Damien Walters: Bro, Do you even lift?
We have all seen some weird things in the gym, but this is next level. Seriously Bro, do you even lift?
Team Feelgood: The Fat Tax?!
Some places like Denmark and New York City have tried issuing a tax on fried and sugary foods, known as the fat tax. Do you think higher taxes on unhealthy food is a good way to improve eating habits?
Let us know in the comments below! And don’t forget to like and share!
What is a carbohydrate?
A carbohydrate, or carb, is one of the four ‘macronutrients’ (carbs, fat, protein and alcohol). This means it is a nutrient that we consume in large amounts and obtain energy or calories from.
Carbs are the preferred energy source of our bodies. We have developed a very good system to break carbs down into simple sugars and store the energy (as glucagon or fat) or use it right away.
It is recommended that we get 45 - 65% of our total energy from carbs. One gram of carb has approximately 4 Calories. This means someone who needs 2000 Calories a day would need 900 - 1300 Calories from carbs, or 225 - 325 grams of carbs.
Carbs come from either starch or sugar in foods. These are foods like breads, pasta, root vegetables, juice, soft drinks and fruit.
Low carb diets, like Atkins or South Beach, have been popular for weight loss in recent years. There have been some safety concern with diets like these because if we use only protein and fat as an energy source our bodies make ‘ketones’ as a by product. If these are allowed to build up in the body it could make your internal environment more acidic than normal and lead to a variety of health problems. If you are thinking about doing a low carb diet be sure to consult with your dietitian or physician first.
What is a Calorie?
It is almost impossible to talk weight loss without some mention of Calories. You may have heard the term Calorie a million times, but what is it and why is it so important?
The number of Calories you see on a food label tells you how much energy you are getting from a set amount of that food. Just like a light bulb requires a certain amount of watts to power it, our bodies require a certain amount of calories.
If you consume more Calories than you use the extra energy is stored in your body, eventually as fat. If you consume less Calories than you need your body will tap into your extra energy stores, fat, to get the rest of the energy it needs. This is why the amount of Calories you consume is directly related to the amount of weight you will lose or gain.
A rule of thumb for weight loss is that 3500 Calories is one pound of fat. This means if you consumed 500 less Calories per day than you need you would lose one pound a week. This number will vary depending on a lot of factors, but it is a good guideline. Healthy weight loss, that is more likely to stay off for good, is 1 – 2 pounds a week.
