When we speak of a low-calorie diet, we're talking about one that reduces the number of calories we consume each day through solid foods and drinks. Whereas the typical person takes in about 2,000 calories a day, those who want to lose weight will instead change to a low calorie program. This diet will limit the person to about 900 to 1,300 calories daily.
Calories are what help your body run throughout the day, calories are fuel to a person just as diesel is fuel to a car. When you eat fewer calories your body will burn off fat that has been stored in your body rather than burn the calories you have just eaten. This is what helps you lose weight when you stick to a low calorie diet.
You should pick up a good calorie counter that helps you determine what foods have what amounts of calories in them. Always check the packets of foods you are buying to see how many calories are listed. Also look at the fat content as well as the calories.
Remember that cutting calories is not your only goal in planning your meals. You still need to be sure that your meals are healthy ones. Don't try to lose too much weight too soon by starving yourself. You're just going to get sick, and in the long run, you'll just wind up eating more to make up for what you deprived yourself of.
There are three main staples to every person's diet and these are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. You should still have a good proportion of these nutrients within your low calorie diet as they keep your body healthy. For every gram of carbohydrates there are 4 calories; so in order to still get your carbs and lose weight you should have roughly 60% carbs in your low calorie diet.
Proteins are amino acids which are vital to staying fit and healthy and maintain a nutritious diet. For every gram of protein there are again 4 calories. You should try to make up at least 15% of your low calorie diet of proteins.
We talked earlier about a calorie counter; another book to keep handy is a Diet Diary. Make yourself write down what you eat (and how much of it) after every meal. Just the act of writing it down will make you more and more aware of what you're eating-and might make you less inclined to eat that bowl of ice cream or that doughnut.
Finally, just as important as your diet is beginning a regular exercise regimen. First, you need to consult a physician, and after getting his go-ahead, start slowly at first. Maybe you'll begin with just walking or slow jogging. Add a little bit more to it each time. Perhaps eventually you could incorporate a gym-based program, where a trainer can help customize a plan just for you. Before you know it, you will no longer recognize the "you" you see in the mirror!
The weight loss industry knows what it is doing. They provide tons of options with meal plans stocked with prepared meals that are all low calorie, knowing that everyone wants the easy way out, the easy way to lose weight. They will ask general questions to put you into a vague category with other people who want to lose weight, and once you give them that information, out pops a meaningless number, which they claim is your new daily calorie level.
So with this magic bullet called low calorie meals, it is undeniable that you definitely will lose weight. But, and there is a big but. Here is the little caveat they do not tell you: these low calorie meal plans will stop working very shortly after you start them. It is a little known fact that they fail to disclose because, hey, you are happy, they are happy, why rock the happy boat, right?
The truth is, those low calorie meal plans are only designed to make you lose weight initially but your body cannot be sustained on those calorie levels. Your body has a set number of calories it needs daily and these meal plans were designed to be full of much fewer calories, which they know cannot sustain healthy weight loss.
What you're really losing during those initial few days is body fat but that's only because the drastic change in calorie level sends your body into starvation mode, which is when your body, without enough calories to keep you going, begins to use or burn your body fat as an energy source. That's kind of the idea for burning body fat but the key here is how you are doing it. By eating less calories, it's a very dangerous way to burn fat because you're also not getting the necessary nutrients that you body needs.
It is a very dangerous way to lose weight because you cannot control what it is that you are actually losing. That initial weight loss will more than likely be body fat, but if you continue with it and do not make changes, you will begin to lose muscle mass instead of body fat. This is completely self-defeating when you get to that point because one of the key tools of losing weight is your metabolism, which will become useless if you do not have any muscle mass left!
A better, more effective and safer way to burn fat and lose weight is by eating 5-6 small, healthy meals per day, full of great nutrients and calories AND working out at the same time. This way, you are still fulfilling your regularly required calorie level but you are burning fat at the same time through exercise, and more importantly, you are not losing things that are essential to healthy weight loss and also general well-being.
Keep in mind that someone who asks for your general information, such as age, height and weight, to provide you with a diet plan, is someone you should walk away from. No one can give valid and valuable advice on weight loss or even general health based on those three things; each person is different because of genetics, personal health history, for starters, so those three so called standards are useless without further information.
If you decide to hire a personal trainer, they will be able to give you valid advice if you discuss with them your health history, not medical but general health.
So just remember that someone who gives you an estimate of required calorie intake based off of age, height and weight is only trying to make you lose weight as fast as you can to hook you into his or her little low calorie meal plan. Because they are thinking that if you lose weight fast, you will be hooked and believe in their idea. So do not fall victim to this ploy!
The best way to lose weight safely and healthfully is by eating plenty of calories through 5-6 small, healthy meals and working out. See? There is not complicated equation to figure out or for someone else to use to give you some vague estimate. Really, it is just two very simple, very easy things to do to make sure you are as healthy as can be with weight loss!
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