Here is the simple secret to weight loss:  Burn more calories than you consume.  That’s it! It’s that simple. A calorie is a unit of energy in food. Foods have carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Carbohydrates have 4 calories / gram. Proteins have 4 calories / gram. Alcohol has 7 calories / gram. Fat has 9 calories / gram.  When you exercise, you burn calories, which include fat.  The more you exercise the more calories you burn.  The more rigorous the exercise, the more calories you burn.  Walking burns fewer calories than running.

“Calorie flow” reminds me of “cash flow”.  Cash flow is a very important financial parameter to determine the financial health of a company or person.  If you have $10,000 in the bank, and you earn $5,000 per month, however, you spend $6,000 per month, in 10 months you will be completely broke.  On the flip side if you have $10,000 in the bank, and you earn $5,000 per month, however, you spend $4,000 per month, in 10 months you will have $20,000 in the bank.  If you want to improve your financial situation it’s all about controlling your “cash-flow”.

The same goes for weight loss.  Control your calorie flow and you will lose weight.  If you are alive, you are always burning calories.  However, if you are inactive and have a healthy appetite, you will not burn enough calories to maintain or lose weight.  In other word, when you eat, you are adding calories to your body, but if your body isn’t burning enough calories then you gain weight. 

So to lose weight you must exercise to burn more calories and you must modify your eating habits to lower the amount of calories you intake.  The bigger the difference, the faster you will lose weight.  It’s just that simple.

References: 

Visit Activity Calorie Calculator to determine how much calories you can burn based on type of exercise, your weight and duration of exercise.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a chart that shows calories for various foods.   

Copyright © 2009 By Patrick Birmingham (Associate Writer)

      

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