Losing weight may be difficult, but the principle behind it is not -- it's just basic math. When you consistently eat fewer calories than you burn every day, you'll eventually lose weight. Maintaining self-control is a different story, though. Understanding the relationship between calories and weight loss may help you manage your diet.
Food Labels
Calories represent the amount of energy stored in food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, recommends a standard 2,000-calorie diet for all adults. The FDA also established guidelines requiring food manufacturers to list the number of calories per serving. Food labels provide a standard serving size, and list the number of calories in that serving size. Stay within the serving size recommendation to avoid consuming too many calories.
Calorie Calculator
Use a calorie calculator to ensure you're not taking in too many calories on a daily basis. Using a few simple facts from your daily life, a calorie calculator can help you determine how many calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. Your height, weight, age and average daily physical activity all play roles in your caloric needs.
Caloric Deficit
Once you know how many calories your body needs, use simple math to create a caloric-deficit goal to help you lose weight. To lose 1 lb., you must burn 3,500 calories. You need to burn 500 more calories per day than you take in to lose 1 lb. a week. Take your daily goal from the calorie calculator and subtract 500 to find the number of calories you can eat each day and still lose 1 lb. a week. Re-adjust your daily caloric goal as you lose weight.
Exercise
Exercise plays a large role in the amount of food you can eat when you're trying to lose weight. For example, if you consume 2,000 calories when your daily goal is 1,800 calories, you've exceeded your allotment. However, if you run 3 miles on a treadmill and burn an extra 350 calories, your net caloric intake equals 1,650 calories. Exercise can help you burn calories and lose weight more quickly.
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