With so many diets recommending different meal plans to follow while promising weight loss, it is easy to get distracted from the fact that weight loss comes down to reducing calories. Since the calories that your body does not use for energy are stored as fat, weight loss depends on either cutting calories so that your body turns to stored fat for energy, or burning more calories through exercise.
Daily Caloric Needs
The first step in figuring out how many calories you need to eat to lose weight is to find out how many calories your body needs a day to maintain your current weight. According to Harvard Medical School, a good way to get a rough estimate of your daily caloric requirements in a moderately active person is to multiple your current weight by 15. For example, a woman who weighs 155 pounds will need 2,325 calories in order to maintain her current weight.
How Many Calories to Cut
Now that you know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, you need to figure out how many calories to cut to lose weight. Every pound of fat is equal to approximately 3,500 calories. To lose a pound a week you need to cut 500 calories a day. Cutting calories to less than 1,200 calories a day is not recommended, because that does not provide enough nutrients for health. If your calculations give you a number under 1,200 calories to consume, eat 1,200 calories and either take longer to lose weight or burn off the difference through exercise.
Best Food Choices
The key to successful weight loss is a diet that still leaves you satisfied, not starving. If you make high-fat food choices you'll find you can eat your way through you daily calories pretty easily, leaving you hungry and unsatisfied increasing the chances you will give up on you diet. Fats have about 9 calories per gram, compared to the 4 calories per gram in a gram of both carbohydrates and protein. So make nutrient-dense food choices. In each of the food groups aim for options that include less fat and less calories, like lean meats and low-fat milk, in order to fill up and stay satisfied.
Tips to Cut Calories
To cut calories painlessly focus on eating foods that will fill you up that are still low in calories, like whole grains and legumes. Pay attention to how a food is prepared, since a low calorie chicken breast can have lots of added fat if fried. Swap high-calorie foods for low-calorie options, like adding skim milk to your coffee rather than cream. If there is a food you adore and can't live without, eat a smaller portion of it. Know how your foods is prepared, so fast foods are not recommended, so you know what your eating.
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