a leading joint. Now move over to a slice of pizza at a local restora and you could easily have double the calories in the same portion. This could come about by way of ingredients used, the accompaniments and the quantity/quality of constituting ingredients used.
The Calorie story Beguiles!
Just measuring what the pack says as calories is not accounting what you eat is right. The real amount of calories you burn matters.
Similar variation results about by way of cooking a particular food. In case you want an example here is the deal. Researchers in Sri Lanka discovered that by adding some coconut to rice while it cooks and then cooling the same could help in halving the calories steamed rice would otherwise have.
Packaging, freezing and preserving food also plays up the original calorie count of various foods. Therefore, the question of how accurate your calorie-count-based diet is remains unanswered. Latest research is revealing newer deals out of these issues but only time will tell how effectively we can ace the calorie story for successful curbing of obesity!
It is not the number BUT the type of Calorie…
The real crux you must ace here is that a calorie will be accountable only when you are sure what kind it is. Say for instance, I go to a food joint and order a salad that has say 100 calories laced up. I skip lunch and dinner. This could go on for a month and what I would end up feeling is bloated and more weighty than ever before. You may ask why? Well what you are consuming is actually too less for a human body. We all have work, errands and worries. Unless we eat ample how would our energy levels remain sufficient?
The part you have to focus on is what you eat. Are you eating 100 calories of proteins or 100 calories of carbs? The former will keep you filled up while the latter will never assist on fulfilling hunger on a longer span or even managing weight.
In fact, a funny example here is have you ever put too much water down the sink drain and saw it overflowing or clogging?? Never. Putting in small plastic or paper pieces will lead to clogging in a jiffy. The same happens with our body.
The lesser calories we consume, the lesser the body burns. The more you consume the body gears up to burn more. The trick here is to manipulate your body by consuming say 2200 calories of healthy foods– not necessarily giving all tasty stuff up – and exercising to the point that at least 500 calories are burnt on spot.
Run in the park– that is more effective than a treadmill.
The technical prowess of these machines has its limitations. These are programmed and inbuilt. How do you know for certain that you have done the same work on the treadmill as you might have done while running outside??
In a study during 2006 at Skidmore College, 63 individuals between 20 to 60 who followed a traditional calorie-counting diet with one group that ate more but also exercised less. The Typical Group had a Western diet with daily aerobic exercise over 40 minutes, along six days. The other Group was on a high protein and lean carbohydrate diet with 60 per cent less exercise. These exercises were high quality cardio clubbed with resistance training though.
The results were…
- The traditional Group saw a 21 percent decrease in overall fat and about 16 percent slash in belly fat.
- The other Group saw 9 percent increase in lean muscle.
- The other Group revealed 21 percent decrease in LDL cholesterol against a 9 percent decrease seen in traditional Group.
Our case rests! The calorie myth stands busted.