**NOTE: This post is part of the Low-Calorie Diet Introduction Series. This series is designed to give dieters a basic understanding of the principals of a low-calorie diet and to help answer any basic questions a beginner might have. This series lays the foundation and provides some basic information to jump right in and start losing fat with your next meal.
Let’s start off by learning what it takes to lose a pound. A pound of body fat equals approximately 3500 calories. So, in order to lose one pound in a week’s time you will have to lower your daily caloric intake by 500 calories:
500 calories x 7 days in a week = 3,500 calories
Use this figure to keep your goals realistic. Any diet touting that you will lose 10lbs in a week is not healthy and unrealistic. On most of those diets the weight you lose is water weight, which you start to gain back the second you take a sip of water. Two pounds of fat loss a week is about the most you want to lose.
As stated before, in order to lose weight, no matter what diet you follow, you need to create a calorie deficit. In other words, eat fewer calories than you burn and/or exercise to burn more calories. But just how many calories should you cut from your diet? Figure out how many calories you are currently eating per day and reduce that amount by approximately 15%.
Current daily caloric intake X 15% = Amount of daily calories to cut
For example, if you are eating 3000 calories a day, the amount you are taking in to maintain your current weight, you should reduce this number by 15% by eating 450 fewer calories per day.
3000 calories X 15% = 450 calories to cut from daily diet
Another possible option is to burn 450 more calories per day through exercise. Some might even find combining the two the easiest.
As you can see, cutting out 450 calories day is almost a pound of weight per week. And of course, 15% is a middle ground number. If you are comfortable cutting 20% of your daily calories out of your diet then go ahead. Just don’t overdo it. Cutting too many calories can possibly lead to losing muscle mass instead of fat, may lower your metabolism and create other health problems. If you really want to lose more calories in a day try combining exercise with your diet. That’ll give your weight loss the one, two punch.
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