Will Calorie Counting Help To Lose Weight?

Calorie-counting, fat gram computations, carbohydrate awareness and eating on a point system are just some of the many ways you can lose weight. Although you have almost limitless choices on what weight-loss plan to follow, in order to lose weight successfully you need to cut calories. The effort required to count and monitor your caloric intake becomes easier over time as you familiarize yourself with the calorie counts of your favorite foods.

Benefits

Unlike commercial diet programs, calorie counting costs little to no money. Check out calorie reference books from the library, or use an Internet site to determine the calories in the foods you eat. In addition, calorie counting and awareness can help you avoid the common pitfall of underestimating how many calories you consume. When you combine measuring portions with calorie counting, you are able to control the size of your meals and their calories. Calorie counting is also a weight maintenance technique you can use after you reach your goal weight.

Calorie Requirements

Your calorie needs change throughout your life, as well as during your weight-loss experience. If you are maintaining your weight now on 2,500 calories, cutting 500 calories a day will likely result in about 1 lb. of weight loss a week. However, as you lose weight, your body requires fewer calories. An easy way to calculate your caloric requirement is to use an online calorie calculator such as the US Department of Agriculture's interactive calculator for health care professionals.

Strategies

As you begin losing weight by calorie counting, research the calorie amounts in every food you eat. You may be surprised that your favorite fast food meal has almost 1,000 calories, or that you are inadvertently eating two times the recommended amount of your breakfast cereal. Use the food label when possible to determine the serving size, measure foods before eating and record your food intake in a food diary right after eating. The food planning and tracking system at MyPyramid.gov offers a convenient way to track your calories and plan your meals.

Considerations

While cutting and counting your calories will help you lose weight, consider the nutrients in the calories you eat. If you follow the recommendations from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, you should eat about 365 calories from protein, 360 from fats and 725 from carbohydrates, if following a 1,450 calorie diet. Eat healthier, low-calorie choices such as poultry, fat-free skim or soy milk, reduced-fat yogurt and cheese, fruits, vegetables and breads made with whole-grains such as rye, oatmeal or wheat. Make your own low-calorie meals, and divide the total calories of your ingredients into the number of servings you prepare. Practicing counting calories in homemade meals will help you avoid relying on frozen diet meals.