Do you recollect the time when you ordered a coffee without using the word ‘decaf?’ Or do you remember the last when you got a muffin without mentioning ‘low fat?’ You don’t remember, do you? We are constantly hit with this calorie meter, visit a pastry shop and you will find a whole section on low fats and no calories. Cutting down the calories has now become a trend; more like an obsession. We all have fallen prey to this calorie meter. We constantly keep a check on the number of calories that we are consuming. But here are some unheard, unknown fact on calories.

Calorie is nothing but a tiny measure of energy. It shows that after consuming the food, the body has extracted that much amount of energy. Bear this in mind that the numbers we see on the food packets are normally a kilocalorie or like 1000 calories. Not every calories are the same. Different type of food contains different amount of calories. Like just a gram of fat contains nine calories while a gram of carbohydrate contains four calories. Now you know, if you want to shed those extra pounds, cut down on the fats intake.

It always matters what kind of food you are eating. The type of food you are eating will show it’s result in the calorie meter. In fact, a study on this topic was released in 2011. A long study of 20 years with 120,000 non obese subjects was taken. A constant record of their diet and weight was made. And thus the study proved that what you eat, does matter. So make sure what you eat is right because what you eat makes a big difference. Simply counting the number of calories is not sufficient. Make sure you have a good look at what kind of calories you are eating.

Here is food for thought: the body breaks down the macro-nutrients like fats, proteins and carbohydrate differently. The moment you consume carbohydrate, they get easily and quickly broken down and then turn into sugar. Whereas, proteins and fats take a little longer than carbohydrate so they end up keeping us full that too even on low calories. The carbohydrate spike the insulin and blood sugar level. Now if this energy is not used, it turns into fats and leads to adding weight.

One of the biggest myths of losing weight is that, the less calorie intake, the more you are likely to loose weight. In fact, women should not go below 1100 calories per day. In fact, calories is very important. They help us to work, to breathe, for the beating of the heart and to maintain a body temperature. Studies have shown that an average 25 year-old woman uses 1200-1300 calories just by doing nothing. Also since every food contains calories, it is not necessary that your body will absorb all the calories. While the whole burning process of calories, some calories do not get burned and get left in the system.

So when you cook food, you are breaking it down even before it enters your body. The number of calories your body will absorb varies from person to person. It is okay to have a regular check on the calorie meter. This will give you an idea of what kind of food you are eating.