Understanding the Basics of Calorie Counting for Weight Loss

This article introduces the basics of a calorie counting approach to losing weight that should help people gain some understanding of the process.

The basics of counting calories comes down to calories in and calories out. How many calories do you consume and how many do you burn. If you can manage your diet and exercise routine so as to maintain a basic calorie deficit, you should be able to achieve a steady loss of weight until the point a healthy weight is reached.

The first step is to gain some understanding of the number of calories you burn a day. In order to do this, you should take a look at a weight loss calorie calculator that will give you an estimate of this. The first metric these calculators should return is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This can be interpreted as an estimate of the number of calories you burn with no real activity or digestion occurring. This can be calculated be a weight loss calorie calculator by inputting some basic details about yourself such as you gender, age, weight and height. This Basal Metabolic Rate is then multiplied by a factor that is dependent on your general level of activity and exercise. This then provides an estimate of your daily calories burned.

You can then delve a bit further into understanding the number of calories you burn by looking at estimates of the number of calories burned during specific activities. This information can be calculated by a calories burned calculator and only requires basic inputs such as your gender, weight and the duration of your exercise.

With an understanding of how many calories you are burning a day, you then need to develop an understanding of the number of calories you consume a day. There are online calorie counters that will show you the number of calories in a wide range of foods. Maintaining a food journal is a good practice to get an understanding of the foods you consume through the course of a day. You can then total the calories of the foods in your journal to see how many calories you consume.

It is believed that consuming 3500 calories less than you are burning over a period of time will result in approximately one pound of weight loss. To achieve such a deficit you may need to consume less food or simply replace some of the high calorie foods in your diet with lower calorie options as well as exercising more to burn more calories.

You should aim to maintain a basic calorie deficit rather than introducing too large a calorie deficit until the point a healthy weight is achieved. Many people have suggested that lowing your calorie intake too low results in your body adjusting to this by burning less calories, and can thus be counterproductive.

As well as attempting to burn more calories than you consume you should also keep a well balanced diet that contains the necessary minerals and vitamins. You should also involve your doctor in this process as this will ensure you maintain a healthy approach to weight loss and have professional advice that may be specific to your own situation.