FITNESS: Caloric myths still exist

Despite the public becoming more well-informed about healthy eating, there are some myths that still seem to circulate. Separating fact from fiction can make a difference in your eating habits and your scale.

First, realize that a calorie is a unit of energy. Each unit of energy is used to fuel the body in physical activity as well as all metabolic processes, from maintaining your heartbeat and growing hair to healing a scraped knee and building muscle.

Remember the basic energy/calorie in each nutrient: fat (9 calories/gram), protein and carbohydrates (4/gram) and alcohol (7/gram). Of course, water, the most essential nutrient, has no calories.

Calculating how many calories you need each day to take in and expend in order to lose weight could have you doing math all day long. The truth is that the best way to lose weight is to start keeping a food journal and reading food labels.

The oldest way to determine how many calories are needed to lose weight is to add a zero on to your current weight. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds you would need to consume 1500 calories a day. This is a very rudimentary formula and does not take into account the most important part of the equation: activity.

Thankfully, the super-low calorie diets are not so much in favor anymore. Women should not consume fewer than 1,200 calories a day. In fact, a diet below 1,000 calories a day increases your risk for gallstones and heart problems and should be followed only by obese people under a doctor's supervision.

Not all calories are created equal. Dietary fat is more readily stored as body fat, because the body must work harder to convert carbohydrates and protein to body fat, while dietary fat can be stored as is. If you are balancing your calories in with the calories used during the day, this storage process is less likely to happen because your body will use the fat for energy. A little bit of fat in the diet is necessary for body functions.

Only cutting fat from your diet will not necessarily result in weight loss. However, it is a lot easier to restrict calories when you cut fat, while cutting fat aids in weight loss only if it is accompanied by a drop in calories.

The National Weight Control Registry found that dieters who maintained a 30-pound or more weight loss for more than one year were successful in part by limiting their calories to about 1,300 a day and keeping fat to about 24 percent of calories.

When choosing fats in your diet, stick to those that are monounsaturated like the kinds found in avocados, olive oil and nuts. There is no evidence, however, that saturated fats burn slower or quicker in the body than unsaturated fats. From a health standpoint, fats naturally found in fish and plants are more heart healthy.

Empty calories can sometimes be the difference between losing and gaining weight. Empty calories refers to foods or drink that offer no nutritional nutrients but do contain calories. Unfortunately, regular soda is the most consumed empty calorie product out there.

Finally, there has always existed the theory that calories eaten at night are more likely to turn into fat. This is only partially true. If you have expended more calories with activity during the day than taken in, those late night calories will not damage your diet. However, if you have not been active and then eat a late night fattening meal, you will be likely to gain weight.

Kim Springer and her husband, Mike, are certified personal trainers and owners of Springer Training. They can be reached at 233-9442 or at their Web site www.springertraining.com.


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