Home » What The Heck Is A Calorie?

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Once you enter the weight loss arena you quickly learn the word calorie. It is a word that outwardly appears to be simple but contains a very complex, difficult to understand meaning. I would like you to take a moment and pretend a small child walked up to you and asked you to explain the meaning of the word calorie. What is the definition of the word that you would use to explain this to a small child? Let's take it a step further, try to explain the same answer to a 30 year old person.

If you are like most people you will be at a loss for words. If you are like most people you will not truly understand the definition of the word calorie. In an attempt to decipher this deep meaning word let us refer to it meaning.

CALORIE
1. Thermodynamics.
a. Also called gram calorie, small calorie. an amount of heat exactly equal to 4.1840 joules. Abbreviation: cal
b. (usually initial capital letter ) kilocalorie. Abbreviation: Cal

2. Physiology.
a. a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.
b. a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy.

HMMMMMM….I now feel as if I really do not understand what a calorie is or is not. I used to think I understood but now I realize I do not. Let's look at some other facts about the word calorie.

• Calories are given for 1 minute of activity.

• Calories are basically a measurement of heat.

• Calories are a measure of heat energy: the amount of heat required to raise 1 gram (1 ml) of water 1°C in temperature. • Calories are certainly not the only measure of a food's value; instead they are only one of many factors to measure and consider.

• Calories are a useful measure of energy.

• Calories are also used to measure not only the energy quotient of a food, but individual basal metabolic rates, as well as the bodily energy required for various daily physical tasks.

• Calories are just the way we measure energy.

• Calories are found in food and a certain number of them are needed on a daily basis in order to be burned by a human body for energy.

So here I sit. I have this word calorie and all of these definitions. I used to understand what the word meant until I was asked to explain the meaning. I have spent too much time trying to understand this simple word and I have reached a conclusion. I have realized this word has numerous meanings and since I left my lab coat in the lab I have realized I must create the answer as it applies in my life. I think you will find this answer is what applies in your life also.

I have decided that the only reason I am even interested in this definition is because I desire to lose some body weight. In the spectrum of losing weight the word calorie takes on a definition even I can understand. If I want to lose weight I must burn more calories then I consume. I do not have to know what a calorie is, I just need to be able to look at the charts and graphs and add and subtract the calories. If I can burn more calories than I take in then I am on my way to weight loss.

If you can fully understand that then you too are on your way to losing weight.