CALORIES! The word we will almost certainly come across in any health magazine and article. It is the word we always see at the back of the packaging of every food item. We think we know it so well. Well.. do we? To some unsuspecting exercise fanatics.. the word 'calorie' is sometimes thought of as a bad thing. Is it really? What is a calorie then?

Simply said, a calorie is a unit of energy in food, and food consists of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, with some drinks containing alcohol. Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, Proteins 4 calories per gram, and Alcohol has 7 calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories per gram. Calories are simply the amount of 'stored energy', or a 'measure of fuel' in a food item. It is not something bad that we should avoid or something harmful to our body. In fact, we need calories to survive.

I'm not sure if you realise, but our body is burning calories all the time. Yes, even now, as you're sitting there staring at your computer at my article. When we consume MORE calories than our body requires - we put on weight, and when we consume LESS calories than what we need - we lose weight. Its as simple as that, and thats the logic behind what weightloss and weightgain is all about and how it words.

So by this, we can conclude that it would do our body good if we are able to cause it to burn more calories.. especially when we're on a weightloss plan. Well, what influences the number of calories we burn? It generally depends on our metabolism, body composition, and food intake. The more lean muscle mass and the lower amount of fat you possess, the more calories you will burn during physical activity.

What I love about muscle tissue is that the more muscle mass we have, the more calories we burn simply by sitting down, cooking, or even sleeping! Muscle tissue is very active--it burns a lot of calories. Every pound of muscle burns about 35 calories per day just on its own, without any exercise. A pound of fat however, burns nothing.

Sadly, when people diet, especially without the combination of exercise, though they still lose fat, they often also lose muscle mass. This is bad and will only be counterproductive in the long run, as this compounds the difficulties of losing weight and keeping it off!

Crash diets and severe calorie-restricted diets WILL reduce your metabolic rate too - another calorie-burning ally we don't want to lose. Exercising/weight training especially, during a diet, helps prevent this from happening.

Losing muscle is always a bad thing. You shouldnt strive just to burn as much calories as possible to lose weight and be a smaller version of yourself, but you should strive to build a more fitter, efficient and stronger body - which will cause you to naturally look good and be in excellent shape! In other words, we should strive for a physique transformation, and not a physique reduction. Carelessly overlooking the importance of calorie consumption will only bring more harm in the long run, and make it more difficult for you to keep your weight under control in the future. There.. now you know how calories affect you.