Calorie has been the buzz word in weight loss and muscle building niche for a long time. You find people looking upto the calorie count on every food carton that they plan to buy. But if you randomly catch hold of such a person and ask him to explain a calorie, most of them have very vague answer or clue. They find it hard to answer some very simple questions like what calories are, how are they stored in your body, on average how many calories are burned per day, how should you reach or maintain an optimal calorie intake and consumption.

To clarify the above text, here is a technical definition of calorie taken from a reputed bodybuilding course -'truth about building muscle'. According to it, "The technical definition of a food calorie (kilocalorie) is the amount of heat required to raise 1 kilogram (1 liter) of water 1 degree Centigrade. A calorie is simply a measure of heat energy. When food is burned, it releases certain amount of heat (energy). The more calories that are in a food, the more energy is be released when it is burned." This is a definition coming from a book that you can rely on.

Calorie is the word that is commonly used to quantify amount of energy stored in the food. Calorie also represents the how much energy is stored as body fat or adipose tissue and glycogen (stored carbohydrates). This should clarify in your mind that body fat and calories are very closely related. You can think of body fat as a reserve of calories maintained by the body for its various needs. Calories are burnt and used like a fuel by your body every time you need to do some activity. They are used as the energy source for your various muscle movements. When we say burn the fat, we mean doing an activity that accelerates that fat consumption process. However, this is also the reason why not bad is fat and why your body needs fat to perform its essential functions. Without fat your body is like a car without gasoline, and excess fat makes it like a tanker that neither looks good nor is of much use.

You need to understand the body fat balance equation. When you are idle and not working, your body's consumption of fat goes down and hence as a result you start accumulating it. If you do that for too long then get ready for becoming a fat tanker. On contrast, activity reduces that fat storage and keeps you in a better shape. The equation in itself is quite simple. The fat stored in body is equivalent to calorie intake by calorie spend subtracted. This should clear up the idea of calorie as well as body fat. If you are looking for some good bodybuilding program that is effective in fat loss too, then you can read more about it in the links given in resource box.