The Bad Calories

It is known that human beings need a certain number of calories per day in order to maintain their weight and health, but what are empty calories, and how do they harm us?

Calories are units of measure for energy. They are primarily used to measure the amount of energy found in foods, and the representation of a calorie (actually, kilocalorie, or C) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1C. While this is one way to explain a calorie, it isn't really that important in terms of everyday usage of the word. It is more important to understand a calorie in relation to how many calories per day we need to consume.

The average, healthy adult female should consume about 2000 C per day. This assumes that she is active, does not need to lose or gain weight, and is not suffering from any illnesses that might affect her metabolism. The average, healthy adult male should consume slightly more calories, around 2200 C. This is due to the fact that men are usually more active than women, their metabolisms tend to be higher and they also tend to be larger in weight and height. The amount of calories that we need to consume each day is actually quite small, especially if you think of it in terms of food for instance, one yogurt is about 180 calories.

So, what are empty calories? Empty calories are one of the biggest ways that people can go over their recommended daily amount of calories because empty calories often come into our bodies in covert ways. Empty calories are calories (foods) that we eat or drink that do not have a lot of nutrition within them. One of the biggest offenders is soda and other soft drinks. One eight ounce glass of soda has about 110 calories in it and no nutritional value. Considering most people will drink at least 16 ounces of soda at a time, that is 220 empty calories per glass.

There are other foods that are not so great for us so what are empty calories in these foods? Fats are often considered empty calories, especially oils that are used to fry fast foods and other snacks. They add relatively little to your nutritional value, but add many calories to the end product. Other snacks that are empty calories include candies, cookies and all of those snacks that are mostly sugar, with no whole grains, fruits, vegetables or nuts.

It is important not to consume too many empty calories, because they can add up making it so that foods you need to eat will bump your calories for the day up too high. Stick to foods that are low in calories and high in nutrition.

Walter Taguchi writes about weight loss for WeightLossLodge.com

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Yoga in Practice - Taking Control of Your Life

yoga has been helping people take control of their lives for 5,000 years, and counting. Taking control of your life is a daily obstacle, but you can easily start, right now. How do you envision your life today, tomorrow, or next week? If we ask one hundred people, we will receive one hundred different answers.

Yet, we can classify the resulting answers into the following three categories. People will say their life will be better, worse, or the same. In each case, their viewpoint is a reflection of the personality, the surrounding environment, and their attitude.

If your personality is optimistic, you will naturally look forward to each challenge life throws at you. If you are pessimistic, you will respond to each obstacle of life by saying: Why me? in every situation.

So, it is the personality, which governs the initial perspective of lifes daily struggles. In yoga, there are many practices to help us change the personality, but we must first really want to change. You cannot change by reading about it.

You must put yoga, knowledge, and the desire to change your life for the best, into practice. Applying what you learn separates you from the masses. most people read, listen to their yoga teacher, and practice a little, but they go back to their same routine.

How many brilliant people, with talent and skill, have you observed who never reached their full potential? We all know a few. The reason why they never succeeded is that they never applied their intelligence, or skill, in a practical way.

Copyright 2007 paul Jerard / aura Publications

paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of yoga Teacher Training at: aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.riyoga.com He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free yoga e-book: "yoga in Practice," and a Free yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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