These calories look delicious (photo credit: Sabino Parente on 500px.com)
What Are Calories?
Calories measure the energy stored in food like inches measure the height of snowfall.
They’re just units of energy, without opinions, judgments, or ulterior motives.
Calories Work Like a Charm
There are three nutrients that contain energy: Fats, carbohydrates, and protein. While we tend to think of them in concrete terms (fat = butter, carbs = bread, and protein = chicken), they’re really just strings of atoms connected by bonds.
Like a tangled charm bracelet.
During digestion, your body breaks the bracelet apart by clipping the chain in between each charm. The chain gives the bracelet its structure, just as bonds give nutrients their structure. Whenever a piece of chain gets clipped, energy is released. That energy (measured in calories) fuels every process in your body, 24/7—whether you’re awake or asleep, talking or typing.
Photo Credit: Laura Marziano on 500px.com
Note: A version of this post originally appeared on HealthWarrior.com (I write nutrition content for their website/e-mail list)
When you subscribe to my newsletter, you will receive 1-2 e-mails a week filled with news and recipes to make your life healthier and less stressful
Caroline is a freelance writer, nutrition communication consultant, and counselor with a holistic approach to healthy living. 
I’ve resorted to all sorts of things to try and lose weight and one thing my body reacts to is when I lower my calorie intake. Being of European background, we tend to be heavy on our main meals as well, in particular cooking oils but we also incorporate alot of pasta and potatoes in our diets. These three foods alone even when eaten in small amounts just seem to add on weight around my waste line without fail.
I know one thing for a fact, that is when I’m working in the office behind a screen, I could eat just snacks and I just seem to feel heavier but when working on cars, the scenario seems to be very different regardless of what I eat as long as it’s not ridiculous
I don’t eat much at my age and I just seem to put on weight when I am not active. Just because of this I have taken up MMA just to burn calories and it seems to be working well but the minute I stop, it just starts to come back regardless of how little I eat