Lean and Mean » Calorie Awareness

Lean and Mean » Calorie Awareness: "Calories are simply a measuring device, like ounces, or grams, or pounds or even MPH. Calorie awareness is critical to fitness and healthy weight loss. When your energy input (calories) is greater than your energy output (activity) you store the extra calories as body fat.

The all important concept when working with calories, whether consuming them or burning them, is that you must factor in your current body weight. 100 calories to a 100 pound person means something entirely different than 100 calories does to a person who weighs 200 pounds. There are more complicated and accurate ways to go about this, but these numbers give you a quick idea of how your caloric intake relates to maintaining or changing your weight and body fat percentage. You will maintain about the same weight and body fat percentage with the calorie consumption shown at the different activity levels below."