Getting Started On A Low Calorie Diet

Getting Started On A Low Calorie Diet

A low calorie diet is a great plan for losing weight.  In fact, studies show that it doesn’t matter what type of diet you’re on, you must lower your caloric intake and/or burn more calories than you consume in a day in order to successfully lose weight.

But, a low calorie diet isn’t as simple as just cutting out a bunch of calories.  If it were then everybody would easily be losing weight and keeping it off.  But with a little planning you can effectively achieve your weight loss goals with a low calorie diet.

What is a low calorie diet?

First of all, let’s take a quick look at what exactly a low calorie diet is.  Like, the name implies, it’s a diet that consists of a calorie restriction. As stated before, the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories in a day then you consume. Keep in mind, however, that if you lower your caloric intake too much you could risk a host of complications like muscle loss, lowering your metabolism and so on.  If you don’t cut enough calories in a day then you won’t see the results you want.

It’s important to eat cut the right amount of calories, but it’s just as important to eat a wide variety of whole, nutritionally dense foods.  Eating a low calorie diet of processed, unhealthy foods will lead to poor nutrition and hunger, making it hard to continue on the diet.

Rest assured, however, that a low calorie diet is not a fly-by-night fad diet, but rather a proven way to lose weight and keep the pounds off.

Now, let’s move on to the specifics of a low calorie diet.

How many calories should I cut?

This right here can make or break the success of your diet.  Let’s first take a quick look at what it takes to lose a pound of body fat.

A pound of body fat = roughly 3500 calories, so if you want to lose a pound in 7 days, or a week’s time, you need to cut roughly 500 calories out of your diet (or burn an extra 500 calories) per day.

Hopefully this equation will help you keep your weight loss goals realistic.  Losing ten pounds in a week, while possible for those who are obese, is very unlikely and can even be unhealthy.

So, how many calories can you safely cut from your diet?  Figure out how many calories you are currently eating on a daily basis to maintain your current weight and cut that number by 15%.  So if you’re eating 3,000 calories day then you would be cutting out 450 calories a day.

You might find it easier to burn a few hundred calories a day through exercise so that you only have to cut another few hundred out of your diet to meet your daily goal.

What foods should I eat?

It’s important to eat nutritionally dense, whole foods while following a low calorie diet plan, or any diet for that matter. Not only for obvious health reasons, but these types of foods help you feel fuller longer, compared to highly processed foods like chips, cookies, etc.  This will make it easier to consume fewer calories in day, but still feel full at the same time.

Water dense foods like fruits, vegetables and soups are an excellent choice for those wanting to consume fewer calories, but still feel satisfied.  The water in these types of foods help fill you up without the added calories.  Try eating a broth based soup before your dinner so you fill up on the soup before you start eating the calorie dense main dish.

Create a healthy lifestyle, not just a temporary diet!

Probably the most important tip you will ever receive pertaining to weight loss is to make healthy eating and exercise a lifestyle, not just a diet to lose some weight. The sooner you do this the better off your health will be.

Tory McBroom is the author/contributor at http://www.low-caloriediet.com.