POLOKWANE – It is as simple as that, but also as complicated as that.
This simple balancing act is complicated by your basal metabolic rate that is used for calculating energy needed for specific activities to balance intake. Your basal metabolic rate influence how many calories you will use to do as specific task (example walking for 20 minutes), and this differs between individuals because of gender, age, height, and weight.
This means that a man and woman (of different age, height, and weight) who takes a 20 minute walk together after work will not use the same amount of energy and therefore should not eat the same portion of food to balance their energy intake.
This brings me to the question that I know is on many people’s mind: how many treats (cheats) can I get away with without it affecting my weight?
If you weight is 60kg and you go for a walk with your dog at a moderate pace,you will burn 60 to 70 calories in 30minuts. Many people believe that after doing the above exercise they can get away with having dessert or a chocolate or even a fizzy drink without it affecting their weight, because they have done exercise.
But the reality when you look at the calories is that if you wish to keep your weight the same, you will only be allowed one of the following:
• 1 & 1/3 ginger biscuits
• 5 Pringles or other chips
• 150ml fizzy drink (that is less than ½ a can) or orange juice
• 12g milk chocolate (that is about one block of a slab chocolate)
• 2 level teaspoons of mayonnaise/butter/margarine with supper
This might make you think twice about the cheat food you are about to eat and its effect on your weight, or you’ll have to take the dog for a 60 minute walk after those those biscuits or blocks of chocolate, because that is a normal portion right?
