Counting calories is a popular method of losing weight. The intention is to burn more calories than you eat, and therefore lose weight. Of course, there is no definite number that everyone should eat each day, and therefore no special number which we need to cut back on in order to loose weight. The essential figure to consider when calorie counting is the amount of calories you need to consume each day in order to maintain your weight as it is. This may involve a few sums, but once you have that figure, you can work out the amount you want to reduce.
In order to work out the amount you need to maintain your present weight, you first need to work out your BMR. There are many ways that you figure this out online, and it should not take you very long. Once you have done this, then you need to work out how much activity you do during an average day. If you are sedentary, times your BMR by 1.2, If you are slightly active, times it by 1.375. If you are moderately active (if, you do exercise most days a week) then times it by 1.55. If you are even more active than that, times the BMR by 1.725, and if you perform hard labour, or are involved in competitive sport, times the BMR by 1.9.
You may need to fetch a calculator at this point. For example, a woman weighing 200 pounds may have a BMR of 1675 and be very inactive, so she would times her BMR by two, and produce a result of 3350. This figure is the amount of calories the woman would need to consume if she wanted to stay at the weight she is now.
Once you have worked out how many calories you need in order to keep your weight the same, you can then start to cut back your intake in order to loose weight. It is considerably healthier to cut back the amount of calories you eat a little bit at a time. This is also dependant upon how much weight you want to loose. Guidelines recommend that you should loose no more than 2 pounds each week, and it is probably better in the long tem if you only aim for one pound. Each pound is the equivalent of 3,500 calories, which conveniently mean that reducing your intake by 500 calories a day will lose one pound a week through diet alone.
You can lose these 500 calories purely by cutting them from your diet, or you could lose 250 from your intake, and then burn 250 calories thought exercise. You should take into consideration how much you exercise, as well as what you eat, and record it all in a diary. This is not there to reveal how little you did on a certain day; it is an account of each little step you take towards losing each pound at the end of the week.
You should try and keep your calorie reduction even: so if you can't exercise one day, don't be tempted to cut back more rigorously on your eating the day after. It is far more important to consistently lose weight, even if it is only a little, than punish yourself for small infractions. With the latter policy, you are likely to give up before you have even reached your goal.
Once you start losing weight, you also need to remember to revise your BMR and weight loss plan. The calorie cutback which was suitable for weight loss in a 200-pound woman will not have the same effect on a woman who now weight 180 pounds. If you find yourself reaching a plateau, where you care no longer losing, consider checking your BMR ? you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.
Calories Don't Mean Everything
What most people don't realize is that how you get calories is just as important as how many you take in. Why? Because you might not take in many calories, but the calories you do take in could be all from junk food. So what you actually eat still play a big role.
Another thing to keep in mind is exercise. The more exercise you get the more calories you can burn off. In some cases your body may need lots of calories just to help deal with all the calories that you are burning off.
How To Reduce Calories
The first way to reduce calories is to find lower calorie alternatives to the food you eat. A slice of pepperoni pizza will have lots of calories. But, you can still eat pizza if you want to. All you have to do is eat a more lower calorie alternative. For example, you could eat more vegetables on your pizza. Also take into consideration what you drink with your pizza.
The other way around this is to simply burn more calories. You can get around that by simply working out more.
You Don't Need To Count: Just Be Aware
All your really need to do is get an idea of what your calorie intake is. You really don't need obsess over counting calories on a daily bases.
I would take a week to simply add up what your daily intake is. This will give you an idea of what amounts of food you are consuming. If you consume twice as much as you think you are, then you will have some work for yourself.
Now, here is what you do. You have to find out what a person of your size should be consuming in calories per day. It depends on your current weight and if you are a man or a woman. You can look online for some free calorie counting software. This makes things easy for you.
Once you know what you should be consuming you can then make the right adjustments. You may need to replace certain foods with others or you may need to increase your level of exercise.
This is how you lose weight. You don't need a fad diet and you don't needy any pills.
Both Dylan Graves & Tyler Moss are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dylan Graves has sinced written about articles on various topics from Recreation and Sports, belly fat and Recreation and Sports. Dylan Graves works out everyday and has a great physique. Discover free how to have a 6-pack of washboard abs at . Dylan Graves's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.
Tyler Moss has sinced written about articles on various topics from Debt Consolidation, Writing and Recreation and Sports. Now you can read the latest weight lose product reviews and get all the latest weight lose tips from Tom White. Visit today for the latest. Tyler Moss's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.