Many diets praise the importance of cutting out carbs or increasing protein intake to unrealistic levels in order to lose weight. But, regardless of where your calories come from, any excess of calories that goes unused at the end of the day will lead to weight gain. Determine your personal daily caloric needs to lose weight without the starvation or monotony of other diets.
Function
The McKinley Health Center defines a calorie as a unit of energy that you get from the foods that you eat. Calories come from three macronutrient sources: carbohydrates, protein and fat. One gram of carbohydrate and protein yields four calories, where 1 g of fat yields nine calories.
Resources
A one-size-fits-all approach does not work when talking about how many calories a person needs. Your daily needs are best determined when your age, height, current weight, activity level and weight loss goals are taken into consideration. LIVESTRONG.COM's online calories calculator uses these specifics about you to determine your personal caloric intake number. This calculator aids in taking the guesswork out of how many calories you should cut from your diet per day.
Tracking
If you find it hard to keep track of your calories in your head, try keeping a small notebook with you throughout the day to write down what you eat. This will also make you more aware of how many calories different types of food contain, and helps prevent mindless snacking in between meals.
Time Frame
Healthy weight loss is considered as only 1 to 2 lbs. per week, according to Medline Plus. If you use LIVESTRONG.COM's calorie calculator and choose any of the weight loss options for goals, the calculator pre-cuts your calories down to meet that goal. But if you use another resource that does not take goals into consideration, a 500 to 1,000 calories deficit is required each day. This can be done through diet alone or better through diet and weight loss.
Misconceptions
Even thought cutting calories does mean weight loss, if you restrict your calories to unhealthy level, below 1,200 calories for women or 1,500 for men, you are causing yourself harm and are not losing healthy weight. Most of the weight you lose from this kind of diet will be fluid, and as soon as you hydrate yourself or resume a normal diet the weight you lost will return.
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