Count Calories!!!
Do you count calories? How do you do it? Should you do it?
Burning more calories than you consume
An average person, depending on factors such as age, gender and body size, burns around 1,200 to 1,700 calories per day. Women usually burn 1200 to 1500 calories while their male counterparts burn 1500 to 1700 calories in one day.
In order to lose weight, you have to make sure that you burn more calories than the amount that you are taking in your food and beverages.
The amount of calories to burn in order to lose 1 kg of fat is 7,700 calories, so if you cut down on 500 calories a day, it would take you just around two weeks to lose the first kilogram.
While doing so, however, you should never consume less than the required amount of calories a day as you could be losing out on vital nutrition that your body needs. Remember, you body is constantly burning calories as you walk, breathe and even sleep!
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How do I know how much calories are in my food?
It may be difficult counting your calories at the start as non-packaged food, such as those you buy from the hawker centre or restaurants, would not have nutritional labels that detail this information.
In order to note down your calorie consumption, therefore, it would be useful to look up the restaurant menu online or download a calorie counter app to help you.
This would definitely be a load off your back should you be cooking at home, as there is nutritional information of many common cooking ingredients available online.
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The lowdown on calorie counting
What else should I do?
As a successful diet is often followed by gradual weight gain, it is understandable why many have lost faith in losing weight when they pack on the pound just weeks after shedding them. How can we ensure that weight management is for the long term and sustainable, then?
At the recent Xndo media launch, Xndo founder and CEO Mr Lars Brittsjo shared with us how diets often don’t work because it does not consider a person’s individual needs and wants. It became apparent how diets were doomed to fail once we realised how they did not permit us to keep our lifestyles with the rigid and strict rules are are so difficult and unpleasant to adhere to.
With his knowledge and passion for food, Mr Brittsjo strove to create a sustainable programme for people who love food yet want to manage their weights effectively at the same time. Technology enabled him thus to create calorie-controlled and ready-to-eat meals which were not just nutritious but surprisingly tasty too.
Image courtest of Xndo
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Do calorie-controlled meals really work?
Just like normal food but sold in sealed packages, ready-to-eat meals are useful for parents who are on-the-go but still want to note their calorie consumption. Using NASA’s technology to ensure the freshness of these meals, Xndo products have spearheaded this exclusive method to limit calorie intake by using natural ingredients with lower calorie count to replace more typical ones.
One such example is Xndo’s discovery of the use of konnyaku root, from the konjac plant, to make noodles. Instead of producing noodles from high-calorie ingredients such as flour or rice, the low-calorie konnyaku root is used and its high fibre content also makes it a very healthy choice.
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Balanced and nutritious
In the bid for better weight management, it is still important to understand that the main reason for such weight-loss endeavours would be to promote a more balanced and healthy lifestyle. Consuming too much or too little calories is harmful for you, and while calorie counting is a good habit, being overly obsessed with it can be dangerous too.
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For more on calories and calorie counting, watch this video below:
