Yeah, Calories. They’re tricky little buggers that like to mess with your clothes and wallet…but they’re not so bad, really.
According to Merriam Webster, the official definition of a calorie is:
Definition of calorie
1a: the amount of heat required at a pressure of one atmosphere to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius that is equal to about 4.19 joules —abbreviation cal
— called also gram calorie, small calorie
b: the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water one degree Celsius : 1000 gram calories or 3.968 Btu —abbreviation Cal
— called also large calorie
2a: a unit equivalent to the large calorie expressing heat-producing or energy-producing value in food when oxidized in the body
b: an amount of food having an energy-producing value of one large calorie
None of those things sound so bad. Calories are what make us function. They help us think, move, love and live.
So why do we hate them so much? Why do people think of calories as our enemies?
It’s mostly because our culture values a certain human aesthetic. This aesthetic changes according to location and time, but as the world gets smaller, our idea of the perfect body seems to become more universal.
Wouldn’t it be better if we focused on the types of calories that help us perform best? The calories that allow our blood to run more easily through our veins, the calories that allow our muscles to recover, the calories that help our brains work more efficiently?
It would, so maybe it’s time for us to change how we think about calories…what do you think?