Fitness treats

There are 1000 calories in a kilocalorie (kcal). In physics and chemistry, a calorie is a very small unit: it is the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. 

When it comes to diet/nutrition, people use the kilocalorie (that’s why the abbreviation ”kcal” is used on food labels) but call it just “calorie” because it’s shorter and easier to say than “kilocalorie”.

If we had to use the ‘real’ calorie unit that is used by scientists, we would have to say for example “1,500,000 daily calories” to talk about a daily caloric intake of 1,500 calories (kcal).  

Kilocaloric measurements (kcal) are shorter and easier to work with. The calories we’re talking about when it comes to nutrition are thus usually kilocalories.

Hi Gina, 

When you want to eat something although you’re not hungry, it may be because:
1- Even if you’re full, your body may still be craving specific nutrients (iron for example) that you may be missing. In this case you may want to take a closer look at your meals and make sure your diet is well-balanced. When choosing what to eat, ask yourself “is the food I plan to eat something my body needs?”.

2- You eat healthy but you feel the need to chew something or “get your sugar fix”. It’s a bit like a baby who needs a pacifier to calm himself down. It may be because of stress, anxiety, mood swings, emotional issues, or boredom. In this case here are a few suggestions for quick fixes to fight the urge to snack:
- Drinking flavored herbal tea
- Brushing your teeth
- Chewing gum and blowing bubbles
- Chewing licorice roots. (You can find them in ethnic supermarkets).
- Eating celery: one large stalk (11”-12” long) of celery is 10 calories. Eating 100 calories of celery (10 stalks!) is actually very difficult…
- Kissing. Having a boyfriend you physically desire can drastically reduce your cravings -at least for the first few months- because you’ll be craving him and a lot less sweets. But yes, finding a boyfriend is easier said than done :)

The best thing you can do is to look within yourself for what it is that’s bothering you and pushing you to eat. If you’re not hungry but want food, what are those needs deep inside you’re trying to fulfill using food? And how can you fulfill these needs without food? 

Hi Audrey,

Yes, you should definitely be lifting weight, unless you’re still very young and growing. [If you’re still in the middle of puberty and experiencing rapid growth, you don’t want to be lifting heavy weight but you can still do basic body weight exercises (push-ups, lunges) to do some kind of resistance training.]  

Gaining weight by gaining lean muscle mass is actually a good thing, look: 

This photo is taken from this blogpost by Chichi from Fitvillains about the numbers on the scale: “Muscle is more dense than fat: pound for pound it takes up less room. You can lose fat & inches without the scale moving. You can get the body you want without losing weight.”
Her entire post is here: http://fitvillains.tumblr.com/post/18076332857/for-those-of-you-who-are-still-putting-more

Hi Jessica,

It all depends on your goals, personal preferences and the availability and the prices of the different milks where you live. Here is a table I made comparing different kinds of milk.

Prices are in euro because I live in Europe. I used the British words “skimmed milk” for skim milk and “semi-skimmed milk” for 2% reduced-fat milk. The nutritional values will vary depending on the different brands and prices may be totally different in your country. 

- Whole cow milk and goat milk are perfect for skinny guys and girls who want to gain weight. 

- Unsweetened soy milk is the plant-based milk with the highest amount of protein and the lowest amount of sugar, which makes it interesting for people who want to reduce their sugar consumption to “shape up”.
(However, soy products are a bit controversial. Jillian Michael for example says that you should not consume any soy products. I think drinking soy milk is fine as long as you don’t drink it daily but only occasionally.)   

- The only difference between reduced-fat milk and skim milk is less than 3 grams of fat per glass. This isn’t a lot. Skim milk still has 10g of sugar per glass. Skim milk is actually not that interesting for people looking to lose weight. 

- Unsweetened almond milk looks like an alternative for people who want to lose weight or people who want to drink a lot of milk regularly without taking in too many calories. But it’s quite expensive (may be much cheaper in sunny countries that produce almonds). People looking to lose weight on a budget are just better off sticking to water and not drinking any of their calories. 

After indulging I try to eat some kind of protein and complex carbs immediately. This helps me avoid the sudden increase and decrease in my blood sugar. When your blood sugar skyrockets up and then shoots back down, your body releases insulin and cortisol, both things which will help you store body fat and can cause crankiness and mood swings.

If you add some protein and complex carbs in the same meal as the sugary treat, you’ll get a bit less side effects. A meal that contains only simple sugars will cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, usually within an hour, and a fast drop. By contrast, a protein meal would take longer to be released into the bloodstream and would keep blood sugar levels elevated for a longer period of time.

Timing is also everything when you eat simple carbs. Eating a treat when you’re physically active or eating it right after a workout when your glycogen levels are depleted is a good way to burn it off.

Hi Chelsea,

Here is an example of a meal plan from a fitness magazine to give you an idea on how you could plan your meals:

Examples of pre-workout meals (2 hours to 30 min before your workout) could be:
- two brown rice cakes with humus, one apple
- a chickpea salad with cherry tomatoes
- a green salad with chicken in a whole wheat tortilla 

Example of post-workout meals (within 30 min after your workout) could be:
- a banana and nonfat cottage cheese
- a protein shake with frozen berries
- an apple and a cup of Greek yogurt