What are kilojoules?
Understanding how your body consumes and expends energy is crucial to the Slimtrack way of managing your weight. We explain how it all works.
Understanding how your body consumes and expends energy, as measured in kilojoules or calories, is crucial to the Slimtrack way of managing your weight.
A kilojoule (metric) or a calorie (non-metric) is a unit of energy.
Our bodies take in energy by eating and drinking, and expend energy through physical activity. In both cases the level of energy can be measured in kilojoules (or calories, if you prefer).
In the case of foodstuffs or beverages the level of energy is determined by type and quantity. For instance: a 340ml can of Coke contains 585 kilojoules, but the same sized can of Grapetiser contains 762 kilojoules. Two cans of Coke contain double the amount of energy of one can of Coke.
Similarly, in the case of physical activity the level of energy is determined by type and duration, although measurements are less exact and varies more between individuals. Ten minutes of fast running will burn up more energy than ten minutes of walking, but a fit athlete will burn up less energy than an unfit individual when doing the same exercise for the same length of time.
The Slimtrack approach takes these differences into consideration by allowing you to record your personal profile of key variables such as your age, gender, height and general level of activity.
Because South Africa uses the metric system, the kilojoule is more commonly used. South African law prescribes that the energy content of foodstuffs or beverages must be displayed on the packaging in kilojoules, though calories might be used in some imported items, typically from the USA.
Slimtrack allows you to set up your personal preference for either unit.
1000 joules = 1 kilojoule
1 calorie = 4,2 kilojoules
1 kilojoule = 239 calories
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