Where are your calories coming from? Although I do not really think you need to count calories, I do feel it is important to know where your calories come from within the foods you eat. No matter what you are trying to do; gain weight or lose weight, you should have a basic understanding of where your calories come from. It could help you in determining the foods you eat to reach your fitness goals. First before I break down a food label, itâ??s important to understand that your calories will come from three main nutrients. Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates.

FAT: Fat; believe it or not is important for your bodyâ??s growth and development. Of course you do not want too much fat in your diet. I would say anywhere from a total of 80g â?? 100g a day is good as long as most of them are not coming from Saturated or Trans Fat. Every 1g of fat = 9 Calories. This is important to understand. Also on the food label underneath where it tells you the grams of fat, you will see Saturated Fat and Trans fat. If there is a number shown, then that is how many grams of Saturated or Trans fat is in the total number of fat. Sounds confusingâ?¦If you have a total of 5g of fat and there is 2g of Saturated fat, then that means that 2g of the total 5 grams of fat are Saturated Fats. I hope that make sense.

PROTEIN: Protein is an essential nutrient your body uses to repair muscles as well as blood, and even organs. Some foods are high in Protein and others are not. Most meats (Steak, Roast Beef, Hamâ?¦.etc) and poultryâ??s (Chicken, Turkeyâ?¦etc) are high in protein, while fruits and vegetables are usually pretty low in protein. Every 1g or Protein = 4 Calories. So if you have 4oz of chicken breast that has say 22g of protein, the total number of calories from protein is going to be 88 (22g protein x 4 cal = 88 cal). Pretty simple, right? Now letâ??s look at Carbohydrates.

CARBOHYDRATES: Carbs are where you get most of your energy from. Carbs are broken down from grams of Fiber and grams of Sugar. For every 1g or Carbs = 4 calories. So if you have say a total of 20g of carbs, the number of calories coming from them is 80 (20g Carbs x 4 Cal = 80 Cal). Also underneath the total number of calories (On the food label), you will see the grams of sugar and fiber. Same as the fat, the grams of sugar is how much of the total Carbs is coming from sugar and/or Fiber. Carbs are not the best thing if you are not an active person. The body will not be burning as much calories and can actually store excess carbohydrates as fat and then you gain weight. Living a healthy and active lifestyle will prevent this. But you already know that.

I hope this entry can help you out in your nutrition and dieting. Whether you want to put on some solid mass or shed the love handles or belly fat, nutrition is, in my opinion, the most important key to achieving your goals. Knowing where your calories are coming from will help along the way.  Best thing to keep in mind is this:

1g Fat = 9 Calories

1g Protein = 4 Calories

1g Carbohydrate = 4 Calories

1g Alcohol = 7 Calories (I didnâ??t discuss alcohol, but still important to know).

Thank you for taking the time to read this entry. Please feel free to leave comments and ask if you have any questions. I do my best to check up on my page daily, so I will see it. I wish everyone out there the best and never give up on yourself and your quest of achieving your fitness goals! Train hard and take care!