Editor’s Note: Injury prevention and wellness handouts are an effective (and inexpensive) way to educate and motivate employees to use good work practices and take care of their bodies.
Scroll to the bottom of this post for the free Wellness Handout PDF file.
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Weight Management – Counting Calories
Weight management comes down to the calories you take in verses those you burn off.
Maintaining a healthy weight is extremely important for your body to function the way it is designed to. Being overweight puts unnecessary stress on your body and causes problems over time.
How Calories Work
Calories are a unit of energy. Our body needs fuel for energy, so we eat food which contains calories. The basic requirements of our body are water, carbohydrates, protein, and fat. These nutrients provide energy in the form of calories.
Our bodies are constantly burning calories as we go about our day in order to function. You can manage your weight by balancing the energy you take in from consuming food (calories) and the energy your body burns throughout the day (activity).
Weight Management: Counting Calories
Keeping a journal of your calories in verses calories out is a productive exercise for several reasons:
- It’s an efficient way to manage and track weight loss
- It holds you accountable for what you eat
- The daily discipline of tracking your eating habits keeps nutrition top of mind
Free Calorie Counting Tools
Here are a few free tools you can use to track your energy balance:
My Fitness Pal | www.myfitnesspal.com
Spark People | www.sparkpeople.com
My Calorie Counter | www.my-calorie-counter.com
Additional Resources:
For more weight management and nutrition information, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.
Think Prevention!
Prevention is always better than treatment! Maintaining energy balance is a proactive strategy to live longer and stay well.
Free Wellness Handout – Weight Management: Counting Calories
Weight Management: Counting Calories [PDF]
