When it comes to weight loss, restricting your diet can be one of the fastest way to lose pounds. Exercise is important for weight loss as well as overall health, but the number of calories burned during a one-hour session of exercise can more easily be cut from your diet with a few simple modifications. Calculate exactly how many calories you should ingest each day to properly adjust your diet. After you have determined this daily caloric intake, follow it carefully. This process will require you to learn the process of tracking the calories in the foods you eat every day .
Step 1
Determine your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. This number provides you with the specific number of calories per day that you need, at rest, to maintain your body weight. You can determine this number by either having a dietitian measure it with a medical device, or you can estimate it by using the tools provided on many health and fitness websites (see Resources).
Step 2
Calculate how many additional calories you are burning each day with your usual physical activities. Your BMR is just the number of calories you need per day at rest, so you need to also add the number of calories required for the average physical activity you participate in each day. Many websites can help you estimate the calories from a variety of physical activities (see Resources).
Step 3
Combine the BMR and daily physical activity calories to determine total calories per day for maintaining your current weight. After you have obtained this number, set a reasonable goal for how many calories per day you wish to reduce in your diet. If you cut 500 calories per day from your diet, this will result in a loss of 3,500 calories per week, which is equivalent to one pound of fat. For healthy weight loss, according to the American Dietetics Association, you should aim for one to two pounds per week.
Step 4
Start using a food journal. To properly track the calories you are ingesting per day from food, you need to write them down or record them on an electronic journal. Many websites provide free electronic or printable journals (see Resources).
Step 5
Read food labels carefully on any packaged or canned foods you include in your meals. The food labels will tell you how many servings are in the package or can and how many calories are in each serving. Estimate how many servings you are eating from the package or can and multiply it by the calories per serving, recording the result in your food journal.
Step 6
Write down or record every item that you eat or drink, other than water. Pay attention to the quantities, using measurements such as cups, teaspoons and tablespoons. Check out a book from the library that lists calories per serving for almost every food and drink you can ingest. Look up the items that you eat, look for the calories per serving and write it down in your food journal.
Step 7
Monitor your food journal each day, and aim to keep your total calories each day at the allotted amount that you set as a goal for your daily caloric intake. Having a number to shoot for and carefully monitoring your calories each day will greatly improve your success.
Things You'll Need
- Food journal
Member Comments