IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CALORIES, BABY ;)

Some hilarious person came up with the idea that "Calories are tiny creatures that live in your closet and sew your clothes tighter".

-Hahahaha-  As ridiculously hilarious as it sounds, it's kinda true you know, look at it this way, you consume food, the calories go into your body, get out through your skin, latch on to your clothes, get into your closet, find your sewing kit and go to work... -lol-

Anyway, point is, if you watch how many calories you consume daily and ensure you have just the required amount to stay healthy, the calories will not move into your closet -full stop-.

Reading nutrition facts on food packs and cans has become my regular habit, calculating calories before I prepare a meal and counting calories on each meal I dish has helped me greatly.

So dear friend, smile as I introduce you to Calories your new best friend or worst enemy depending on the relationship you decide to forge with 'him'.

Calories are the amount of energy in any food or fruit. Let me make an honest attempt at explaining this better. You know how you measure the weight of a food say 1 large watermelon in kilograms? You measure the energy in that same food in calories. So, it's safe to say that in a food, Weight equals kilogram (kg) and Energy equals calories (cal or kcal).

Kilocalorie as far as I am concerned is a more intellectually sounding word for Calories -lol- however there is a scientific difference.

A calorie is the energy needed to raise one cubic centimeter of water one degree C and is usually refered to only in chemistry class, also it is a very small amount of energy.

A kCal is 1000 of the "scientific" Calories. So when you consume something that says 100 Calories, it is really 100,000 calories or 100kcal, anyway, for all intents and purposes, they're practically the same.

Kilojoules on the other hand are the metric measurement of Calories and this requires you multiplying the calorie figure by 4.2 to find the energy content in kilojoules... Who needs that stress right? I know... -smile-. That's why we (DietChic) are here.

Food labels often tell you how many calories are in 100 grams or 100ml of drinks. Many labels will also tell you the amount of calories in 'one serving size' and quantity of said 'serving size' so be certain to use the food makers serving size so you don't take in too much calories and exceed your daily calorie requirement.

When checking labels, DO NOT JUST concentrate on how many calories are in a portion size, also check the sugar, fibre, sodium, carbs, protein, fat, etc contents. Two different foods may contain same amount of calories but one would be totally unhealthy and the other very healthy.

For instance, let's compare a portion of swordfish with rocket and tomato salad to a 17oz piece of cheese cake.

Both contain 257 calories, however, the cheesecake is not only less filling but also unhealthy. That's what I call "a piece of 257 useless calories". So be very careful what is in the calories you consume.

Now I can clearly hear most of you asking how to know the calorie content of food, fruits, drinks and veggies that are not packaged.

Well, I would love to teach you how to determine how many calories a food contains but that is the trick of my trade. However, as we progress, I will regularly make a list of some Nigerian and African foods, fruits and vegetables and tell you how many calories they contain.

To maintain a healthy weight, the energy you take in from food must equate the energy you expend in activities daily. It is therefore very essential to know how many calories are in the food you consume as that is the key to everything weight loss and/or weight maintenance.

P.S: There are many online resources that can help with determining how many calories any given food contains and I subscribe to two of them, however, I will not mention any at this time but I will advice you to be careful which you use as many of them are crawling with wrong information, but if you find any and will need my advice, send me the link as a comment and I'll look at it and advice you.

Eat your food while staring into a mirror.... totally naked! #Stolen!



#DIETCHIC!!!