How to Cut Calories to Lose Weight

Cutting calories is the first thing many people think of when they're trying to lose weight. But do you know how many calories you should actually be consuming to get weight loss results? You can easily calculate how many calories your body requires and use that number to cut calories from your diet. Then you can turn your diet over to a calorie counter to easily tally your total caloric intake! Follow these steps to find out exactly how many calories you should eat daily in order to lose weight.

Instructions

1




In order to cut calories you first need to determine how many calories your body requires daily to function based on your activity level. You can easily get this number by using a "calorie need calculator." The simplest calorie calculators ask you to put in your height, weight, age, gender, if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, and your activity level. You can find an easy to use link in the Resources Section below.

2

The calorie requirements calculator will provide you with two numbers. The first is the number of calories your body would need to survive if you were doing nothing but laying in bed all day. This is called your basal metabolic rate or BMR. The second number is the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight.

3




In order to lose weight you'll need to eat fewer calories than this second number. But before you can do that you need to know how many calories you're actually consuming in one day. This will give you an idea of how many calories you'll need to cut out of your diet. An easy way to start cutting calories is to keep track of exactly what you're eating on a daily basis, in other words start counting calories. For more detailed information on keeping a food journal and how to count calories see the article on "How to Count Calories Accurately" in the Resources Section below. You can also find tons of free calorie counters online.

4




If your daily caloric intake (see step 2) should be 2400, for example, and you're actually consuming 2650 you should try to cut out 500 calories a day (-250 to get to your target calorie requirement and -250 to lose weight). Remember 3500 calories is equal to about one pound of body fat. That means if you cut out 250 calories a day you'll lose just over two pounds a month or half a pound a week.

5




Now go back to your food journal and see where you can start cutting calories. Are you eating whole milk with your cereal in the morning? Try substituting skim milk and measure your cereal to make sure you're only eating one serving. Eat two eggs instead of three and make them poached instead of fried. Grab an apple and low fat peanut butter with a large glass of water for a midmorning snack instead of a cup of coffee and cheese and crackers. For lunch have a turkey sandwich on wheat bread instead of a slice of pizza. Replace the Coke you have in the mid afternoon with a Coke Zero. Count the number of pretzels you eat for a snack so you only eat one serving and put them on a napkin. Never eat out of a large bag, this will prevent you from "grazing." Don't snack while you're preparing dinner and skip dessert. These are all relatively easy ways to cut out excess calories.