Back to the Basics ~ Counting Calories

Back to the basics, with so many weight loss diets, and fads out there it may be hard to decide what is best for you. Losing weight is in no way easy and anyone that promises that it is, well, is not being forthright.

Over the years, many things have been tried, but the bottom line is calories. What is a calorie? A calorie is a unit of energy that is provided by the things we eat. Not all calories are created equal, some have a great deal of vitamins and minerals and others are just filled with empty energy.

How do you maintain your weight? The answer to that is eating as many calories as you use in a day. To gain weight you would eat more calories than you would use in a day. Of course, to lose weight you would eat fewer calories than you take in. It all sounds so simple, but it’s really not as simple as it sounds. Yes, in theory it is a very simple rule.

Your body is always in need of energy, and the calorie provides it. No matter what strategy that you use it all comes down to counting those calories. It all comes down to the little calorie, they give you fuel for everything you do from running to breathing calories make your body run. It really doesn’t matter where those calories come from they are stored in the body as fat or used as physical energy.

Cutting calories or increasing your physical activity will help you to lose weight, combine them and you will see an even faster weight loss. When you restrict your calorie intake you are making your body use the fat stores for energy.

Maintaining your weight is a balancing act. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories so in order to lose one pound of fat per week you should cut 500 calories daily from your caloric intake. Again that sounds so easy, but if it’s so easy why are so many people overweight? It’s all in the desire; they lack the desire to do so.

The bottom line is that counting calories doesn’t have to be all that hard, you can decrease your caloric intake with just a few simple steps.

• Cut your portion sizes

• Exchange high calorie foods for foods with fewer calories

• Try to skip or avoid high calorie, low-nutrition foods. (Soda is a good example.)

One way that I have found to be very effective is reducing your portion size. How should you go about this?

• First of all reducing your potion size will automatically reduce your calorie intake.

• When putting things on your plate, put less than what you would normally put there.

• Never eat from the package, when you do you lose track of how much you are eating

• Use a smaller plate or bowl when eating.

• Always double check the portion size on packages, there may be more than one portion per bag.

Now that you get the idea, you should consider some type of increased physical activity to help you maintain your weight loss.

There are some things that you can do to help you to feel full and lose the weight.

• Drink water, before you eat your meal.

• Eat plenty of fresh vegetables, this will help you to feel full

• Don’t shop when hungry.

• Don’t keep foods that temp you in your home.

• Eat all your meals, don’t skip

• Only eat from a plate, do not eat at the fridge or from the containers.

• Keep a journal of what you eat and when you eat it so you can stay on track and manage trouble spots.

Never see the calorie as your enemy, we just need to understand and manage the calorie.

Metabolism, this is the process that your body uses to change what you eat and drink into energy for your body. This is a natural process that will balance to meet your specific needs. It is rare that someone will gain weight because of a medical issue. Of course an underactive thyroid can cause this, but it is rare.

Sadly, weight gain is typically cause by taking in more calories that you use. There are ways that you can help your body; one of them is to increase your activity. A regular aerobic exercise is a wonderful way to burn off those calories. This would include things like swimming, walking, and bicycling.

Strength training exercises are great to build up some muscle or to prevent muscle loss. The more muscle mass that you have the more calories you will burn.

The bottom line is there’s no magic pill that can help you lose weight.