Many fad diets have attempted to set calorie guidelines which are based on "bodyweight & height" (and sometimes they factor in "activity level"). Most weight loss counselors operate using these same types of daily calorie guidelines.
In other words, most weight loss counselors instruct people to follow a specific "daily calorie limit" which is based on their weight & height (and sometimes their activity level is factored in).
For example, some weight loss counselors may tell you to eat 2,000 calories per day if you weigh a certain amount (and if you describe yourself as "active"). But this is a RIDICULOUS way to try and lose weight, and I'll explain why below.
The truth is that it's quite ridiculous to follow a specific calorie limit each day, since every person has a different metabolism level.
You cannot judge your metabolism by your activity level either, since there are plenty of people with higher activity levels but who are overweight nonetheless (due to a slower than normal metabolism).
For example, if you take 2 people who weigh 165 lbs and who have the same activity level each day, then there is no guarantee that their metabolisms will be operating at the same general level. In fact, it's quite possible that one person's metabolism will be nearly twice as fast as the other person's metabolism. Also, another reason why following a specific "daily caloric guideline" is a waste of time.
You see, your body doesn't burn calories on a "per day" basis; your body burns calories on a "per meal" basis. Your body doesn't burn calories based on what time the sun rises and sets, it burns calories throughout the day as you eat them.
This means that following some arbitrary "daily caloric guideline" is not going to make you any thinner, since you must actually learn to spread out your daily food across more than 3 meals per day in order to lose weight fast.
To speed up your metabolism you must eat more often, not less often. You must eat more than 3 meals per day, and you must not follow some arbitrary caloric guideline each day. Also, it's quite easy to figure out how big your food portions need to be when trying to lose weight and it has nothing to do with counting calories.
In fact, people who count calories usually fail at weight loss, and that's because counting calories simply will not work.
