A few days ago, I was talking about that Weight Watchers Points Calculator. Weight Watchers is an easy way to control your calorie intake. However, for some people this system might be too simplified.

The most important part about any diet is cutting down calories. Weight Watchers accomplishes this by mapping calories to points. If you have a complete list of food and their calories and want to start a new diet, the first thing you need to know is the daily calorie intake that must not be exceeded to drop weight.

To calculate your daily calorie intake, factors like your gender, height and weight are used to estimate your energy rate. This can be easily done usign this Calorie Intake Calculator. After calculating your daily energy rate, simply cut down your calorie intake by for example 600kcal each day. One pound of body fat consists of about 4200kcal. So in theory, you will drop one pound of body fat each week when cutting down your intake by 600kcal only!

Here is a quick example:

A 20-year old male student, 6"2 height, 200lbs might eat up to 3500kcal each day to keep his current weight. If daily calorie intake is reduced to 2900kcal a day, this male student might lose one pound per week.