Cutting Calories: How Many?
Designing your own diet and exercise plan has certain advantages, not the least of which is the ability to tailor the plan to your specific preferences. Doing so may make it easier to change your habits to accomplish your weight loss goals.
Weight loss diets usually include, in some form, a restriction on the number of calories consumed daily. Having a general idea of your current typical intake and the amount of calories you wish to cut will help you achieve your goal, regardless of which methods you use. One way to find out your current intake is to keep a food diary over the course of two weeks, without changing your normal eating habits. Don’t estimate calories at this point–you want to have as accurate a record as possible.
Once you know the average number of calories you consume per day, determine how quickly you want to (and safely can) lose weight. To lose two pounds per week, for example, you would need to reduce or offset your calorie intake by 1000 calories a day. The major calorie related factors that affect weight loss are intake and expenditure. You can lose weight by lowering intake, increasing expenditure, or by a using a combination of these two methods.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment