With all the fads and diets claiming to give you the best results, which one works? There is the Atkins diet, The Zone diet, the Ketogenic diet, and the list can go on and on. Many of these diets focus on what you can and can’t eat but rarely mention caloric intake. Regardless of what diet you prefer, it all comes down to the calories you take in versus the calories you burn off.

Calories are Energy for the Body

A calorie measures the energy content in food and beverages. Calories fuel our bodies and give us the energy to function. Everything we do uses calories. Ideally, we want to consume foods that contain nutritional value. The way calories work is that you want to consume fewer calories than your body uses to lose weight.

Burning Calories

When we think of burning calories, we assume that vigorous exercising is required. As mentioned earlier, everything we do burns calories. A persons basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is calculated based on your age, height, gender, and activity level, indicates the necessary calories needed to perform basic life-sustaining functions. Breathing, circulation, cell production, and everything else that keeps us alive burns calories. With diet, the BMR will allow you to know approximately how many calories to consume to maintain your weight. To lose weight healthily, you would need to reduce your calorie intake and increase your activity level.

Use the calculator below to estimate your basil metabolic rate

Cutting Calories Without Feeling Hungry

If you have ever been on any weight loss journey, eating fewer calories is hard to do without feeling like you’re starving. Fortunately, there are foods that your body processes better and are more filling. Below are just a few tips on what to eat and what not to eat to make losing weight more manageable.

• Protein - Adding more protein to your diet will help curb your appetite and even increase the number of calories burned per day. Protein requires more energy to metabolize and is more filling, so not only will you eat less, but you will burn more calories too!
• Sugary Liquids - AVOID soft drinks and fruit juices since liquid calories and solid calories register differently in your brain. These types of drinks are not only bad for managing weight, but can be detrimental to your health as well.
• Water - Increasing water consumption can increase the amount of calories burned. It should also be noted that drinking water before a meal is best to help reduce hunger, resulting in fewer calories eaten.
• Carbohydrates - Reducing carbohydrates, especially in the form of refined carbs and sugars, helps to reduce appetite. Carbohydrates digest faster and increase insulin level, which lowers your blood sugar and causes hunger.

Losing weight requires a lifestyle and habit change. It would be impossible to maintain any weight loss if you started to eat the same way you did before the weight loss journey. Be encouraged that the change is for a healthier you!

Enter your details in the calculator below to figure out how many calories you should be eating per day to either maintain or lose weight.