Lose Weight, Not Your Energy Levels

By Rachael Gill

Going on a diet leaves you continuously hungry plus you look drained and pale. Moreover, weight control plans cannot be stuck to and you dread going to parties as you find yourself in a position where all the good food is mocking at you. You simply wish they found a pill to control weight and there are a number of people who think like this…Understanding a few things will assist you in getting around this…

What Our Bodies Require

Our body calls for balanced food consisting of protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and a substantial amount of water. Each of these food types presents the body with a certain amount of calories.

Protein: Proteins are required for building and rebuilding the muscles taking part in the functions of the body. One gram of protein is equivalent to four calories.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates provide direct energy for activating muscles for doing work. One gram of carbohydrate contains four calories.

Fat: As our body can create its own fat from carbohydrates, it does not need much fat in food. One gram of fat is equivalent to nine calories plus is a concentrated form of energy.

Micronutrients: Micronutrients consisting of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc are required for good health and the proper functioning of various organs.

Identifying What To Eat

When they say do not gorge on carbohydrates, it does not mean cut down on this important nutrient entirely. Reduce your intake of excess bread, rice, pasta and sugar by at least one-third as well as increase on the consumption of salads and fruits.
Minimize the quantity of fat added to your diet.
Focus on protein-rich foods such as leafy vegetables, milk, soy bean, pulses, egg, lean meat and fish.
Seek to derive about 10 percent of the calories you are burning (not consuming) in your diet from proteins. Most fruits have less than five percent energy from protein with vegetables having twice as much.

Keep Your Energy Levels Elevated

Taking a natural wholesome diet high in protein and essential micronutrients are bound to make you feel more energetic. Your body starts to feel good in anticipation of losing excess weight. For instance, if you weigh 65 kg and want to bring it down to 55 kg, your calorie requirement at the target weight is 30 x 65 = 1,950 calories per day. With a moderate exercise plan, you enhance the calorie burn by 500 calories. In order to lose 10 kg of fat in 20 weeks, you need to burn 500 grams of fat per week or 500 x 9 + 4,500 calories. Your food consumption will then be 12,650 calories per week, thus you may consume about 1,700 calories a day and save 107 x 7 = 749 calories for the weekend or a party. A focal point on consuming high protein food as much as possible is essential in order to lose weight at the desired rate, to not feel hungry all the time and to lead an energetic plus active lifestyle.

Eat Without Remorse

In order to earn the calories contained in your favorite food item the secret is to earn yourself those calories first through some form of activity and by cutting down on the consumption of carbohydrates or fat-rich foods prior to eating your favorite item. These calories could be earned over a day or a week, however, earning them before you consume is important.

Understand How It Works

The muscles require energy to perform any kind of activity. Energy is provided by the chemical combination of sugars and oxygen in the blood carried by arteries to the muscles.
If our food is deficient in any nutrient element, especially protein, the engine becomes weak and we feel tired after little or no work. The body then constantly demands food so that it can extract these elements from the food in sufficient quantity it needs. As a result, the body starts degenerating and ages prematurely.

The Caloric Requirements

Our body’s basal calorie requirement (BCR) is the energy needed just to maintain the body at rest. For an average person, BCR is 22 calories per kg of body weight. The more active the lifestyle, the more calories the body needs, on the average roughly 30 cal/kg. See chart for calories required, activity wise.

ACTIVITY	Cal/kg Wt.
Aerobics	7.0
Badminton	5.0
Bicycling – 16 Km/H	6.0
Bowling	3.0
Child Care	3.0
Cooking	2.5
Dancing	4.5
Gardening	6.0
Golf	3.0
Jogging	7.0
Swimming	6.0
Taekwondo	10.0
Tennis	7.0
Walking	4.0