Table of Contents
Introduction
Obesity can lead to many health problems in our body such as diabetes, cardiovascular health problems, etc. Once you gained much weight, it becomes much more difficult to lose it again. Many people tried many ways yoga, exercise, dieting, etc. but they don’t succeed to bring their body again in shape. Sometimes they miss the simple science of calories available in different food. Without proper knowledge of calories intake from the foods, their efforts to lose weight end in failure.
In today’s article, we will discuss the weight loss strategy by making different calorie categories in simple language. We count different currency notes in our daily life. These categories are also divided into 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 as currency notes.
These will educate you about which daily consumed food contains how many calories. According to these calorie counter categories, you decide your weight loss strategy and become successful in this way.
What are calories in food?
Calorie is a measurement unit of energy. Means calorie is the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one gram of water by one Degree Celsius.
We need a certain amount of calories to function our body properly. We get these calories from our daily food.
Our food contains different kinds of calories. Every food doesn’t have the same calories. From the foods we consume, we get calories from three main sources that are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. These three sources of calories also known as macronutrients.
Remember water and micronutrients such as vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, etc. don’t have any calories. But these micronutrients are required for the proper functioning, development, and well-being of the body and also prevent us from many diseases.
The macronutrient providing calories are as follow:
Carbohydrate provides 4 calories per gram
Protein provide 4 calories per gram
Fat provides 9 calories per gram
This simply means when you eat foods containing 100 grams of carbohydrate or protein it will provide you with 100 calories and foods having 100 grams of fat provide you 900 calories.
Different individuals require different amounts of calories which again depends on their age, type of work and physical activity, gender metabolism, etc. On average a person requires from 1600 to 3000 calories per day to sustain their life.
We should consume calories from our food according to our daily requirements. This is helpful to maintain our body weight at a sustainable level.
Whenever calorie intake is increased than a required amount, the unused calories will be stored in the body as fat and that will increase the bodyweight also. If your calorie intake is increased by 1000 to 1500 calories per day than what is required, you may increase one kilogram of body weight per week. However, this depends on many factors.
Now it is clear that reducing required calorie intake may help to reduce obesity also. This doesn’t mean that you should reduce calorie intake drastically. It may adversely affect our health. You must have a healthy and balanced diet for optimum health benefits. It should be planned properly.
Reducing around 500 calories per day may help you to lose about half a kilogram of body weight in a week. Reducing around 2 to 3 kilograms of weight per month is considered an ideal weight loss strategy.
Calorie count categories
Now let’s count and understand which food item has how many calories in easy-to-understand language for even a layman and we will categorize it into different groups or categories. Count calories from different food items like you count your currency notes.
20 calorie category or vegetable category
All vegetables contain around 20 calories per 100 grams. For example, take a tomato having a weight of 100 grams. It contains around 90% water and water has zero calories. The remaining 10% have other nutrients mainly carbohydrates and fibers. So roughly it contains 5 grams of carbohydrate content. 1 gram of carbohydrate is equal to 4 calories. Therefore 5 grams is equal to 20 calories in 100 grams of tomato.
Likewise, most of the vegetable and salad categories foods such as tomato, cucumber, onion, radish, coriander, celery, ladyfinger, etc. have calorie counts of around 15 to 30 calories per 100 grams. So consider this category as a currency note of 20.
Some exceptions are potatoes, sweet potatoes, beetroot, peas, parsnip, kale have higher calories than other vegetables. These exceptional vegetables contain around 50 to 70 calories per 100 gram. So transfer this vegetable to the next 50 calorie category.
Remember this is not an exact calorie. Here I am describing nearer calorie, so everyone can easily understand.
50 calorie category or fruits category
All fruits fall into the 50 calorie category. For example, 100 grams of an apple contains 85% means 85 grams of water. Among the remained 15% have 13 grams of carbohydrate. So estimated calorie count in an apple is around 50.
Most of the fruits such as apple, strawberry, guava, orange, grapefruit, mosambi, raw apricot, pomegranate, watermelon, pineapple, cherries, papaya, common fig, grapes, peaches, kiwifruit, plum, etc. have between 50 to 60 calories per 100 grams. Assume this category as a currency notes of 50.
Some exceptional fruits such as banana, mango, durian, avocado, jackfruit, etc. have higher calories that is 100 or more calories. Transfer these fruits to the next 100 calorie category.
100 calorie category or our regular food
This category includes food items prepared from different grain flour such as wheat, maize, pearl millet, rice, etc, and dal prepared from different kinds of pulses such as chickpeas, green grams, red lentil, yellow pigeon peas, Bengal gram, etc.
For example, one piece of chapati weighs about 30 grams and contains 113 calories. One slice of bread weighs about 30 grams and contains 80 calories. 1 cup of cooked rice has 80 calories and 1 cup of cooked dal has around 100 calories. Biscuits are also made from grain flour which weighs about 6 grams per piece. Take 4 pieces of biscuits that have 100 calories. Now you understood that food items made from cereals and pulses have 100 calories. Consider it as a currency note of 100.
500 calorie or fried foods category
This category food item is prepared from different food combination and are usually fried.
For example, Gulab Jamun is prepared from white flour, sugar, ghee, etc. One-piece weighs about 50 grams and contains near 300 calories. If you eat two pieces of gulab jamun you will get more than 500 calories.
Likewise, 100 grams of almond also contains more than 500 calories. Most of the fried items and sweets have nearly 500 calories per 100 grams.
1000 calorie or pure fat category
Pure fat means all type of oils and ghee falls in 1000 calorie category. Means 100 grams of ghee or oils have nearer 1000 calories. This is your heavy currency note of 1000.
In all these categories I have only discussed veg food items and no animal or non-veg foods
Weight loss strategy according to these categories
Now you’re completely understood the different food groups or categories of different caloric values. Treat every category as a currency note, such as 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1000. You decide what currency note you want to spend for your body’s calorie needs.
Now prepare your weight loss plan according to these categories and follow it regularly.
For example, your daily calorie requirement is 2000 per day. Now it’s in your hand that by using which currency notes you fulfill your daily calorie needs.
If you use 500 currency notes, you need to spend only 4 notes. This means only eating 400 grams of foods from the 500 calorie category will fulfill your daily requirement of body needs. But only 400 grams of food per day may not fill your stomach, which means your hunger may not be satisfied yet. Because of this, you will eat more food and by doing so your calorie intake will be more than what is required. Thus extra unused calories will be stored as fat and you will gain weight.
Therefore to reduce obesity try to spend 20 and 50 currency notes for your daily requirement. Means selecting 20 and 50 calorie category foods.
These two category food have low-calorie value, high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other antioxidants also. You require more quantity of foods from this category. Even if eating in high quantity foods from these two categories, you will get fewer calories and your stomach will be loaded fullest. Other benefits are you will not be hungry for a longer period due to high fiber content in this category and you are consuming a balanced diet also.
Along with this, try to cut 200 to 300 calories per day if possible from other heavy calorie categories group to lose your weight.
Try to avoid foods from 500 and 1000 calorie categories as much as possible and reduced food intake from the 100 calorie group. This simply means avoid fried foods, refined sugar, sweets, and reduce eating of chapati, bread rice, etc. than you’re consuming at present. Increase intake of raw vegetables and fruits.
But remember don’t completely stop consuming 100 category food items as cereals and pulses are good sources of protein and other nutrients also. Try to develop habits of a balanced and healthy diet.
Along with this strategy do yoga, exercise, physical activity regularly. It will provide you body stamina, inner healthiness, and peace of mind also.
Follow this strategy and after one month please comment to me whether this worked for you or not.
Please note that this article is for educational purposes only. Please consult your doctor or healthcare professional before taking any action. This article is not a substitute for professional health care service, diagnosis, treatment, etc.