How Helpful Is Maths In Tracking Calories And Fitness Goals?

Did you know that maths can help you with your fitness goals? Yes, maths might not be your favourite subject, but when you see how it can help you stay fit and healthy, it could become more interesting.

Let's talk about how maths can be helpful for students in tracking calories and achieving their fitness goals.

The Basics: Calories and Fitness Goals

First, we need to understand a couple of important things:

>> Calories: Calories are like energy points for your body. You get calories from the food you eat, and your body uses these calories to do everything from playing sports to studying.

>> Fitness Goals: These are your health targets. It could be losing weight, getting stronger, or just staying healthy. To reach these goals, you need to know how many calories you eat and how many you use up through activities.

Calories In versus Out: Maths to the Rescue

Here's where maths comes in handy:

Imagine you're having lunch, and you want to know how many calories are in your sandwich. You check the label on the packaging, and it says:

Fat: 15 grams

Carbs: 50 grams

Protein: 20 grams

You can use a simple formula to figure out how many calories are in your sandwich:

Calories = (Fat x 9) + (Carbs x 4) + (Protein x 4) Calories

= (15 x 9) + (50 x 4) + (20 x 4) Calories

= 135 + 200 + 80 Calories

= 415 calories

So, your sandwich has about 415 calories.

Now, let's say you're going for a 30-minute jog. To find out how many calories you'll burn, you can use a simple maths formula:

Calories Burned During Exercise = Your BMR (calories your body needs at rest) x Activity Level

Let's say your BMR is 1500 calories, and your activity level for jogging is 1.5 (which means you're burning 1.5 times your BMR):

Calories Burned during a Jog = 1500 x 1.5 Calories Burned during a Jog = 2250 calories

So, your 30-minute jog burns about 2250 calories.

These examples show how maths can help you understand the calories you eat and the calories you burn.

While counting calories is pretty cool, there are some tricky parts to be aware of:

>> Labels Can Be Off: The numbers on food labels might not always be 100% accurate. Sometimes they can be wrong by as much as 18%.

>> Estimates Aren't Perfect: There are formulas to help you figure out how many calories your body needs, but these estimates might not be exactly right for everyone.

>> Exercise Estimates: The apps and gadgets that tell you how many calories you burn during exercise can sometimes be way off. They might say you burned more calories than you did.

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Matters of Food Quality

Calories aren't the whole story. It's not just about the number of calories; it's also about how your body handles those calories.

Think about two meals with the same number of calories. One meal is made of fresh, healthy foods, while the other has a lot of processed stuff.

Studies show that a meal with fresh foods makes your body work harder to digest it. That means your body burns more calories when you eat healthy stuff. So, even though both meals have the same calories on paper, your body absorbs fewer calories from the healthy one.

Let's say the healthy meal has 600 calories on the label, but because your body has to work hard to digest it, you end up using only 540 calories. The processed meal might still have 600 calories on the label, but you end up using 560. So, eating healthy foods is a better deal for your body.

The number on the scale can go up and down because of water weight. It's not the fat you want to lose but just the water your body holds.

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Change Your Habits

Remember, counting calories is just a small part of staying healthy. The big deal is changing your habits. It's about making better food choices, exercising regularly, and keeping up these good habits for a long time. This is what you should focus on!

Imagine you want to stay healthy. You start by tracking your calories but then focus on eating better foods. You also start exercising regularly. Over time, your calorie count becomes more like a helpful guideline than a strict rule. You aim to eat between 1800 and 2200 calories every day, giving you some flexibility for special occasions.

As students, you can use maths to understand calories and fitness goals better, but remember, to stay healthy, you need to change your habits, choose better foods, and keep up with these changes for a healthy life.