Is your mouth writing checks that your body can`t cash?

So, you`d love to shed a few kilos but it seems so much easier said than done, right? Not necessarily!

Weight loss is simply about understanding the basic energy dynamics of the food we eat. I am constantly amazed at how little people understand about kilojoules, what we do and don`t need, what we eat and how to burn it off.

In short, you are the sum total of the kilojoules you have consumed and expended up to now!

1 kilocalorie or calorie = 4.2 kilojoules. Both measure the same thing, which is the energy we get from the food that we eat.

It comes down to a basic law of physics … expend more energy than you consume and you will create a deficit. And believe me, unlike your bank account, creating a deficit in this case is a very good thing. This is the one area in your life where personal growth can lead to shrinkage! If you would like to lose weight, you need to create debt. Kilojoule debt. In order to lose 0.5 kg of fat in a week, you need to create a 1800 kJ deficit every day…

So what’s 1800 kJ?

The average not-so-active adult needs the following on a daily basis: 6500 kJ (women) 8500kJ (men). Considering that one large movie combo or a burger, chips and cold drink combo contains almost 6500 kJ, it becomes clear that consuming a surplus of kilojoules is easier than we might think.

‘Can`t I just burn the surplus off at the gym?’ I hear you ask…

Not really, is the (unfortunate) answer. Most of us expend about 1000 kJ for every 1 hour of moderate exercise. You would probably need to run a half marathon to ‘burn off’ that combo you had last night.

Moral of the story? Prevention and planning is definitely far easier than cure.

Here are some tips to guide you:

- Eat mindfully. Chew each mouthful well. It takes about 15 minutes for your stomach to let your appetite centre know that you’ve had enough to eat.

- Become an energy guru – read labels and be aware of how much energy is in the servings, snacks or beverages that you eat and drink.

- Keep in mind that a snack should provide 500-750 kJ and a meal about 1500-2000 kJ.