Put simply, they’re a unit of measure, like centimetres or lbs.Ĭalories (Kcal or kilocalories) are a unit of measure that tell us how much energy food and drink contains, think of 1200Kcal as 1200 units of energy. Now we’re clear on what calories are we can discuss weight loss. When you want to lose weight, what you’re really saying is you want less body fat. Body fat is your body’s energy reserve, kind of like carrying a power bank around with you to charge your phone.
When your phone battery gets low, you plug the power bank in and it gives the phone energy. Your body works in a similar way, you eat food and store some of that energy in your muscles as glycogen (your phone battery). When this runs out, your body’s power bank turns on (your stored body fat) and it uses that for energy instead. That is until you eat more food, like getting home and plugging your phone into the wall. When we eat more food than our body needs, we store that extra energy as body fat to use at a later date. Do that often enough and you gain weight and start thinking you’re ‘fat’. So, when it comes to weight loss the goal is simple, put less energy in (food & drink) than your body needs on a daily basis. This forces your body to use its stored energy (body fat) and you being to lose weight. Now that’s the basics of weight loss covered, we can dig into why 1200Kcal is a stupid number. Unless you are incredibly small, like borrows level tiny, or have something like hypothyroidism (which slows your metabolism), then there’s a good chance you burn more than 1200Kcal every day. Įven if you lay still in bed for 24hrs, you’d probably still burn something close to that number. This is because of something called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Your BMR is the amount of energy your body needs at rest.Įven though you’re not moving, your body is still hard at work. You’re breathing, pumping blood, keeping your brain functioning and a whole host of other things that need energy, quite a lot of energy in fact. Your BMR can account for around 40-75% of your total daily energy expenditure depending on how active or sedentary you are.
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