For all the different approaches to weight loss advertised by various companies, one of the cornerstones of weight management is controlling your calorie intake. Calorie counts measure food consumption in terms of the energy it provides your body. By reducing calories, you can curb weight gain and cause weight loss, but there are several factors involved.
Calories
Calories are found in most food. Foods containing large amounts of carbohydrates tend to be higher in calories, while foods higher in water content, such as fruits and vegetables, tend to contain fewer calories. Your body needs a certain number of calories each day. This amount is determined by your age, height, weight and activity level. If you consume fewer calories in a day than your body needs, you can force your body to tap its fat stores.
Knowing Your Body
How many calories you cut to promote weight loss can depend on how much extra room you have in your diet. Typically, this relates to your body size. A very large individual weighing more than 300 lbs. can afford to cut out many more calories than a person weighing 115 lbs. Similarly, while 2,000 calories could yield impressive weight loss for an obese person, it could actually cause slow weight gain in a small, inactive individual. It is important to view calories not in terms of the total number consumed, but in the amount needed by the body.
Setting Goals
According to the Mayo Clinic, the best approach is to set a simple and manageable goal, such as losing 1 or 2 lbs. each week. You can then make adjustments to your calorie intake by aiming for a deficit in your daily calorie consumption. Approximately 3,500 calories equal 1 lb. gained or lost. If you want to lose 2 lbs. a week, you must burn an extra 7,000 calories per week, which means you should be consuming roughly 1,000 fewer calories than you burn each day.
Creating a Deficit
Creating the needed calorie deficit for weight loss can be done in two ways. The first is to reduce your daily consumption by eating smaller meals and integrating low-calorie foods, such as fruits and vegetables, while limiting your consumption of fats, sweets and oils. The other approach is to increase your activity level through exercise. Various activities burn different numbers of calories per hour, depending on their intensity level. You can easily burn an extra 300 to 800 calories per day simply by walking, running, bicycling or performing other activities.
Considerations
Cutting calories is very important to weight loss, but it can be a slippery slope. If you cut too much, you not only deprive yourself of calories, but essential nutrients as well. This can cause malnutrition. Additionally, some individuals develop anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder during which you consume 500 or fewer calories per day. Consult a doctor before eating fewer than 1,200 calories a day.
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