Calories: How do you calculate caloric intake for weight loss?

Calories: How do you calculate caloric intake for weight loss? 1 answer on Quora

How do you calculate caloric intake for weight loss?

Will adding calorie information to restaurant menus really help with weight-loss and battle the obesity epidemic?

San Diego — So far, all signs point to yes. I was skeptical, but I have been talking to everyone I can about the fact that the total amount of calories, due to a new state law, must be printed next to each item on the menus of many restaurants in California. Restaurant chains, that have 20 or more locations, are required to put the calories of the items they sell directly next to the listed item.

After working in the health, fitness and weight-loss industry for over seven years, I have spoken with, trained and consulted hundreds of people on weight-loss and nutrition. Time after time I found people were quite inaccurate with their own calorie intake (eating almost 50 percent more than they thought) and were often wrong in their guessing, or what I like to call “guesstimates”, of the amount calories in the foods that they ate. This caused so much ground work and time consumption for people who were trying to find out which establishments they could dine at, and what they could eat when they did go to a restaurant, that many people became agitated and discouraged.

This discouragement often led to them giving-up on tracking their calorie intake, which is a shame, because calorie tracking is touted as one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose weight. Many people had good reasons for dining-out; some because they were only cooking for one person and others had very busy work schedules that left little time for them to prepare their own meals. On weekends dining-out was often a common form of social interaction, and furthermore many people had dinner meetings as part of their career obligations—particularly for those who’s work requires a large amount of travel.

So I began my observations of restaurant patrons, and informal interviews with bartenders, managers, servers and restaurant goers themselves to find-out what impact, if any, this new policy is having. The response was that the calorie information is overwhelmingly noticeable by all parties.

“There is a huge difference in the amount food people are eating, we have been wrapping-up leftovers and sending people home with doggie-bags much more now,” said Jared, Bartender at BJ’s Restaurant and BrewHouse in Carlsbad, CA. “I have heard a lot of people say they couldn’t believe how many calories were in their favorite dishes, and that they decided not to eat all of their food because of the calorie information. Most people seemed to be shocked by the giant number of calories in our salads—I was sure surprised (too). Who would have thought it would be bad for you to a salad?”

This is what health professionals have been preaching for years—portion control and moderation. The idea of a “diet” is not necessary, nor is it sustainable, which is likely why, when people lose weight, they eventually regain the weight back again over time. Your “diet” should just being another term for what you eat to sustain yourself—the same way we refer to the work diet as the major food source other animals eat to maintain life.

It is a simple answer to a growing epidemic; informing consumers about the main culprit for their gaining weight and that culprit is excess calorie consumption. Its not too many “carbs”, fats or the need for more protein…its too many calorie! We have to know this for ourselves and we have to know it to teach our children.

“I was amazed at the amount of calories in many of the items on the menu when I took my son to In-and-Out Burger for dinner last night,” said Kirsten Olsen. “We did end up eating there (at IN-and -OUT), but I gave him restrictions as to what he was allowed to order once I saw the calorie information on the menu.”

So it seems that information is power, and it is some times the truth that we don’t want to hear because it hinders the things we enjoy by making us conscious of what is good for our bodies rather than what we want. I am sure that in the early days of exposing the health risks of cigarette smoking that many smokers wondered “how bad can smoking really be when so many people are doing it?”

That just may be the case with our food consumption; we have enabled each other, as a society, to allow portions to become larger, our ignorance to become bliss and our lives to become more sedentary. After all, we need food to live, so “how bad can it really be?”

The answers are in the statistics; the majority of Americans and now our children too are over-weight. Being over-weight can lead to several health issues from coronary heart disease to diabetes. Now, if we could only get people have a sign or menu that forced them to immediately understand the health benefits of being more active, we may be able to make this epidemic become a thing of the past faster than we can get a burger from a drive-thru window.

Live Happy…Live Healthy…and Live a Long Life!

Adam Wade

Latest Myths and Facts about Fitness, Weight-loss and Diets

Fact: Nearly every study on obesity connects weight-gain to inactive lifestyles, and found that “skinny” people almost always move and do more physically.

Myth: Most overweight people have a slow metabolism…nope, the truth is, if you weigh 200 lbs. you burn more calories than someone who weighs 100 lbs. doing the same activity (or inactivity like sleeping)

Fact: Your body uses its fat from where ever it decides regardless of activity…or spot training.

Myth: Doing crunches and ab exercises with help you lose fat specifically from your belly. You cannot spot train, however, you will lose body fat from your stomach as overall body fat is reduced. Genetics and the way your body is built play a large role in determining where it will store fat first and lose it last.

Live Happy…Live Healthy

Adam

What is the best all around gym shoe? For running, exercise, deadlifts and squats.

An “ALL AROUND” shoe needs to sustain all around fitness. If you are worried about the dead-lifting and squatting in a power strengthening program, then there is no one shoe that will work, and running would be counterproductive to this type of muscle development. However, for overall fitness and “ALL AROUND” exercise routine a running shoe is best.

Live Happy, Healthy and a Long-life!

Adam

An “ALL AROUND” shoe needs to sustain

An “ALL AROUND” shoe needs to sustain all around fitness. If you are worried about the dead-lifting and squatting in a power strengthening program, then there is no one shoe that will work, and running would be counterproductive to this type of muscle development. However, for overall fitness and “ALL AROUND” exercise routine a running shoe is best.

How do I know who to trust for fitness information?

How do I know who to trust for fitness information? 1 answer on Quora

How do I know who to trust for fitness information?

What’s a good all-round gym shoe?

What's a good all-round gym shoe? 1 answer on Quora

What's a good all-round gym shoe?

Welcome to the We Are Healthy – -Fitness and Weight Loss Information for Everyone Blog

I would like to start simple…and state that there is NO SECRET to WEIGHT-LOSS! It is science, and science alone. Proven time and time again that if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Therefore, if you eat less calories than you burn, you will LOSE weight. Friends, I have no motive to lie to you, and this is the basic Law of Thermodynamics. It is not an opinion, theory or belief…it is a FACT, and it is fact that can set you free. You can finally be free to begin a campaign to your health and fitness goals and dismiss the misleading information that readily circulates around gyms, clubs and advertising.

Live Happy, Healthy and Longer

Adam Wade