Calories is a very common term that all of us must have heard. Especially if you are a fitness enthusiast this will be the first term that you may come across. Like the ABC of the alphabet, calories form the basis of any fitness or weight loss program. The better you understand this concept it will become easier for you to structure your diet and your training program.
When you sit down to have your food you may either wonder if it is a balanced diet that you are having and that you are getting all the nutrients in sufficient quantities or you may just gulp down whatever is in front of you without knowing the importance of the same. Where would you picture yourself? In the group who believes in the concept that “ignorance is bliss” or someone who realizes that “knowledge is power”?
If you want to be in the latter, this is the blog that you are waiting for. In this article, we will cover everything that you need to know about calories as a beginner and if you are experienced, still, there is no harm in brushing up your knowledge anyway!
What is a Calorie?
You must have noticed that when a person is on their weight loss journey, they often refer to the food they eat in terms of calories. It’s not uncommon to address a pizza or a burger as something that is loaded with calories. The calorie is usually the villain when it comes to weight gain but is it really true? Are the calories to be blamed always? Let us find out.
Calories are a measure of energy. Calories in “small” (cal.) is generally used in physics to estimate the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of exactly one gram of water by one degree Celsius at one atmospheric pressure.
Calories beginning with capitals, also known as kilogram calories (Cal), are more commonly known and refer to the calories in food (1).
In the field of nutrition, a calorie basically is the unit of energy. All of the cells in our body need the energy to carry out their specific tasks. When we eat a variety of food, they are broken down to release this energy which is either used by the body immediately or stored for later use, depending on the body’s needs at the time. Our body requires energy to carry out day-to-day functions (1).
Caloric intake is not solely about quantity. The quality of the caloric intake is vital as well. Just because certain foods may be equal in the number of calories they provide, this does not mean that they are all processed in the same manner by the body. Hence the manner in which they affect the body will also differ.
For example, obtaining one’s daily calories only from fat may numerically equate to the calories one can get from fruits and vegetables but they will be metabolized differently.
How Many Calories Does the Body Need?
According to NHS data generally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men.
These daily bodily requirements of calories vary considerably depending on a variety of factors too and these factors should be taken into consideration while calculating the calorie need of the individual. They are as follows (2)
Age – Growing children and adolescents may need more energy and hence their daily caloric requirements are higher than those of adults.
Lifestyle – Your level of activity also determines your calorie requirement. If you are active throughout the day the calorie requirements are more compared to someone who leads a sedentary life.
Body Measurements – Your height and weight can affect how quickly you use energy, the more your weight the higher your calorie requirements would be.
Hormones – Hormones like ghrelin, glucocorticoids (in particular, cortisol), insulin, leptin, thyroid hormones, etc play a deciding role in the caloric requirements of the body. hence it becomes important that the levels of these hormones in the body remain in their normal ranges, neither less nor more (3).
Illness – Chronic illness increases the daily caloric needs as the body needs these excess calories to achieve the state of homeostasis.
Physiological Factors – Pregnancy and menstruation increase the calorie requirements to a certain extent while these requirements decrease during old age.
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How to Calculate the Number of Calories Needed by the Body?
There are three main factors involved in calculating how many calories your body needs per day (4)
- Basal metabolic rate
- Physical activity
- Thermic effect of food
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
BMR is the amount of energy your body needs to function at rest. This accounts for about 60 to 70 percent of calories burned in a day and includes the energy required to keep the heart beating, the lungs breathing, the kidneys functioning and the body temperature stabilized. In general, men have a higher BMR than women.
One of the most accurate methods of estimating your basal metabolic rate is the Harris-Benedict formula:
- Adult male: 66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)
- Adult female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in lbs.) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
Physical Activity
This consumes the next highest number of calories. Physical activity includes everything from making your bed to jogging. Walking, lifting, bending, and just generally moving around burns calories. This is calculated by multiplying the BMR by an appropriate activity factor as below
| Activity level | Multiplying factor |
| sedentary (little or no exercise) | 1.2 |
| lightly active (light exercise /sports 1-3 days /week) | 1.375 |
| moderately active (moderate exercise /sports 3-5 days /week) | 1.55 |
| very active (intensive exercise /sports 6-7 days /week) | 1.725 |
Thermic effect of food
This is the final addition to the number of calories your body burns. This is the amount of energy your body uses to digest the food you eat — it takes energy to break food down to its basic elements to be used by the body. It is generally 10% of your total calorie intake.
Calories and Food
Calories in food supply our bodies with the energy needed to sustain life. The three main macronutrients carbohydrates, proteins, and fats contribute to the majority of calories in our diet. While each gram of fat gives our body 9 calories each gram of carbohydrate and protein gives 4 calories each.
According to the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the USDA, 45% – 65% of calories consumed per day should come from carbohydrates, 10% – 35% of calories should come from proteins, and 20% – 35% of calories should come from fats (5).
Empty calories– Certain foods that give the body very less or no nutrients are termed empty-calorie foods. All calories from solid fats, alcoholic beverages, and added sugars (SoFAAS) represent empty calories (6). Hence your diet should include as a minimum of these foods as possible.
Calories and Body Weight
To understand the relationship between calories and body weight, you need to know about the energy balance equation. Although there are other factors involved in determining the weight of an individual this simple equation forms the basis for structuring your diet.
You know that calories provide your body with energy. Now, body weight is an interplay of this energy that you intake and you spend measured in terms of calories.
- If you consume more calories than you expend, your body stores energy and you generally gain weight.
- If you expend more calories than you consume, your body loses energy and you generally lose weight.
- If you are in energy balance, you generally remain weight stable.
Being Mindful about Your Calorie Intake
Mindful eating is simply “eating consciously,” to recognize sensations such as taste, physical hunger, and satiety cues (7). The more conscious you become about your calorie intake the lesser chances there are of you bingeing on food or consuming empty calories. Mindful eating encompasses a variety of tips, tools, and exercises that are used to teach the principles of mindfulness so that they can be practiced and applied to real-life scenarios.
Following are great tips to practice mindful eating and keeping a check on your calories too. (7)
Disengage from Distractions
Eat alone when possible and remove all distractions. Multi-tasking while eating makes it hard to control intake. Studies have found that distractions such as watching TV, working at a computer, talking on the phone, or reading while eating lead to greater food intake at mealtime.
Eat Slowly and Chew Thoroughly
Eat slowly with heightened sensory awareness of internal signals and emotions. Take smaller bites and chew food thoroughly aiming for twenty to thirty chews per bite. Studies have found that extra chewing results in less overall food consumption since satiety is controlled.
Stop-Breathe-Bite
This phrase is used to remind individuals to “check in” during a meal. Putting the spoon down or taking a break, and a deep breath between bites is an opportunity to focus on internal hunger/fullness signals and emotions so that a decision can be made as to whether the body physiologically needs more food.
How to Count your Calories?
Counting calories becomes necessary, especially when on a weight loss journey. There are many mobile applications as well as online sites nowadays that allow you to count the calories of the food depending upon the amount you are going to consume. Another method is nutrition charts, which are printed on packaged food. You can calculate your calories according to your goals and structure your diet.
It is also advisable to hire a dietician or enroll yourself under a nutrition and fitness coach who can calculate your calories for you and help you progress.
So now that you are aware of the concept of calories, we hope that it will help you in making better decisions regarding the food that you eat. If you found this article useful, please let us know in the comments section below.
Author: Dr Pooja Nilgar (Content writer and editor)
References
- Osilla, E.V., Safadi, A.O. and Sharma, S., 2021. Calories. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.
- Choices, N.H.S., 2016. What should my daily intake of calories be.
- Schwarz, N.A., Rigby, B.R., La Bounty, P., Shelmadine, B. and Bowden, R.G., 2011. A review of weight control strategies and their effects on the regulation of hormonal balance. Journal of nutrition and metabolism, 2011.
- Layton, J., 1998. How Calories Work. Retrieved July, 15, p.2009.
- Anton, S.D., Hida, A., Heekin, K., Sowalsky, K., Karabetian, C., Mutchie, H., Leeuwenburgh, C., Manini, T.M. and Barnett, T.E., 2017. Effects of popular diets without specific calorie targets on weight loss outcomes: systematic review of findings from clinical trials. Nutrients, 9(8), p.822.
- Reedy, J. and Krebs-Smith, S.M., 2010. Dietary sources of energy, solid fats, and added sugars among children and adolescents in the United States. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110(10), pp.1477-1484.
- Wakefield, L., 2015. Mindful Eating for Weight Management: A Review and Reflection on the Literature.
