How Many Calories Do You Need?

Each pound of fat your body stores represents 3,500 calories of unused energy. In order to lose one pound of fat, you either have to burn 3,500 calories or eat 3,500 calories less or over a period of time. You probably have heard the phrase calories in vs. calories out. This simply means to lose body fat the calories you consume need to be less than the calories your body burns. The best option is to do a combination of both approaches, minimize your caloric intake while burning off excess calories.

The first step is to determine how many calories you need to eat daily to maintain your current weight and then try and consume 300-500 grams less per day if your goal is weight loss. Each person will vary depending on gender, weight, height and level of daily physical activity (a sedentary occupation vs. and active occupation). An easy way to start is by only cutting your calories by 300 a day and also exercising an extra 200 to make 500 a day. By doing this, you will be burning 3,500 calories a week or one pound of body fat per week. It is recommended that no more than 2 pounds or 7,000 calories be lost per week for lasting weight loss.

The starting point would be to start being aware of what you are consuming each and every day. One way is to look at the nutrition facts that are labeled on the foods and drinks that you are consuming. Everything you eat these days will have a food label on the back of it. For example, the nutrition label for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream states that there are 240 calories per serving, 16 grams of fat and 11 grams of saturated fat. You may think that the fat looks pretty bad, but 250 calories isn't that bad! Unfortunately, it is that bad, because that is only in one serving which, if you read the label, is only ½ a cup.

A half of a cup of ice cream could fit in the palm of your hand. Even worse, many individuals will eat a whole pint in one sitting. If 2 cups = a pint of ice cream and there are 4 servings in that pint, that means that the individual has consumed close to 1,000 calories, 64 grams of fat and 44 grams of saturated fat. That was just dessert!!! So when you are looking at the labels, make sure you read the serving size because you are most likely going to have more 1 serving size.

For weight loss and cutting calories, you will need to learn more about nutrition. If you have a great knowledge of the nutrition tips and healthy calories that will help your body burn more calories just by eating, you have one half the battle. Many fast food chains and family restaurant chains have nutrition facts on their websites.

Looking at how many calories that fast food meal you had for lunch and dinner may be an eye opener for many. You can know what you are eating and how many hidden and unnecessary calories are coming from those meals. Just because you may think you are eating something healthy like a salad, but some of the dressings out there add an extra 100-250 calories. If you get ranch dressing on your salad you are adding about 200-250 to your meal.

Many of us are unaware of the calories we are putting into our bodies each and every day. Starting to look at the labels on the foods we are eating is a great start in trying your calories. Many cookbooks provide nutrition facts at the bottom of their recipes along with ways to modify certain ingredients to make your meal healthier.

Another example where you need to start cutting the calories is in the liquid form. Soda, juice, alcohol, specialized coffee drinks and sweetened teas are all in the high calorie/low nutrition category called "empty calories". Just by replacing ANY of these drinks with water, you could easy take 200-800 calories out of you day. Beverage calories can add up. For example, a Super Big Gulp contains 800 calories, a 20-ounce cola is 250 calories, one can of beer has 145 calories, and a Starbucks Chocolate Malt Frappuccino with whipped cream has 610 calories! Empty calories in the form of liquid do not help the appetite either as they can lead you to be hungry and eat more also.

Other tips to help lower your caloric intake is to cut down or limit all unrefined sugars that are found in foods such as cookies, cake, ice cream, candy and candy bars. An example of this would be going to subway and getting a cookie to add to you healthy sandwich meal you just bought. That one little cookie will add 200-220 calories to your meal. Also cut out high caloric fried foods such as potato chips, onion rings, French fries, donuts, and fried foods. One example how calories can add up would be if you went to Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner and ordered two pieces of chicken, Cole slaw, and mashed potatoes.

The two pieces of fried chicken would add up to about 500 calories, which includes nearly 25 grams of fat and around 200 mg of cholesterol. This is almost half of the fat suggested for a whole day and it isn't healthy fat. The Cole slaw has about 200 calories from its sweet dressing and around 10 grams of fat. The mashed potatoes and gravy add another 125 to 150 calories and more fat grams. The medium soda adds about 175 calories, all from sugar, with no nutritional benefit. This meal just has way too many calories, with more than 1000 calories for only one meal. It has too much fat and a lot of sugar as well. So by limiting your intake of these types of foods, you will be on your way to cutting your calories.

Downsizing your portions is another easy and effective way to lower your daily caloric intake for weight loss. Portion sizes in restaurants have tripled in size in the past 30 years. We are used to super sizing and the word downsizing does not sound good. Some example of downsizing would be to get a to-go box while you order while eating out. When your food arrives, go ahead and put half of it in the box. You can eat it the rest as an afternoon snack. Another is to share a dinner plate with a friend or partner when you go out. A tip when you are at home is to only use smaller plates so that your plate looks like it is full.

We are also used to being told to get more food when we are at a friends' house or at your families' house. The hosts want to make sure you get all of their great cooking and then some. You want to be polite and get seconds and even thirds. This is when you can double and triple your calorie intake and will not help with weight loss. Most people are positive when you tell them you are trying to reach some health and fitness goals and that one plate is enough. Cutting portion sizes will help in your quest to cut calories. Remember that in order to lose body fat you have to cut your daily caloric intake more or burn more calories by moving.

So far you have heard three ways to help cut and count calories which will help in weight loss...

1. Look at labels 2. Cut down on empty calories in foods and drinks. 3. Eat smaller portions. An easy staring point to all of this is to get a small journal and start writing down the calories in everything you consume. You may not even change any of your eating habits at first as you write down what time and what all you eat each day in your journal. An example may be that you had a glass of coffee, piece of bread with jelly, and a banana for breakfast. Then you had a glass of coffee around 10am with a doughnut. For lunch you ate out at Jason's Deli and had one of those great spud potatoes. You were too stuffed to eat in the afternoon but have a coke to give you some energy to finish the afternoon at work. Dinner was spaghetti with sauce, a roll, salad, and a glass of wine. You ended the night with a small bowl of ice cream.

If you were adding the whole days up in your journal, your daily calories would be about 3,200 for the day. Most people need way below that number just to maintain their weight. Having a journal will help you become aware of everything you eat throughout the day and how many calories you are eating. For a lot of people, it lets them know if they have eaten too much or too little for that particular day. For others it is an accountability partner as you have to write down everything that you eat each day. Even those 4 little pieces of Hershey kiss after lunch that added up to 104 calories. Having a daily journal is very important for anyone wanting to cut their calories.

You always have to remember that in order to lose body you need to eat fewer calories or burn more calories. An easier plan would be to do both. A good healthy way to start would be to cut your intake by 300 calories and to exercise to burn off 200 calories.

Moving and staying active will help in your quest to cut and count calories. Counting your calories and trying to cut it will be easy for some people and hard for others. You have to start somewhere. If you have a lot of changes to make in your eating habits, then try only 1 or 2 of these steps at a time. Once you have a handle on those one or two of the steps, make another small change. Before long these simple steps will become habits in your daily routine, enabling you to live a healthy lifestyle.

It is important to note that there are some people out there that do not get enough calories. A diet that is too low in calories doesn't provide the body with the nourishment and adequate nutrients it needs to perform activities of daily living. If your body does not get enough calories it will begin to start feeding off your muscle and using protein as fuel instead of carbohydrates and fat. Drastically reducing calories is not an effective way to lose body fat because instead of losing fat, you lose muscle. Getting enough calories doesn't mean big meals. Don't take all your calories in one or two daily feasts. Instead, eat five or six smaller meals. Amounts and needs vary depending on your gender, body type and activity level. Whether or not you're trying to lose weight, always strive to eat balanced meals and snacks that provide enough calories to keep you energized.