There is lots of technical information about what a calorie is. I am more concerned with the dietary aspect of calories and what they are and how they affect food choices and benefits to our bodies.
A calorie is the stuff in food that gives us energy. In a nut shell, yes that is true but there is more to a calorie than that.
A calorie is a measurement of energy. Energy from food is measured in kilocalories. A kilocalorie is the amount of energy needed to raise 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. A lot of different factors come into play such as starting temperature of the water, atmospheric pressure, etc. We won’t go into all of that in this post. Just know that that is the short definition of what a kilocalorie is.
The more calories (kilocalories) a particular food item has, the more energy it will provide. If the food we eat contains more calories than we can burn as energy, we store it as fat. If we consume fewer calories than our bodies use for energy, our bodies start to burn our stored fat as energy and we lose fat.
The calorie count for different nutrients are: 9 kilocalories for fat, 4 kilocalories for carbohydrates and 4 kilocalories for protein. So a gram of fat provides more than twice as many calories as a gram of either protein or carbohydrates. If you eat a lot of fat as part of your diet, you’ll need to burn off twice as many calories.
Now we know what a calorie is and the calorie content of certain nutrients, we can be better prepared for to make our calories count.
You are, to a certain drgeee, on the right track but the fact is without the proper nutrition, 90% of the exercise you do counts for nothing.In order to burn fat, you must be in a caloric deficit and create the right hormonal environment for fat loss through clean dieting and proper exercise.I can give you a few exercises to do that will help you burn some fat, but sooner or later you will hit a plateau and will stop burning fat due to a poor diet.For stomach and thighs, you’d want to superset lower-body exercises with abdominals for example:Bodyweight Squats Hanging Leg RaisesBulgarian Split Squats Decline CrunchesLunges Regular CrunchesFocus on a full, controlled range of motion for the first week. Then add speed the following week, then add load the week after, as an example. Not everyone is the same so you have to find out what works best for you.After an intense workout, finishing up with an intense bout of cardio for around 10-15 minutes would be a good start to boost that fat loss. Cardio does not work alone as it only strips you of your Lean Body Mass (LBM), and LBM is responsible for fat loss as Muscle is an active tissue.After an intense workout, the body says, What in the world did you just do to me? I had better hold on to this muscle or I won’t last in the gym again! The body then finds the next thing to burn and that is fat, so cardio after workout is always best.There is plenty more to it but if you need any further help don’t hesitate to get in touch.Good luck
I agree. Muscle memory develops and you plateau so it is important to change up your routine or you will only go so far. Plus it helps keep you from getting bored with the same routine.