Fitness and Exercise for Women - Calories and Carbohydrates

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Calories and Carbohydrates

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What are Calories and Carbohydrates and How Do They Affect Us?

A calorie is the unit of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. How this applies to us in less technical terms is that women generally need 2000 calories per day to maintain a desirable weight.

weight. This can vary based on factors such as height, current weight, age, basic level of activity and your body composition. It takes 3500 calories to make one pound of body fat.

This brings us to your BMI or Body Mass Index. This is an approximate measure of body fat based on your height and weight. A BMI of 18 – 25 is considered normal or a healthy weight. A BMI or 25 – 30 is considered overweight, while a BMI over 35 is obese. The higher the BMI outside of the normal range increases the risk of many diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.

The BMI is sometimes confused with the BMR or the Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the rate at which you burn calories while at rest. Your BMR decreases as you age which is why it becomes so frustrating when you learn that you can no longer eat as much as you did when you were younger unless you increase your physical activity. It is important to know that your BMR can drop as much as 20% when you starve yourself or go on a crash diet. Remember, eating keeps your metabolism working while not eating slows it down.

Don’t Pass the Bread Please…

Can you remember when you could actually eat bread and not feel guilty? Do you find yourself salivating over the bread basket when you go out to eat? You watch with envy as those who are not as concerned about their bread consumption – usually men, generously spread the butter on the

warm oven-baked bread. Is that honey butter that you smell? Doesn’t matter…you can’t have it any way unless you can have butter as your entree.

What are carbohydrates?

There are two kinds – simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are found in refined sugars. This is the sugar found in cake, cookies, candy…you know, all the food that we hate to do without. Complex carbohydrates are starches and are found in vegetables, grain products, such as rice, pasta, bread, and crackers. They are in refined and unrefined form. Unrefined means that the food has not been processed and contains an abundance of vitamins, nutrients and fiber which are a vital part of a healthy diet. Refined carbohydrates, such as white flour and white rice have been processed and stripped of most of its nutrients.

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past 20 years, you are probably familiar with low carb diets. There are many famous low-carb diets such as Atkins, The Zone, Sugar Busters and many others. They focus on reducing your carbohydrate (especially the simple carbs) intake so that your body will burn in effect, more fat.

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According to Nutrition MD, typically, about three-fourths of your daily calories should come from carbohydrates. It is best to maintain a balance between proteins and carbohydrates.

Whether you consume "good" carbohydrates (simple) or "bad" carbohydrates (complex), as far as your daily intake, your body does not know the difference. Simple sugars immediately release glucose into your blood causing your blood sugar levels to soar, whereas with complex sugars, it takes longer for the glucose to be released into your blood stream..

Extra carbohydrates or sugar that is not burned off or used as energy is stored as fat. This is the reason low fat / high carb diets can cause weight gain because many people on this type of diet begin consuming excessive carbs, while watching their fat intake. As a result, the bloodstream is flooded with glucose. If physical activity is not increased to burn off the extra calories, weight gain results. This can also lead to type II diabetes, which according to the American Heart Association has doubled over the past three decades. Ironically, that is about the time that low fat / high carb diets became popular. Hmmmm...

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