Explain what calories have to do with weight loss?

Answer 1

We need energy to move, think, and breathe. We add the energy we need through food and drink. We call this energy a calorie. Since the amount of energy we use and the amount we consume are not always the same, we are either storing energy (primarily in fat cells) or we are using stored energy (primarily from fat cells).

Think of your fat cells as mini gas tanks. We can store about nine calories (units of energy) in one gram of fat. There are about 453 grams in one pound. That means you can store about 3,500 calories in a pound of fat.

Weight gain and weight loss can happen for a variety of reasons and from a variety of sources. We are over sixty percent water so retaining excess water can lead to weight gain and dehydration will result in weight loss. Additionally, we can gain and lose muscle weight depending on our activity level.

However, the healthiest weight loss comes from losing fat. The way to lose fat is to deplete fat cells of stored energy, the calorie. If we eat higher nutrition, lower calorie foods and exercise, we can create an energy deficit. We will need to use stored energy and we will begin to deplete fat cells of their calories. Each time we deplete 3,500 calories (units of energy) from our fat cells we will lose a pound of fat.