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Calorie Counting and Why It's Important as You Age

There are countless diets out there that claim to help you lose weight. Each one will have some significant element however it all boils down to one thing - the almighty calorie. Calories come in a variety of forms such as fat calories or carbohydrate calories. The bottom line is that at the end of the day, you will have wanted to burn off as many calories as possible that you consume in order to avoid gaining weight.

It is important to note however, that not all calories are the same, especially when you age. Calories provide you the energy you need to keep going day in, day out. Fats, proteins and carbohydrates are the primary energy sources in food. By understanding how much energy you get from each of these things will help you understand which ones you should limit in your diet.

Carbohydrates and proteins contain four calories for each gram while nine calories are in each gram of fat. Alcohol also poses a calorie problem with about seven calories in each gram. It doesn't matter where they come from; calories are converted into energy. And if you do not have enough physical activity in a day to burn off those calories, they can be stored as fat.

Because each person is a different body type and has different health needs, it stands to reason that everyone has different calorie requirements per day. Your age is taken into consideration as well as your gender, weight, height and your active or inactive lifestyle. Athletes may need a lot more calories than your average couch potato.

When determining your dietary needs and what to put on the menu, please keep a few of these calorie facts in mind:

1. One pound of fat has 3,500 calories. So if you want to drop a pound off your weight, you have to burn those 3,500 calories!

2. You can easily cut calories by substituting food items and forgoing them all together. Sodas and other sugary drinks are empty calories and you can save at least 250 calories by drinking water instead of sweet tea or soda.

3. Physical activity is necessary to lose weight.

Burning calories is essential to dropping the excess weight and maintaining your loss. Well, guess what? You don't have to join a gym of do anything special physically to lose weight. Ordinary chores such as gardening, taking the stairs instead of elevator, raking leaves or even parking at the far end of the parking lot of a building can help you burn up calories. Of course, planned physical activities like jogging, swimming and more can effectively help you burn even more calories as part of a weight management plan.

When you grow older, your metabolism slows down, making it harder to burn calories. Therefore, you have to plan a new menu with less fat and carbohydrates and more exercise in your day in order to maintain status quo. This can be quite a challenge! Plus, older adults have more health issues and muscles and joints may be weaker. Therefore, consulting with a doctor, personal trainer and nutritionist is a wise move that will help you keep on track.