Since ages the basic concept of losing fat stored in various parts of the body is by burning more calories than intake. Still people think that the best way to lose fat is to count every calorie and burn more than it. Well it is right that burning more calories than you intake every day is the key to a healthy life but counting calorie is not as easy you might think. Beside this, calorie intake and calorie burn require a lot of effort. The body of each individual responds differently so if you think that calorie intake and calorie burn is a universal phenomenon to stay fit then you are misinformed. For example you must have seen many people who eat whatever they want including junk food but never put on weight and there are people who even by eating less or following a strict diet tend to put weight when they eat something oily or fatty.
Now you must have got some idea what we are talking about because the above mentioned examples are a reality we all are familiar with and envy those people who doesn’t get fat even after eating anything. So if you are the one who consider calorie count the only important thing in your quest to loose fat then read below to know what the actual concept is:
1. You Actually have no Idea how many Calories you need:
You most probably have read it in a fitness magazine or any fitness article that one pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories and the ideal rate to reduce weight is one pound of fat per week which means you have to burn 500-1000 calories a day to cut down your excess body fat. Well, all this is true but do you know how much calories your body actually needs a day. The problem with most of the people is that they approximate the number of calories they use per day with the help of equations and apps. If you really want to know your calorie count you have to know your basal metabolic rate or in more simple words the number of calories your body require per day to keep all your body functions up and running and keeping you alive. And if you are more serious in knowing about the most accurate number of calories you use per day then try calorimetry.
2. You don’t know how many Calories your Body is Absorbing from Food:
This is another setback for you if you count calorie intake because no person on this earth can figure out how much calories his body is absorbing from a particular food. Like said in first point mentioned above people think that 3500 calories equals to 1 pound of fat and to eliminate body fat you have to burn 500 to 1000 calories a day. But do you actually know how much calories your body is absorbing from the food you are consuming. There are many factors that decide the calorie absorption in your body. The method of preparation of food, how much fiber your food contains and even the bacteria in your gut plays a vital part in your calorie absorption from a particular meal.
So if you think that calorie count is the best way to stay fit then think that the calorie count of a sweet potato is easily available online but do you know that the size of the potato also matters. A big sweet potato will have more calories than a smaller one. But what you are doing is that you are counting calorie of sweet potato based on some calorie table and neglecting the size which also matters a lot.