1,200 Calorie Carb Diet Plan

This is generally how an individual chooses a diet plan:

- They decide they need to lose weight;

- They pick their diet which tends to be a starvation diet OR a popular fad diet plan such as a restricted carb diet;

- The individual tends to set their calorie intake in the 1,000 to 1,200 calorie range - and often, even lower.

- Because the diet is too restricted in caloric content, the individual quits the diet and ends up gaining more weight before they decide to go on their next diet.

There are a few things that stand out in this Diet Decision Process such as:

- Why choose a diet with X-calories rather than one based on the calorie needs of the body which would allow weight loss to occur at a safe rate?

Let's use our 1,200 calorie carb diet as an example.

The more weight that an individual has to lose, the more calories their body requires. While a 1,200 calorie carb diet might be ideal for one person, it may spell giant health woes for another.

To determine what your caloric intake should be to achieve weight loss, it's always best to check with your doctor. If you are unable to afford a doctor, a good way to establish calorie intake while dieting is to track all the calories that you currently consume as you normally would over the next three days. Average those calories. Simply add the daily totals from all three, then divide by three to get your average.

To lose 1 pound per week, eat 500 less calories per day. As an example, let's view Dieter Judy:

Judy has tracked her calorie intake as best as she can using labels and a calorie book over the last three days. On average, she consumed 3,000 calories per day. If Judy eats 1,000 calories less each day, she will lose 2 pounds per week on average. At some point, Dieter Judy will need to readjust her calorie intake as her body shrinks and requires less calories to maintain.

In Summary: Resist diets that are extremely low in calories as they cannot supply the necessary vitamins and minerals needed by the body.

While eliminating simple carbohydrates from the daily diet is a smart choice, DO feed the body complex carbohydrates so that you'll have energy needs required to get through those tough times in your diet plan. Examples of complex carbs include whole grains such as oatmeal and barley.