Calories in nutrition are likened to consuming energy through eating and drinking. This implies that anything you eat as food or fluid, aside water, contains calories. You should be aware of what you eat, so as to avoid negative health implications such as:
- Hormonal disorders
- Weight gain
- Overall health risk as well as elevated triglycerides,
- Breathing problems,
- Diabetes
- Coronary artery disease, etc.
Calories are essential to human health but the key is taking the right amount of it. If you consume just the number of calories your body needs each day, you will enjoy a good and healthy life. Health authorities have come up with calories requirement for men and women. They are around 2700 and 2000 per day for men and women respectively.
The fact remains that high calorie intake poses some health risk, and people undeniably are making efforts to control it which have resulted into starving for some individuals. Starving on its own is not good for the body system.
Here are some healthy ways you can reduce calorie intake without starving
Eat fewer carbohydrates
This category of nutrient is the main source of added calories in a typical diet. It is a good place to start cutting calories. Cut down carbohydrates filled foods such as yam, garri, bread, pasta and trans fat from your diet. The body stores excess calories from these foods as fats which leads to weight gain and subsequently, weight gain related ailments. Endeavour to replace them with oily fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables, plant based oil and sesame.
Always drink plenty of water
Drinking water before you eat is a trick that will make you feel full, resulting in the consmuption of little food when you eat. Water also increases the amount of calories you burn. It is more impressive to note that cold water intake makes the body use extra calories to warm the water up to body temperature and this can drastically help in calories reduction.
Eat more protein
Eating more protein filled food than carbohydrates is the way to go in calorie reduction. If you replace carbs and fat with protein, you can actually reduce the hormones which boost hunger and cravings for more food and calories. So a maximum boost of satiety hormones, will lead to a major reduction in hunger, which means less intake of calories.
Workout
Exercise is the best bet to help you cut down on calories. If you eat excess calories, you should expend them with exercise. You may feel lazy to do aerobics and other strenuous exercises but simple movements such as cleaning the house, walking around your neighbourhood, and taking the stairs can go a long way in helping you expend energy. The most important thing is to get your heart pumping and breaking a sweat to burn significant amount of calories.
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