In the world of nutrition, calories are what we call the “currency” of food. It’s how we measure the energy in our meals and snacks to determine whether they will put us in a better mood or make us feel hungry later on. But calculating this number is essential for more than just keeping track of your daily intake, it’s also central to our understanding of how food affects our bodies and why someone might be able to eat more or less than others without gaining weight as quickly.

Are you feeling a little hungry? It’s not just your imagination. The food you eat affects how full you feel, and if you’re eating the wrong types, it can make it harder to get the nutrition your body needs. When it comes to nourishment, the main thing that matters is calories the more calories you eat, the more energy your body has for all its different functions. But not all calories are created equal. Here’s what you need to know about calorie counts: Calorie-Free Foods Are Not Calories Free. While some foods are naturally low in calories like fruits and vegetables, they still count toward your total daily intake of calories. For example, just one apple alone has 150 calories, so if you eat five apples every day for a week, you’ll have consumed 500 calories which are 50% more than if you had eaten no apples at all. So while calorie-free foods may not have any fat or sugar in them, they still have calories and those calories count toward your daily caloric intake.

When you think about it, the calories you get from food are the reason you are alive. Your body uses those calories to fuel your basal metabolic rate (BMR), digestion, and physical activity. We’re all so used to thinking about calories in and calories out: you eat something, it goes into your body and becomes fuel for your BMR; you burn more than you eat, so you lose weight. BMR is how much energy your body needs to keep itself alive basically everything from breathing to heart rate to digestion. So when you think about calories in vs calories out, it’s important to remember that the BMR is what’s keeping everything else going.

The secret to a healthy diet is simple: keep track of your calories. You might think that counting calories are a waste of time, but we promise you’ll be surprised by how much better you feel when you take the time to do it. Here’s why: when the number of calories you consume matches the number of calories you burn, your weight will remain stable. It’s not rocket science just make sure that your meals are balanced and don’t leave you feeling hungry afterwards. And don’t forget snacks! You can still eat healthy while keeping an eye on what’s going into your body.

We all know that the amount of nutrients a food contains per calorie can vary greatly. But we also know that these numbers don’t matter because when you’re eating a meal, you’re not feeding your body with information about how many calories are in each bite. You’re feeding it with information about what nutrients are in each bite. So when you look at the nutrition facts label on a food package, the number of calories is just an estimate of how much energy those nutrients provide not an exact measurement. If you’ve been following a calorie-counting diet for years and feeling like everything you eat is leading you closer to an early grave, it might be time to rethink your approach.

It’s hard to know what you need to eat when you’re trying to lose weight. But if you’re looking for a good starting point, try your nutrient intake. How many calories are in your food is important because it will impact how hungry or full you feel after eating. If you eat more calories than you need, then your body will store them as fat. This can lead to weight gain and other health problems like heart disease and diabetes. The best way to keep from gaining excess weight is to make sure that what you eat has the proper amount of nutrients for your needs. Calorie care brings you healthy meals packed with nutrients that nourish your body and give you the exact measurements of calories to meet your fitness goals.