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How to Lose Weight Cutting Calories

What are calories?

A calorie is the unit defining how much energy it takes to warm a gram of water by a degree. In terms of food energy and dieting, it’s the number of grams of a food required to produce energy. For example, 1 gram of pure carbohydrates produces about four calories of energy. The recommended calorie intake for an adult is between 2000 and 2500 per day, but this depends upon one’s body type and how active one is in terms of burning calories.

Calories and dieting

Activity requires energy, which means the burning of calories. Calories not used, turn to fat. Therefore it is a fairly simple relationship between calorie intake and energy expenditure. One needs to understand which foods yield how many calories, and the quantities likely to be burnt by which activities.

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Crash diets are never healthy. When the body becomes starved, it goes into survival mode and learns to store up any available food against the time of need. Therefore, although you’ll lose weight quickly, when you start eating normally, you’re likely to put on the weight again fairly quickly. In order to retain weight loss, it is far better to lose it slowly and maintain a sensible eating plan.

Losing weight by cutting calories.

The basic theory is that in order to lose weight, one’s calorie intake should be a few hundred calories less than one burns. An average intake for an adult on diet would be between about 1200 and 1500 per day; once again, depending on body type and the amount of activity. If one is very active, the intake should be increased.

Losing weight by cutting calories requires getting to know the food groups and the calories they produce, and working out a balanced diet that will provide all the nutrients required to maintain good health. It is important to ensure that your body gets the required carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins, minerals, water and so on.

Fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes should be included in your diet, as well as poultry, fish, lean meat and low-fat dairy products.

What about those deserts?

As long as you’re including the right balance of foods in your diet, then there’s no reason not to treat yourself occasionally to the sweet things. Just keep the calorie intake level below the calorie burning level; or increase the burning if you do indulge!

Monitoring

There are a number of calorie calculators available to help you to monitor intake and expenditure. Any weight loss clinic or pharmacy should have them, but weight loss calorie calculators are also available on the internet.

Losing weight by cutting calories doesn’t have to be a painful experience. It has the additional benefit of making one more aware of the right foods to eat, and would probably enhance one’s general health and well-being by making one consciously plan healthy menus for the whole family.