Why Calorie Count?
Nutritionists, dieticians and other health professionals involved in helping people to lose weight, tend to agree that healthy eating and a low fat diet are essential for long term healthy weight loss. Losing weight by calorie counting helps to build your knowledge and awareness of what's in what you eat, and what your body really needs. Calorie counting is flexible enough to fit into most lifestyles and can accommodate personal taste, likes and dislikes. There are no forbidden foods when you calorie count - everything is allowed - as long as you eat less calories than you burn up each day you will lose weight, that's a scientific fact. How to Lose Weight by Calorie Counting First you need to work out how many calories you need each day to maintain your weight. For women, this averages around 2000, for men around 2500 (more if you are very over weight, very muscular - or very tall!). To lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit by consuming fewer calories than you burn. If you eat 500 calories less than you need each day you'll lose weight at the rate of one pound a week. If you eat 1,000 calories less than you need each day you'll lose two pounds each week. Your body will have to turn to its fat stores to make up your calorie deficit. It's recommended that you combine exercise (burning more calories) with healthy eating to create a calorie deficit.
You'll need a comprehensive chart or calorie counter to look up the calories in food and drinks. Then jot down what you eat and drink each day and add up the calories. We recommend the Calorie, Carb & Fat Bible calorie counter which lists calories in over 20,000 UK foods. Jotting down what you eat will help you to see where you can make changes to reduce the number of calories you consume. Most people find they have a fairly small number of favourite items that they eat or drink habitually, or in large amounts, which take up a big portion of their daily calorie needs. Calories in alcohol are a good illustration; alcohol has 7 calories per gram and little or no nutritional value. The trick is to reduce these high calorie items - don't cut them out all together, making yourself feel deprived is counter-productive when trying to lose weight - even those calories in alcohol are ok in moderation. Try to concentrate on healthy eating and a low fat diet that leaves some room for treats.
This information bought to you by Rani-DIET AND FITNESS 247
