One of the best ways to lose weight is to count calories. For those that can't find a diet that is easy to stick with, perhaps the idea of counting calories might be attractive. One of the main reasons counting calories is an effective method to lose weight is due to the fact that an individual can eat any type of food that he or she likes. With most diets, certain foods are heavily restricted.
For instance, with low fat diets, foods like butter, red meat and candy bars are restricted due to their high fat content. In diets like Atkins, which are low carb diets, foods such as fruits, sugar, pasta and breads are heavily restricted. However, when you count calories, you can eat any kind of food you like, as long as it falls within the amount you have decided to be your daily caloric intake.
Individuals lose weight counting calories, because they cut back on the amount of calories they consume. If a normal adult consumes 2,200 calories, cutting back 400 calories per day to consume only 1,800 calories will help a person lose several pounds per month. 3,600 calories make up one pound, by cutting back 400 calories per day, you can theoretically lose one pound every 9 days. In addition, if you add an exercise regiment, you can burn off calories even faster. Some individuals can easily lose 5 to 10 pounds per month by just cutting calories and exercising.
An Easy Method to Count Calories
There are several methods to count calories; here is one of the easiest methods to use. You first will want to figure out how much weight you would like to lose over the course of a month. For instance, if you would like to lose 10 pounds per month, you will need to reduce your caloric intake by about 36,000 calories. This can be done by cutting back on calories each day and by exercising regularly. For instance, for a person that consumes 2200 calories, they will need to restrict their caloric intake to about 1,000 calories per day. This can be done with both diet and exercise. You can easily cut down your caloric intake to 1600 calories per day and work out for about one hour to lower your caloric intake to about 1,000 calories per day.
How to Count Calories
In order to count calories, you will first need to know how many calories are in each food item you eat. This information is easy to find. You can usually find the exact amount of calories of a food serving by checking the nutritional label found on most foods. If there is no label on the food (such as fast foods or produce) you can easily go online to find out this information. Another source of caloric information is to purchase a book with calorie counts for many of the foods you eat each day.
