Oh, dear calories… I don’t know about you but everyone says that “The more calories I eat, the more I’ll get fat…”. However, is it that simple? Maïa Baudelaire, Nutritionnist and fouder of the first diet coaching reimbursed by health insurances helps you today!

Olive oil is less caloric than other types of oil

Wrong. Yes, we know that olive oil is the best oil on the market, nutrition wise, but don’t be naive… ALL the oils contain 100% fat, meaning that 100g of fat equals too 100g of oil AND 1g of lipid is 9kcal.

What really differentiates the oils is the fat quality. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids also called omega 9, the “good” type of fats. Those types of fats are also able to reduce the bad cholesterol that circulates in your blood.

Margarine contains less calories than butter

Wrong, they actually contain the same amount of fats. The real difference is that margarine contains more good fats from vegetable origin, essential for your cardiovascular health.

Margarines made from polyunsaturated oil is rich in essential fatty acids such as omega 3. To choose the best margarines, prefer buying the richest in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids on the composition label. They are generally manufactured from rapeseed oil, sunflower, olive or corn.

0% Fat products contains 0 calories

No. They just don’t have fat. Remember, those foods may contain proteins and carbohydrates. If not, we wouldn’t be eating anything!

The bad thing with those products is that you eat more of them thinking that it is a “light” food so you eat more and as a result it will be more caloric than the original plain product…

If I eat a lot of calories, I will get fat more easily

Yes but… You need to take in consideration the amount of calories that you eat and the type of physical activity that you do. When you move, you burn a some calories.  For example, an hour of aqua-gym burns as many calories as an hour of housekeeping: 250 calories. 1 hour of swimming is 300 calories and 450 calories for 1 hour of apartment biking.

When you know that a Big Mac® brings you 509 calories, you know you gotta do lots of laps in the pool to eliminate the whole menu!

To avoid getting fat, the “intakes” must be equal to the “outakes” and to get slimmer, expenses must be greater than the intakes. The important thing is not the quantity but the nutritional quality, meaning that a healthy menu like chicken, potatoes and beans will be a lot more nutritious than a simple bag of chips!