Weight Loss Enters the Off-Ground Phase: The Key Role and Scientific Methods of Calorie Calculation

First, everyone must understand one fact:

Calories are not absolute.

The calories in food refer to the amount of heat produced when food is completely burned under completely sealed conditions. This involves placing food in a special container and burning it until it is completely charred, and counting the total heat produced during this process.

In other words, the calories in food do not represent the numerical value of "energy converted into nutrients after consumption."

No one in the world can accurately answer how much energy and fat the same food is converted into during digestion. Therefore, a food labeled 1000 kcal is not necessarily more likely to cause weight gain than a food labeled 500 kcal.

In fact, calories are just a numerical value used as a standard of measurement.

The author's diet: Breakfast: Subway vegetable sandwich, Diet Coke, vegetable juice (approx. 332 kcal); Lunch: Mexican food (side dishes, octopus salad), hamburger patty, creamy roasted sauerkraut (approx. 573 kcal); Snacks: Cream puffs, 3 Korean pancakes, rice crackers, rice cakes (approx. 290 kcal); Dinner: Grilled beef rice (approx. 500 kcal).

While the concept of calories has some ambiguities as mentioned above, professionals who need to strictly control their physique and weight for their careers, such as boxers, professional athletes, and Hollywood actors, highly recommend calorie calculation.

While not absolute, it can be used as a reliable indicator.

Calorie calculation was a standard part of weight loss methods in the past. However, it wasn't easy to implement back then.

In those days, there were only three choices for meals—a popular restaurant, a high-end restaurant, or home. Calorie counting used to be something you had to calculate yourself based on the calorie content of various food ingredients. For example, 100 grams of carrots contain 32 kcal.

Under these conditions, unless you had a lot of free time or were extremely dedicated to weight loss, calculating calories was practically an impossible task.

However, times have changed, and calculating calories has become very convenient.

Most menus at family-run restaurants and fast-food outlets list calories.

Even convenience store bento boxes, snacks, and drinks list calories.

In other words, this era of ubiquitous convenience stores, family-run restaurants, and fast-food outlets is a perfect time for tracking your weight loss progress.

It's also worth mentioning that some convenience store items don't list calories. Those in the know understand that these are generally products manufacturers don't want consumers to know their calorie content.

For example, take ready-to-eat bread and pastry bread. One brand of apple pie with margarine contains 1380 kcal! Just one of these apple pies provides an adult woman with the daily calorie requirement, and that's just a pastry bread!

However, this brand changed its packaging at some point, and the calorie information is nowhere to be found, only an allergy information list.

Most pizza delivery restaurants publish calorie information on their official websites.

However, some only list allergen information without disclosing the calorie content. At this point, I think: "It seems they're too afraid to disclose the calorie content!"

McDonald's, on the other hand, would really appreciate it if they could label the calorie content on all their hamburger wrappers, but they don't. You have to take a picture of the barcode on the hamburger wrapper with your phone's camera and link it to their website to find out the calorie content. Are they really that unwilling to let others know its calorie count?

Actually, compared to rice balls, hamburgers are nutritionally more balanced in terms of carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins (vegetables).

Recently, a pork cutlet rice bowl specialty store opened in Kichijoji, offering a 25-layer pork cutlet like a mille-feuille cake—it was incredibly delicious. I texted them to ask a question, and they replied immediately, asking what my question was. I said I wanted to confirm the calorie count of one serving of this pork cutlet rice bowl, but then I heard nothing back. Although this is a branch of the Ginza main store in Kichijoji, they should at least know about it, right? Why didn't they give me an answer? In a health food showroom in Ginza, the café offers a different healthy set meal daily, which is quite delicious. The menu is supposedly created by a registered dietitian at a research institute on the third floor of the same building. When I called to inquire about the calorie count, I was also turned away. A menu created by a registered dietitian, too! At this rate, no matter how much they claim it's "healthy," I can't believe it.