Calorie Burning Information
Weight maintenance is a tricky thing with a basic premise: Consume more calories than you burn, and you'll gain weight; consume as many calories as you burn, and you'll maintain your weight; and burn more calories than you consume, and you'll lose weight. Knowing how your body burns calories can help you put the pounds on, take them off or simply keep them off.
-
The Basics
-
Everything you do burns calories. Even if you don't think you're doing anything, you're doing something: your heart is beating, you're breathing and all sorts of activity is going on in your cells. All that work requires energy. Powering your body's basic needs accounts for about two-thirds of your daily calorie use, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Food Processing
-
It also takes energy for your body to digest, absorb and store the food you eat. Doing this accounts for about 10 percent of your daily calorie use, according to the Mayo Clinic.
-
Activity
-
With about three-quarters of your daily calorie use accounted for, the remainder goes to physical activity. In short, the rule is this: the more you move, the more you burn. Consuming more calories than you burn causes your body to store that energy as fat; this is why people gain weight. Burning more calories than you consume causes your body to burn its stored energy; this is what causes weight loss.
Alcohol
-
Alcohol can destroy a diet. Your body cannot store calories from alcohol, so it must burn them before drawing energy from the other calories you've consumed. This is part of the reason drinking often leads to weight gain.
How to Burn More Calories
-
The Mayo Clinic recommends at least a half-hour of aerobic activity every day. This can be strenuous, such as a brisk run, or moderate, such as a relaxing daily walk.
Weight training is key, especially as you get older. Aging causes muscle loss, and weight training helps you regain muscle tissue. Muscles are calorie-burning machines, so the more muscle you build, the more calories you burn.
For those who lack the time or desire to exercise regularly, the Mayo Clinic recommends finding ways to move more throughout the day, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, doing household chores or yard work, walking instead of driving, or parking far from the grocery store or mall entrance.
Counting Calories
-
The math to keep track of how many calories you consume is pretty simple. But how do you keep track of the calories you burn? Online calorie counters such as caloriesperhour.com can help--just enter your body weight and click on one of the thousands of activities listed on the site.
-
