What is Weight Loss?


What is Weight Loss?

 Unused energy from food is stored in fat Like all mammals, humans eat food to obtain energy. Energy is needed to live, breathe, work, walk, sleep,talk, think, heat our bodies, and do every thing we do during our ordinary day. The digestive system breaks food down for delivery into the blood stream, and for eventual energy use by the cells of the body.

Energy can be measured in calories. The average recommended American diet should provide 2000 calories per day. Most Americans consume far more than this. If the all the energy from food is not used by the body, the extra energy is stored for future use in the form of fat.

Fat is like a savings account for calories (energy). In the future, if you cannot eat enough, you can obtain the needed calories from fat. However, if you continue to eat more calories than you use, you will continue to build fat.

 Someone trying to lose weight is really trying to lose the weight related to the extra fat they don’t need.The ONLY way to lose fat is to burn more calories than you take in. You must “earn” fewer caloreis (eat much less) and “spend” much more (exercise and be active). That is the only way one can hope to reduce one’s “savings account” (fat).

 Every pound of fat contains about 3,500 calories.If you eat 2,500 calories a day but only use 2,000 calories, you will store 500 calories each day. At the end of 7 days you will GAIN 1 extra pound of fat.

If you eat 1,500 calories a day and use 2,000 calories, you will burn 500 calories from fat each day. At the end of 7 days, you will LOSE 1 pound of fat.

 

Calories from food greater than calories used with activity= WEIGHT GAIN

Calories from food less than calories uses with activity = WEIGHT LOSS