Basics of a Fat-Loss Diet: Calorie Concepts and Analysis of the Three Major Energy-Providing Nutrients

Section 1: Diet

The concept of heat

"Three parts training, seven parts diet" is basic common sense for all fitness enthusiasts. Most people usually emphasize the importance of training, but for those who want to lose weight, diet is much more important than training.

Obesity is caused by a lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet.

Obese people almost always love greasy food, such as hot pot and fried food.

Such foods contain a lot of oil, which is the biggest source of calories in our daily lives-fat.

If you consume more calories than you burn each day, your body will cleverly convert the excess calories into fat for future use.

Excessive fat leads to obesity.

Excessive alcohol consumption can also easily lead to weight gain.

Alcohol is the second highest source of calories among all foods, after fat. Although some people do not get many calories from food, excessive drinking can increase their calorie intake.

The scientific way to lose weight is to combine reasonable exercise training with adjustments to dietary habits.

Controlling your diet doesn't mean starving yourself, but rather controlling your calorie intake to create a calorie deficit in your body and achieve the best fat loss results.

Building muscle is a very slow process, requiring not only long-term consistent training but also a very careful diet.

Muscle building is a process in which training causes minor damage to muscle fibers, which are then repaired by the body itself.

If nutrition doesn't keep up during this process, it will be difficult to see the muscle-building effect.

What's confusing is what exactly you need to eat to help build muscle.

There are various fitness meals on the market. Although they come in many varieties, they all have one thing in common: they are all rich in protein.

Almost every fitness meal contains chicken or other meats because muscle growth requires a large supply of protein, which provides a good environment for muscle growth and repair.

Building muscle is like building a house, and protein is like the bricks and tiles used to build it. The more bricks and tiles you have, the taller the house will be. But protein isn't all good. Too much protein can lead to fat accumulation and put a burden on your body.

The key to protein intake is to supplement as much as possible, within your own limits.

Having said all that, I believe you now have a general understanding of the relationship between diet and muscle gain/fat loss.

Whether you're building muscle or losing fat, for beginners, as training intensity increases, your body's nutritional needs also increase. So, in your daily diet, increase protein intake, reduce fat intake, and add sufficient carbohydrates to cope with the energy expenditure of daily training. If you stick to this day after day, you will achieve the perfect physique you desire.

To learn how to assess your diet and create a reasonable eating plan, you first need to understand how food provides calories and what types of nutrients you need.

What is heat? The human body needs to move every day. Even if you lie in bed all day, you still need to breathe, and your heart will keep beating to pump blood throughout your body. All of this requires the consumption of heat (i.e., energy).

Humans cannot produce energy through photosynthesis like plants, so they need to eat to obtain energy and nutrients from food.

Different foods can provide the body with the protein, vitamins, fats, and carbohydrates it needs every day.

The food we eat undergoes a series of complex biological reactions within the body, generating energy for the body to use.

When we consume more energy than we expend, the excess is converted into fat and stored in the body as an energy reserve. With more fat, a person gradually becomes overweight.

The most commonly used unit of heat is the kilocalorie (kcal).

One kilocalorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one liter of water by one degree Celsius.

When we buy things at convenience stores, we often see units of measurement called "kilojoules" (kJ). You can estimate the calories in food yourself. 1 kilojoule is about 0.24 kilocalories.

There are three main ways the human body burns calories: First, basal metabolism, which accounts for 60% to 70% of the body's total daily calorie expenditure; second, daily activities, such as walking and brushing teeth, which account for 15% to 30% of calorie expenditure; and third, energy expenditure from eating, which includes not only chewing but also the additional calories required when food is digested in the stomach, although this accounts for the smallest proportion, only about 10%.

Nutrients that can be obtained through diet include vitamins, trace elements, organic acids, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Their calorie content is as follows: 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates; 9 calories per gram of fat; 4 calories per gram of protein; and 2.4 calories per gram of organic acids.

When calculating calories, carbohydrates, protein, and fat are mainly considered. The calculation formula is as follows:

Calories = (grams of carbohydrates × 4) + (grams of protein × 4) + (grams of fat × 9)

(If you drink alcohol, you will need to add 7 grams of alcohol.)

2. A balanced intake of various nutrients is essential.

After knowing how to calculate calories, you also need to know the nutrients the human body needs, including carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber.

These 7 nutrients are essential for every meal during your weight loss journey. Here's a brief introduction to their functions to help you make the right choices in the future.

1. Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, as the main source of energy, have a special function in regulating cellular activity.

Carbohydrates exist in living organisms in three main forms: glucose, glycogen, and sugar-containing complexes.

Carbohydrates in different forms perform different functions.

For example, carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the human body; carbohydrates participate in the formation of cell tissues and diverse cellular activities; carbohydrates can also conserve human protein and have anti-ketogenic effects, enhance human intestinal function, and help eliminate toxins from the body.

Carbohydrates can be further classified into four types: monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides.

Carbohydrates ingested through food are converted into glucose and other monosaccharides through the digestive system's various enzymes.

In daily food intake, it is recommended that carbohydrates provide 60% to 65% of the total calories, and each gram of glucose can provide 4 kilocalories of energy.

According to Chinese dietary habits, rice and noodles are staple foods in large quantities in daily diet. Most of their carbohydrates are polysaccharides, and they can also provide nutrients such as protein, fat and vitamins.

However, the sugars we consume only serve to replenish energy and do not provide the functions of other nutrients.