How To Diet And Still Eat All The Foods You Love

How to Lose Weight and Still Eat the Foods You Love

Before embarking on any sort of weight loss or fitness journey, it's always a good idea to consult your physician. While this article will provide you with some great weight loss tips, only a doctor will know for sure if the advice is right your lifestyle.

It's a common misconception that losing weight means limiting the types of foods you eat. We've all seen it before; a friend starts a new diet and suddenly all they eat are salads and chicken breast. There's nothing wrong with eating those types of food when you want to shed some pounds, but it's completely incorrect to believe that you must eat those foods for weight loss.

There's really only one rule that you need to follow when you are trying to lose weight. The magic rule is:

Calories In, Calories Out

That's it folks. As long as you make sure that you are consuming less calories than you are expending, then you will lose weight. You could practically fill your calories with brownies and as long as you are expending more calories than your foods, you'll find that the number on that magic scale of yours will decrease over time. Now, do I recommend that you only eat brownies to fill your caloric needs? Absolutely not. The point I'm trying to make is that the notion that you have to eat certain foods for weight loss is nonsensical.

So, how do you know how many calories you must consume?

Simply put, all you need to do is find a calorie calculator. There are hundreds, even thousands of calorie calculators all over the web. A simple Google search will help you find them at ease. The one thing you want to note is you want to find a calorie calculator that gives you the amount of calories needed to lose weight. Some calculators may only give you the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight, so make sure you are careful with your search distinction. Some calculators will even give you the amount of carbohydrates, fats and protein you need to consume per day. Those calculators are even better because with those macronutrient amounts, you can easily pinpoint exactly how many calories of each you need to lose weight.

Do I have to follow macronutrient amounts?

When it comes to down to it, you really don't. As long as you figure out the amount of calories you need from the calculators, you really could just track the calories you are eating and make sure you do not go above that number. However, I will say that following specific macronutrient amounts will support better body composition. Eating a diet that is proportionate to the amount of fats, carbs and protein will result in more muscle mass and less fat.

How do I make sure not to eat too few calories?

This is a GREAT question. The beauty of the calorie calculators, especially from trusted websites, is they'll make sure to give you calories that safely lose weight. Most of them will put you in somewhere around a 250-500 caloric deficit. This is the perfect range to lose weight. At 250 calories below maintenance you will lose anywhere between .5-1 pound a week. A deficit of 500 calories will see you lose anywhere from 1-2 pounds.

What if I want to lose more than 2 pounds a week?

You don't. Besides the first week of dieting where people may lose upwards of 5-6 pounds because of the loss of water weight, you don't want to lose more than 2 pounds a week. The reason being is weight loss of more than 2 pounds would put you at dangerously low caloric levels. These levels may help you lose more weight in the short term, but your body will adapt over time. You'll eventually get to a point where you stop losing weight with your already low caloric values, and then what would you do? You can't go any lower with your calories or else you'd starve.

By sticking to 2 pounds a week, you ensure slow and steady weight loss with a minimal chance of negative health effects.

What happens if I hit a plateau and can't lose any more weight?

With any sort of caloric restriction, your body will eventually adjust and you may see your weight loss come to a halt. Never fear though, there are some things you can do to get over your plateau.

For starters, adding cardio to your weekly workouts can help you get over the plateau. Shooting for cardio about 2-3 times a week can safely add to your caloric deficit and get you back to losing weight.

Another thing you can do is plan a day of "no counting calories" every 2 weeks. On this day, you can simply eat as you choose without worrying about tracking every single piece of food. Just be careful not to go too overboard. The point of a no counting day is to add calories to your diet so your body can reset and begin losing pounds again. Be careful though! You don't want to eat so much that you set your weight loss goals too far back.

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So that's it folks. No longer do you need to follow the salad and chicken diet. Feel free to eat all the foods you want, as long as you stay below your caloric intake needs.


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