Fat, Calories & Food Pitfalls
Written by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
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Diet Article: Oh those deep pitfalls in the common weight loss plan.
While trying to lose weight what is most important - restricting fat or calories? From personal experience, I can say that counting calories is the best way to lose weight.
This isn't to say that fat grams don't have a huge impact on calorie values - or the manner in which fat is distributed on our body.
It's just that counting calories is a guaranteed form of weight loss that has been proven time and time again by people who have used this method and who have achieved permanent weight loss success.
Counting calories is not an exact science due to many things - specifically the inconsistency of product ingredients and product size.
But counting calories is one of the most accurate tools for weight loss.
Keep in mind that a pound equals 3,500 calories. In order to lose one pound we must trim calories from our daily diet.
How to Lose Weight By Counting Calories
Method #1 for Losing Weight by Counting Calories
The first step in this process is to eat as you normally would, listing what you ate in a journal.
Next, at the end of the day calculate the calories you consumed by either using the labels from the foods that you ate, fast food nutrition charts, or by adding up the calories in the ingredients that you used to prepare a certain food - then divide that by the amount (portions, servings) that you consumed.
If your weight is steady, you can trim 500 calories from your daily diet and lose weight - about 2 pounds per week which is a safe rate of fat loss.
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That's a key word - 'fat loss'. If you lose weight too quickly, it may be in the form of 'water loss' than true 'fat loss'. It requires time for fat to burn, so the dieter must not only be patient, but also diligent.
The calorie counting method for weight loss can get a bit tricky because as you lose weight, your body requires less calories to operate and maintain. At this point, you may find that you quit losing weight.
You'll need to again start trimming calories from your daily diet to encourage weight loss once again. If you can trim another 500 calories per day from your diet, you can again continue to lose about 2 pounds per week.
However - one caveat and it's a big one. Do not go below 1,250 calories per day on any diet plan. This will place your health and maybe your very life in jeopardy. Method #2
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