Losing weight on a low calorie diet can be done, but it must be done carefully and slowly. You don’t want to cut out too many calories and lose the daily nutritious nutrients that your body needs. It is important to understand what a calorie is. A calorie is a unit of energy. One calorie is the energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. Here are some helpful tips before you start losing weight on a low calorie diet.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet: Schedule and Appointment with your Doctor
It is very important that you schedule an appointment with your doctor to make sure you are in good health condition to start a weight loss program. You do not want to start a weight loss program if you have any type of illness or problem that can hurt you during a diet program.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Calculate your Daily Calorie Intake
Calculate your daily calorie intake based on your age, gender, height, weight, and activity level. You can calculate use a calorie calculator for free at the straighthealth.com website. After you enter in the information, it will calculate the approximate number of calories your body burns during the day. Based on this number, you will need to eat 500 – 1,000 less calories daily in order to lose weight.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet: Use an Online Program
Sparkpeople.com is a great online website that you can join for free. After your sign up you can use it to plan your meals and keep a journal of everything you are eating. You can check off what you eat and how many calories you are eating. This is a very awesome program and is worth checking out. They also have some delicious recipes that you can try.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Do not cut too much calories
Do not over do it and cut calories too much. If you body doesn’t get the calories it needs, your body will shut down, therefore slowing down your metabolism. If you cut too much calories, you can become very ill, and lightheaded and could possibly pass out. It can also cause you to have a decrease in concentration as well as poor judgment. You could become depressed, irritable, and possibly socially withdraw from people. The S.N.A.C. website has some great information of nutrition and body image.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet: Take a Multi-vitamin
Taking a multi-vitamin is very crucial when you are dieting. You want to be sure that you are receiving all your daily vitamins and when you diet, you could be losing some of those nutrients. There are many multi-vitamins to choose from, it is best to talk to your doctor to make sure your body is receiving the vitamins needed based on your personal own health.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet: Check your local weight loss programs
Check out the many programs in your area. Programs in your area can help you maintain your weight, some work with calories or point systems based on calories. Some great places you can try are Weight Watchers or Nutrisystem.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Commit yourself
Committing yourself to follow your low-calorie diet to lose weight will help you stick to your low calorie intake. It is almost like making a New Year’s Resolution, but you are making a “low calorie diet resolution”.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Form a Club
Having friends that you can diet with will help you stick to your diet. You can choose to form a club so that you and your friends can keep track of how much you lose and to share the different strategies on what low calorie foods work best. Forming a club can give you are your friends a lot of support. You can even have your spouse join in and you can lose weight together.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Walk or Exercise
Walking or exercising can really help you stay fit while losing weight on a low calorie diet. It will also give you lots of energy and help clear your mind. Be sure and calculate how much exercise you do comparing it to how much calorie you should be taking in. You will have to adjust your calorie intake by how much your exercise which is where the calorie calculator comes.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Keep a food journal
Keeping a food journal will help you know what calories you are eating per day. Webmd has said that it helps you increase your awareness of what you are eating and helps to keep you from overeating the daily calories you attend to consume. Webmd has also said that studies have been done on people who kept journals and they are more likely to lose weight.
Losing Weight on A Low Calorie Diet:Food Pyramid
Making sure you are receiving your all your foods from the proper food groups are very important. The United States Department of Agriculture has all the great information on the proper food groups you should be receiving each day which are grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans, and oils from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
*The information contained in this article is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult your doctor before taking any medical advice or if you are concerned about your physical well being.
Sparkpeople.com: http://www.sparkpeople.com
Calorie Calculator: http://calorieneedscalculator.com/
S.N.A.C.: http://www.snac.ucla.edu/pages/Body_Image/Disordered_Behaviors.htm
Weight Watchers: http://www.weightwatchers.com
Nutrisystem: http://www.nutrisystem.com
Webmd: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/can-food-diary-help-you-lose-weight
United States Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid: http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie
