Article DetailsCalorie Counting Tips and the Calories in Alcohol |
| Date Added: November 21, 2009 05:00:00 PM |
| Author: J. L. Smith |
| Category: Health: Weight Issues |
| Losing weight through calorie counting is about monitoring the calories you consume and the calories you burn. To lose weight, it is fairly widely suggested you should aim to consume about 500 to 1000 calories a day less than you burn a day until a healthy weight is reached. This calorie deficit should result in approximately 1lb to 2lb of weight loss a week.
In order to see the calories you are consuming and the calories you are burning, there are a number of useful tools available such as calorie calculators that give an indication of the calories you burn a day and the calories burned in various exercises. You can also find various online calorie counters to search for calories and nutritional content of different types of foods. Another useful process is to track you calorie consumption and exercise. This journalling allows you to see how your weight loss or gain is responding to your current calorie consumption and exercise, and allows you to modify your diet and exercise routine in response to how your weight loss is going. If you have trouble keeping up with journaling your exercise and diet program, there is software available that is very helpful for this purpose. In monitoring the calories you consume, it is important to monitor both the calories you eat as well as the calories you drink. Unfortunately, some people will be disappointed to know that fat, protein and carbohydrates are not the only source of calories, but alcohol contains calories as well. Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram and is second only to fat which contains about 9 calories per gram. Both carbohydrates and protein contain about 4 calories per gram. If you intend to have a few drinks through your calorie counting process it is useful to know how many calories are in various alcoholic beverages. For red wine, while the calories vary for the type of wine, you are typically looking at 125 calories per serving of 5 fl oz while for the same serving of white wine, you may be looking at 121 calories. One can of regular beer contains around 153 calories and 12.6 grams of carbohydrates while a can of light beer contains about 103 calories and 5.8 grams of carbohydrates. A jigger (1.5 fl oz) of 90 proof gin, rum, vodka or whiskey contains around 110 calories with virtually no fat, carbohydrates or protein. Keep in mind though, when mixing these drinks, you will need to count the calories of the beverage you are mixing them with as well. This calorie information is accessible and readily available via the United States Department of Agriculture (also referred to as USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. You will also need to talk with your physician when embarking on a weight loss plan as they can advise you regarding your unique situation and health condition. |
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