All successful diet programs involve some form of calorie
restriction. Without restricting your caloric intake you
will not achieve your weight loss goals in the long term.
In this article I discuss calorie restriction in greater
detail and explain how it can help you lose weight.
Let's start by explaining calories and what they actually
are. A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy. In
nutritional terms a calorie often refers to a kilocalorie
(kcal) which is the approximate amount of energy needed to
increase the temperature of 1kg of water by 1 degree
Celsius. The body absorbs calories and energy in two ways;
- 1) From the food that you consume. - 2) From the fat that
is stored in your body.
As you can probably see, the ideal weight loss situation is
to force your body to burn fat for energy. This can be
achieved by eating less than your normal appetite i.e.
reducing your caloric intake. Your body will then be
forced to burn stored fat to get the additional energy it
requires. If you think of the body like a car it may be a
little easier to explain. Let's imagine that this car
requires twenty gallons of petrol every week but you
purchase twenty four gallons instead. Every week you build
up a reserve of four gallons which you can use at a later
date if needed. However, if you do not use up these
gasoline reserves soon you will quickly find that you need
a large storage tank. Similarly with your body, if you
burn as many calories as you consume you will be fine. If
you consume more calories than you burn for an extended
period you will find your fat stores rapidly expanding. To
lose this excess weight you will have to consume less
calories than you burn.
So now you understand the theory behind calorie restriction
you probably want to know how many calories should you
personally eat to force your body to burn fat? One
suggestion is to eat fewer calories than those needed to
fuel your basal metabolic rate (BMR) i.e. the calories you
need to survive. You can calculate your BMR with the help
of BMR calculators which are available for free online.
Once you have your BMR number you should focus on consuming
less calories. This will then force your body into fat
burning mode. However, I understand that this can often be
easier said than done so here are a few tips to help you
restrict your daily caloric intake:
1) CURRENT DAILY CALORIC INTAKE:- What is your current
daily caloric intake? How different is this to your BMR
number? By looking at your existing caloric intake you
have a base to work with which makes the whole calorie
restriction process a lot more manageable. For example,
let's say your BMR is 2000 calories a day. You write down
all the foods you eat in a week and it turns out you are
consuming an average of 2500 calories a day. From this you
can see that you need to lose 500 calories a day. You can
look at your existing diet and remove these calories
instead of trying to build a 2000 calorie a day diet from
scratch.
2) PLAN YOUR MEALS:- If you are following a restricted
calorie diet you need to plan everything you will be eating
each day. Otherwise you cannot be sure how many calories
you will end up eating that day. For example, if your BMR
is 2000 calories a day and you plan meals for breakfast,
lunch and dinner all containing 500 calories plus three 100
calorie snacks you will be well on your way to burning fat.
However, if you pop into the cafe for breakfast before
work and then again for lunch how can you be sure how many
calories you have consumed? It is inevitable that you will
not stick to this plan at all times but those who have a
meal plan and follow it most of the time will be a lot more
successful than those who count the calories as they go.
3) AVOID FAD DIETS:- Fad diets do get results and do reduce
your daily caloric intake. However, they are very rarely
good for you in the long term. In fact, certain fad diets
can be seriously damaging to your health if taken up for
prolonged periods. A healthy, well planned, balanced diet
is the best option for both long term health and permanent
weight loss.
Calorie restriction is one of the most straightforward
weight loss solutions out there. Simply calculate how many
calories you are burning using a BMR calculator, make sure
the food you are eating each day contains less calories
than your BMR number and your body will be forced to burn
fat. Yes it takes a little planning on your part and yes
you may have to give up some of the foods and snacks that
you enjoy but if weight loss is your ultimate goal then
this is a relatively small sacrifice.
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