Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles | Posted on 01-05-2010-05-2008
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We don’t know who coined the phrase “Numbers don’t lie,” but we’ll bet they never counted one or a few 100 calories. And if you’ve ever tried using math to manage the digits on your bathroom scale, you know that most diet equations don’t add up. We wondered whether any of the roughly 338,000 Google hits for “weight loss formula” can actually help you look good in that black latex cat suit this Halloween. Here’s the lowdown on three basics:
Daily Caloric Requirement (DCR)
Translation The math is pretty simple: Eat 500 fewer calories a day than your body requires and you’ll drop a pound a week. But most online calculators (and even the pen-and-paper variety) are only 82 percent accurate (even less so if you’re obese, sick, or an ethnic minority), according to the American Dietetic Association. And, says Mary Hartley, a registered nutritionist for about.com, the results can be flawed because the equation isn’t tailored to the individual and because many people misjudge their fitness level. Plus, if you lose 10 pounds or more, you’ll have to do the math again.
Salvation Let sites like caloriecount.about.com, mayoclinic.com, or mypyramid.gov do the work for you. All factor in activity level and are backed by health pros.
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)
Translation While DCR calculates calorie input (how much you need to eat), the Resting Metabolic Rate tabulates calorie output (how much you burn doing absolutely nothing). Unfortunately, the ADA says the accuracy of these formulas is 45 to 80 percent (and again, they’re less accurate if you’re obese).
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Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, Eating habits and diet | Posted on 16-04-2010-05-2008
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Your cube mate advises against eating after 8 p.m., a girl from your yoga class swears by the grapefruit diet, and your best friend warns that mixing carbs and protein can pack on the pounds. Sure, you’ve been hearing diet tips like these from well-meaning people for years, but is there any truth to them? To set the record straight on the most oft-repeated advice, we consulted a team of nutrition experts. They revealed which strategies you should forget and which live up to their get-slim promise.
Q. Will chewing low-cal foods like sugar-free gum and celery help me burn calories?
A. It might, but hardly enough to trigger weight loss. Gum and certain veggies are often called “negative-calorie” foods because they supposedly take more energy for your body to chew or digest than they contain.
The negative-calorie myth was put to the test when researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, asked people to chew sugarless gum at a rate of 100 bites per minute. After calculating the energy expended (about 11 calories per hour), they concluded that a person who chomped on a piece every waking hour of the day for a month would lose less than a pound. As for celery? All that crunching does burn energy, but it amounts to less than the 6-calorie stalk contains. The bottom line: If you really want to shed pounds, give your jaw a rest and start moving your body.
Q. Can coffee really rev up my metabolism?
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Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, Eating habits and diet | Posted on 26-03-2010-05-2008
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Calories can be cruel. Sweat through a 30-minute workout and you can torch 200. Take three gulps of a foamy frappuccino and you’re right back where you started.But slashing those suckers can be as effortless as piling them on. We’ve found 78 ways you can cut 100 or more calories at a pop. From picking the right slice at Pizza Hut to skipping the whip on your latte, they’ll add up so fast, you won’t miss a thing—until poof! Your love handles are gone.
At Breakfast
- • Ditch the Pop-Tart for a slice of high-fiber toast with strawberry jam.
- • Gotta have carbs? Split a bagel with a coworker.
- • Drink your two cups of joe black. Or order a single espresso instead of your usual latte.
- • Swap OJ for the real deal—one fresh orange.
- • Trade a side of regular sausage for turkey.
- • Top your waffles with Reddi-Whip instead of syrup (or use sugar-free).
- • Skip the whip on any Caribou Coffee 16-ounce drink.
- • Eat your granola from a 4-ounce mug, not an 8-ounce bowl.
- • Lose the Yoplait Thick & Creamy and have a Yoplait Fiber 1.
- • Order pancakes, but hold the butter.
- • Scramble together 4 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs.
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Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in General tips | Posted on 21-03-2010-05-2008
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This is the basis of any diet or weight loss methods, you need to know how many calories you consume on average per day. From now on you should start counting your daily calories (you can use electronic calorie counters or just put it down on paper). Usually you can find the amount of calories of a product on its label (look for kcal). I also suggest USDA National Nutrient Database to find information about calories, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber in different products.
Now all this information in this and previous posts should be enough for you to determine your body index and set a goal of calories to cut per day. For fast but still safe results it is recommended to cut 15-30% of your daily amount of calories (depends on your lifestyle, sex and BMI).
Warning: Keep in mind this general rule of thumb: women should not go below 1200 calories and men should not go below 1800 calories a day. Your body burns up most of its daily calories just by keeping your body alive — even while you’re asleep! It needs fuel (calories) to do this.
Interesting Fact: A calorie is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. The calories in food are actually kilocalories or 1000 calories. When we say that a carbohydrate like sugar has 4 calories per gram, we really mean that it has 4 kilocalories per gram. This means that one gram of sugar has enough energy to raise the temperature of 1000 grams of water by 4 degrees Celsius. The calories in food provide a measure of the energy content of the food.
