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Weight loss, diet and slimming techniques to lose weight safely

A balanced calorie controlled diet requires an adequate food intake and sufficient exercise to burn the calories that intake produces. Careful choices can negate the need to try and force weight loss by reducing your intake significantly or excessive exercise.

The Calorie Confusion: How many you really need and why.

Calories have been confusing dieters around the world for years, and the confusion probably wont end any time soon. There are hundreds of recommendations for how many calories you need, and why you should consume that amount. The formula to follow is:

BMR-500=how many calories you should eat.

If your BMR (or basal metabolic rate) is 2,000 and you want to deduct 500 calories from that, you should eat 1,500 calories per day. Deducting 500 calories each day from your diet will ensure that you will lose at least 1 pound per week. (500 x 7 = 3,500 which is one pound)

It is basic math that can help you get the body you want. It isn’t recommended to reduce your calories by more than 1,000 calories at a time, unless specified by a doctor or professional health counselor. You can also aim to burn an additional amount of calories per day, to further increase your weight loss.

Another issue that is prevalent among dieters is that they think all calories are created equal. All calories are not equal, and your success with weight loss will reflect that. 100 calories of candy is mostly 100 calories of sugar and acids. 100 calories of an apple contains a nice balance of fiber, water, and nutrients. You get more and less at the same time. The same concept applies to a lot of food. Even though you could eat a $1 fried chicken sandwich from McDonald’s instead of the $3 grilled chicken select, and get less calories, doesn’t mean that you should. Less isn’t always best. Using the chicken sandwich as an example, look at the fat grams in the McChicken. It has over 15 grams of fat and all of your recommended daily allowances for saturated fat. The grilled chicken select has a few more calories and over half the amount of fat. It gives you more nutrition for the amount of calories, which makes it much more likely to fill you up and satisfy your hungry stomach.

Calories do not need to be confusing. It’s simply a matter of in versus out. You need to burn more than you consume. This does not mean you need to burn over 1,500 calories per day from exercise. Your body already burns above that without you doing anything. If you eat the calories at your BMR, say, 2000 calories, then you will not gain nor lose. If you eat over that you will not gain either. If you eat under 2,000 calories then you are guaranteed to lose some weight.

Just because 1,500 calories a day with a 500 calorie deficit equals 1 pound per week, that does not mean that 1,000 calories a day will equal 2 pounds per week. It is extremely dangerous to regularly consume less than 1,200 calories per day. Doing so makes your body think it is starving, which will result in retained fat and no weight loss.

Calories are necessary, because they give your body the fuel that it needs to continue burning and dropping those pesky pounds you have wanted to get rid of.