The concept of calories is often associated with obesity, which is a common misconception. Let's correct the idea of calories and what they mean.

The human body needs energy to perform its daily and vital functions. This is where the term calories comes from, as it is a unit for measuring energy in food and drinks. The term became associated with obesity because excess energy stored in the body is converted into fat. When you consume more calories than your body burns, you gain weight. Therefore, if you're eating meals with more calories than your body needs, you just need to adjust your diet and exercise to balance your caloric intake with your energy expenditure.

Let's explore some of the high-calorie foods.

High-Calorie Fats a Woman Needs

It was once thought that all fats were bad, but it has become clear there are two types:

• Healthy unsaturated fats: Important for reducing cholesterol levels and boosting immunity and overall health.
• Unhealthy fats: Significantly reducing these can protect against diseases like heart disease and obesity.

The amount of fat you should consume varies depending on individual needs, but it's recommended that 20 to 35% of your total daily calories come from fats. It's also important to limit unhealthy fats—including saturated and trans fats—to less than 10% of your daily calories.

Foods That Contain Healthy Fats

These are healthy foods, not fats from sugars, carbohydrates, and processed foods, which are extremely unhealthy. Examples include:

• Dark Chocolate: High in good fats and rich in fiber, iron, magnesium, copper, and manganese.
• Avocado: Contains 70% healthy fats and is one of the best sources of potassium. Despite its high fat content, it's a great food for a healthy weight loss diet.
• Cheese: Contains a high percentage of fat and is a great source of calcium, vitamin B12, phosphorus, and selenium. Cheese is also very rich in protein.
• Eggs: Contain an endless number of nutritional benefits. The yolk is not bad for you, as is commonly believed; in fact, its cholesterol content does not negatively affect blood cholesterol levels. Due to their richness in beneficial nutrients, eggs make you feel full for a long time and provide your body with energy. You can rely on them for your weight loss diet, whether you're a vegetarian or not.
• Fatty Fish: Full of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids and high-quality protein, such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines.
• Nuts: High in healthy fats and fiber, and a good source of plant-based protein. They are also high in vitamin E and magnesium.
• Chia Seeds: The most plant-based food rich in healthy fats.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: One of the most important sources of natural, plant-based healthy fats and helps control blood pressure.
• Coconut and its Oil: The richest sources of saturated fats. It improves heart function, reduces symptoms of heart disease, and helps prevent Alzheimer's.
• Full-Fat Yogurt: Contains all the important nutrients and helps improve digestive function and reduce the risk of heart disease and obesity.

Fats generally have the highest calories compared to carbohydrates and proteins, but healthy fats are essential for your body's daily needs.

High-Calorie Protein a Woman Needs

Women need high-calorie protein because protein is important for building muscle and gaining weight in a healthy way. So, it's important to know the right amount of protein and how many calories these proteins contain.

Food Sources Rich in High-Calorie Protein

One gram of protein contains 4 calories. Let's look at some of these foods:

• Meats and Poultry: The calories in meat are mainly composed of proteins and fats. The proportion of nutrients depends on the cut of meat.

• Beef: 248 calories
• Roasted Beef: 140 calories
• Ground Beef: 246 calories
• Beef Steak Slices: 194 calories
• Beef Neck Steak Slices: 277 calories
• Beef Ribs: 238 calories

• Duck Meat: 337 calories
• Chicken: 219 calories

• Chicken Breasts: 172 calories
• Chicken Thighs: 229 calories
• Chicken Legs: 174 calories
• Chicken Wings: 266 calories
• Chicken Liver: 167 calories

• Pork: 196 calories
• Turkey: 189 calories

• Turkey Breasts: 135 calories
• Turkey Legs: 208 calories
• Turkey Wings: 221 calories
• Turkey Steak Slices: 189 calories

• Eggs: A rich source of complete and digestible protein. One large egg contains approximately 78 calories, with 35% of those calories coming from protein.
• Dairy Products: Such as cottage cheese (casein), a slow-digesting protein that provides a steady supply of amino acids and contains 98 calories.

High-Calorie Foods a Woman Needs

It's important to pay attention to the quality of the foods you choose before you start counting calories. To balance nutritional value with calorie count and to choose what's best for your health, here are two lists of high-calorie foods—the beneficial ones and the unhealthy ones.

Beneficial High-Calorie Foods

These are foods that provide healthy fats, proteins, complex carbohydrates, and essential vitamins and minerals to support your health and help with healthy weight gain.

7 High-Calorie Foods You Should Eat

We've carefully selected these foods for you because they are easy to find and have many benefits.

• Nuts and Nut Butters: A rich source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and of course, healthy fats (monounsaturated fats) that help control cholesterol. A small handful (about 28 grams) of nuts, like almonds, pistachios, or walnuts, contains 160-200 calories. So, nuts are useful, nutritious, and good for a diet. They can fill you up instead of unhealthy snacks that contain preservatives.
• Dried Fruits: Most types of dried fruit, including dates, are high in natural sugar and are therefore rich in calories, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Two medium-sized Medjool dates contain about 130 calories.
• Milk and Dairy Products: Rich sources of protein, fats, and calcium. Greek yogurt is one of the best, with one cup containing 230 calories. A cup of full-fat milk contains about 150 calories. Therefore, Greek yogurt is one of the best dairy products for its beneficial calories that provide energy for the body.
• Salmon and Fatty Fish: Contains healthy omega-3 fats, which are unsaturated fats beneficial for heart and brain health. They are also high in calories, such as herring and sardines. A small slice of salmon (about 85 grams) contains 170 calories, while a can of sardines contains 191 calories.
• Red Meat: A high source of protein and calories.
• Breakfast Bars and Granola: Snacks based on oats, nuts, seeds, honey, and other sweeteners. They are a favorite snack for many because of their high nutritional value, convenience, and richness in calories. Most types contain about 150-200 calories per bar. You should pay attention to choosing types that don't contain a lot of added sugar.
• Avocado: Rich in healthy fats and calories. One large avocado contains about 365 calories and 30 grams of fat.

Unhealthy High-Calorie Foods

These are foods that are very high in calories but lack nutritional value, so it's recommended to limit them as much as possible.

7 High-Calorie Foods You Should Avoid

We've chosen this list of the most popular and worst high-calorie and low-benefit foods. Avoid them.

• Baked Goods: White bread, pastries, manakish, tea biscuits, croissants, cookies.
• Sweets: Cakes, donuts, cookies, brownies, muffins, waffles, crepes, chocolate, candies.
• Fast Food: Burgers, pizza, fried chicken pieces.
• Fried Snacks: French fries, chips, Asian crackers, onion rings, mozzarella sticks.
• Frozen Desserts: Ice cream, jelly, cream, most Eastern and Western cold desserts.
• Juices and Sweetened Drinks: Soft drinks, energy drinks, artificial juices, sweetened coffee (frappuccino, sweetened latte).
• Processed Meats: Hot dogs, sausages, bacon, luncheon meat, salami.

High-Calorie Carbohydrates a Woman Needs

One of the most popular diets for weight loss is the low-carb diet. But what many women don't know is that carbohydrates have a significant effect on both their mental and physical health. Despite being able to help you lose some pounds, they can cause serious health problems. Let's learn about carbohydrates and their types.

Types of Carbohydrates

There are two types: simple and complex. Whether simple or complex, they are essential nutrients for the body's various functions and are one of the main sources of energy.

• Complex Carbohydrates: Rich in fiber and found in natural, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Simple Carbohydrates: Stripped of natural fiber and nutrients. They are found in refined sugars and starches such as pastries and soft drinks.

How to Eat Carbohydrates in a Healthy Way

You can safely add carbohydrates to your daily diet in a healthy way. Here are some steps:

• Whole Grains: Start your day with a rich breakfast like whole-grain bread, whole-wheat bran flakes, or oatmeal. This will make you feel full.
• Swap White Rice at Lunch: It's a good idea to substitute quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, or bulgur for white rice. You can also use oats or ground whole-wheat bran instead of dry breadcrumbs in recipes.
• Fruit Instead of Juice: For example, an orange contains double the fiber and half the sugar of a glass of orange juice, so it's better to eat whole fruit instead of juicing it.
• Legumes: You can eat beans as an excellent source of slowly digested carbohydrates. Beans and other legumes like chickpeas and black-eyed peas also provide a healthy dose of protein.

Overall, a balanced diet is what protects your body and makes it more vibrant. If you decide to eat rice, for example, it should be a specific amount, not more than 6 tablespoons. Balance your rice meal by adding more vegetables and protein. At the same time, avoid eating rice and bread on the same day.

High-Calorie Nutritional Supplements a Woman Needs

Women, like all people, need essential nutritional supplements to complete the nutritional value of their day. Some of these high-calorie supplements are:

• Serious Mass Supplement: Contains calories and protein to support weight gain and muscle building.

The Top 10 Nutritional Supplements for Women

• Calcium: Since women are four times more likely to get osteoporosis than men, it is important for maintaining bone strength.
• Fish Oil: Represents omega-3, which is important for cardiovascular health, and reduces triglycerides, which lowers the risk of heart disease.
• Folic Acid: A water-soluble B vitamin. It is important for our body's cells because they need it to make DNA and to keep you healthy.
• Vitamin D: Promotes calcium absorption.
• B Vitamins: Important for hair health and play a role in improving metabolic processes and helping the body form red blood cells.
• Magnesium: Plays a role in protein synthesis and is important for bone health.
• Coenzyme Q10: A fat-soluble nutrient that helps produce energy in cells and is a powerful antioxidant.
• Lutein: Reduces macular degeneration, a cause of blindness in elderly women.
• Whey Protein: Contains high levels of protein and is quickly absorbed to support muscle recovery.
• Casein: Digests slowly and provides a sustained release of amino acids.

We can conclude that many of the foods we eat daily may be high in calories without us realizing it. You should enjoy food without boring calculations, but you must pay attention that some of these foods are beneficial and nutritious, while others are bad, lack nutritional value, and are also high in calories. Therefore, a balanced diet is the perfect solution for a healthier and more vibrant life.