How To Use A Calorie Calculator

It is easy to let the pounds add up as you get older. people with hectic jobs and long work hours often find that they don't take the time to prepare health foods for meals, and instead reach for snacks--soda that contains large amounts of corn syrup, or fast food that is high in trans fats. Individuals in this situation also tend to not take time out for exercise, and the food choices and lack of activity can lead to excess weight. Some of us come to a moment of truth when we get a checkup at the doctor's office. You know you will have to get on that really accurate scale, and even if you take off your shoes and shed all extra clothing, the numbers don't lie: you have indeed gained some weight. Your doctor might recommend that you lose some weight, and you know you should, but it can be hard to know how to get started. There are some online helpers, like a calorie calculator and an exercise journal, that can help you get started and take the guesswork and stress out of achieving a healthy weight loss.

A calorie counter will help you figure out how many calories you are consuming each day. You can compare that to your doctor's recommendations for weight loss, and make adjustments as needed. A calorie, if you think back to high school science classes, is the energy used to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to maintain its systems and functions, as well as to deal with fuel needed for activity, but after that point any extra calories are stored as fat in your body. The trick to a healthy weight loss plan is to cut your calories a bit, and increase your activity a bit, in order to achieve small losses of weight over time until you reach your ideal weight. Many doctors recommend no more than one half to one pound a week weight loss as a safe level to use as your goal. calorie calculators take all the guesswork out of keeping track of how much you are eating. simply type in the kind of food and the amount, and the calculator does all the research and math to let you know the number of calories in the food, as well as the number of grams of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. You can find out in an instant, so it doesn't add another major task to your day.

Exercise actually not only helps you improve muscular and cardiovascular strength, but if you exercise enough it allows you to eat more calories and still lose weight. online exercise logs or exercise journals make keeping track of exercise very easy. online weight loss programs are available that offer workouts designed to help you meet your weight loss goals that fit into your schedule because you can customize them to fit your specific situation.

Susan Slobac is a nutritionist and dietitian who offers free workout plans and advice on how to find the best weight loss program for natural weight loss.

Work Out Yoga Video

Calcium, What's The Big Deal?

The big question about Calcium, exactly what is Calcium and why is Calcium so important to you and I?

What is Calcium?

Calcium is one of the most abundant micro-nutrient found in our body. 99% of our bodys total calcium is stores in the bones and teeth. The remaining 1% of calcium is then found throughout our body in blood, muscles, and the fluid in between cells. Calcium is also needed for muscle contraction and the secretion of hormones and enzymes. There are much more usage of Calcium, but to put simply, Calcium is important for Bone repair/formations and the contraction of muscles. Calcium is also the answer to strong and dense bones.

Different Types of Calcium, Which is Best?

Calcium is an element and it comes in various forms. Theres Calcium citrate, Calcium phosphate, Calcium Gluconate, Calcium Carbonate, and e.t.c. The list can go on and on, but which is the most common one that is best absorbed by the body?

There is something called the elemental weight. Calcium phosphate has an elemental weight of 31-38% whilst Calcium carbonate has an elemental weight of 40%. Lets use Calcium Carbonate (Most common form of Calcium found in the market) as an example, if you take 500mg of Calcium carbonate, only 200mg of elemental Calcium is available for absorption. Ill make things simpler by giving you an analogy; lets presume that youre now going down to the fuel station to pump some petrol for your car. There are 2 types of Petrol and both are mixed with water. For every liter of petrol, Petrol X contains 20% petrol whilst Petrol Y contains 40% petrol. We do know that cars require petrol to move and not water. So the obvious choice will be Petrol Y. The same goes to us, our body can only utilize elemental Calcium, and therefore, Calcium Carbonate is one of the better choices of Calcium supplements to take.

vitamin D & Calcium Absorption
Taking Calcium alone is not as effective taking calcium with a good dose of vitamin D. vitamin D helps improve Calcium absorption. To put things simply, lets imagine things this way. before calcium is absorbed by our body, it needs go through a door which is locked and requires a key to open it. vitamin D is the key to opening this door to allow calcium into your body and from there allows the body to utilize the Calcium.

What NOT to Consume Calcium With
We should not be consuming Calcium with Zinc and Iron. This is so as our body prioritizes Calcium over the other two minerals. I advise you to take Zinc and Iron at a time when your body has little Calcium, preferably 30mins-60mins after drinking your milk. When purchasing multivitamins, do also look at the nutrition fact sheet to see if any of this minerals are stashed together.

How much Calcium is Needed?
If youre just an average adult, I would recommend taking anything from 800mg 1200mg of Calcium a day. However, if youre an athlete or bodybuilder, you should be taking up to 2000mg 2300mg of Calcium a day. Good sources of protein include milk, yoghurt, cheese. Taking more than 2500mg of Calcium may cause you to get wet stools.

Benefits
Calcium will help you maintain a healthy bone mass, delay the onset of osteoporosis and recent research articles have also shown that Calcium aids weight loss.

Reference
Hartman TJ, Albert PS, Snyder K, et al. The association of calcium and vitamin d with risk of colorectal adenomas. J Nutr. 2005 Feb;135(2):252-9.

Shi H, Dirienzo D, Zemel MB. Effects of dietary calcium on adipocyte lipid metabolism and body weight regulation in energy-restricted aP2-agouti transgenic mice. FASEB J 2001; 15:291-293.

Zemel MB, Thompson W, Milstead A, Morris K, Campbell P. Calcium and dairy acceleration of weight and fat loss during energy restriction in obese adults. Obes Res. 2004 Apr;12(4):582-90.

dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp#h7

Darcy is currently studying and researching into Sports and Exercise Sciences. He Co-Owns http://www.Supplementtracker.com Contact: Darcy[at] http://www.Supplementtracker.com
"Our body is like a delicate piece of art, every portion and every detail has to be sculpt carefully and patiently to get what we want" -Darcy

Yoga Meditation Spiritualiter