Calories... AND counting.

Fact: I lost 10 kg in the 2011-2012 period.
Tell me more...

Let's admit, when we eat simple foods, our bodies get comfortable. Eventually we get so comfortable that it gets uncomfortable...

Then you whack the rusty old tractor with a colourful chickpea, quinoa, radish, flaxseed, sunflower and chia-seed salad and it goes 'Whoaaaa!'. Next thing you know you're throwing half your wardrobe away, because you look ridiculous with your old baggy clothes. 

We need energy to perform a task, any task, which is why we eat - to get energy. Over centuries we have ate various objects and know what we are capable of digesting. If we didn't have to live physically, we would probably be just thoughts - not much energy required... I'm not going to go further into this now though.

Not many are aware that for digestion our bodies use almost as much energy as the food gives to us! For example, if you eat 1500 per day, your body roughly uses 1500 per day to maintain itself.

The trick is not in the calories, but in the actual food. (D'ah!)

*If you eat a snickers bar (300 cals), your body spends 150 to digest it so you end up with 150 in reserve.
*If you eat an apple (100 cals), your body spends about 100 to digest it, so it evens out. Plus you get fibre, vitamins, minerals, which makes your body work harder.

For those concerned (those not able to hear what their bodies are saying!), use a rough guide to inspecting packaging, not calories:

The more fibre, the fuller you feel (and your body excretes more..);
Protein recovers and keeps the size of muscles;
Non-saturated fats help to moisturise the joints and skin;
Saturated fat makes you sluggish and slows you down;
Starch, simple sugars give you quick energy but your body uses little energy to digest it, resulting in storage.

If you do count calories, here are some tips:

*100 grams of almost every food contains from 300 to 500 calories;
*Starchy vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, beetroot, carry around 100 calories per 100 grams;
*Most grains have around 400-500 calories, including rice, bread, quinoa, couscous;
*Fresh vegetables have about 50 calories;
*Fruits carry around 50-100 calories;

*A bottle of beer has around 200;
*Chocolates, biscuits, cakes, whatever sweets are usually 500+ calories per 100 grams;
*The same goes for fried stuff, whatever it is.

 I started counting when I became conscious of my measurements (just some pretty wording used by fattys!) and luckily I have learnt several things that were beneficial to me:

1) I realised HOW MUCH I was consuming, which lead to better self-awareness;
2) It lead me to reading about water fasting, green juicing, raw foods and welfare of our food;
3) I have familiarised with nutritional and energy values of various products,
however I still eat just as much, so what's the point?

I used to eat 3000 calories a day two years ago, I eat 3000 calories a day today.
I still eat quite a lot, however the foods that I eat completely changed.
Out of those 3000 calories, 80 % of food used to be crap. And I mean chocolates, biscuits, chips, dips, breads or alcohol.

Today they are dairy products, vegetables, pulses, fruits, but I still like beer and a slice of pizza! It's just that those empty calories only account for no more than 20% of my daily intake.

The reason was that my body was presented with beautifully complex foods which required more energy to digest them, therefore I went from storing 1000 cals each day to losing 1000 cals each day! (-ish)

 

 Logically, the more calorie-dense the food - the better, as we can carry on with our activities and interests without spending too much time just eating. There is a bit of controversy in today's world though.  If we need energy to perform a task, why would we eat foods that are less and less in calories every year..?