Nigeria, May 14 -- According to U.S. public nutrition guidance, adult men typically "burn" about 2,000 to 3,000 Calories daily, while adult women "burn" approximately 1,600 to 2,400 Calories per day. Imagine someone gets off work, steps onto a treadmill, and walks steadily for one hour. At the end of the session, he looks down at the glowing display and sees 250 Calories. This is where the arithmetic interpretation of metabolism becomes discouraging for many people. In his mind, he has only managed to "subtract" a small 250 Calories from a daily total measured in thousands. The psychological defeat arrives almost instantly. "That's just one snack." "Not worth it." "I only burned 250 Calories."

What began as movement suddenly feels physi...