How Many Calories To Burn To Lose Weight And Does Counting Calories To Lose Weight Works?

How many calories do we have to burn to lose weight and does counting calories to lose weight works?

Despite having all the diet plans, weight management is still about calories that you consume versus the ones that you burn off.

Calories are fuel for our body

In our food, calories are the energy. Our body requires energy and utilize the calories from the food we consume to keep functioning. The energy from calories fuels all our actions, from the little one such as fidgeting to the big one such as marathon running.

Calories are derive from carbohydrates, proteins and fats are nutrients and they are the main energy sources of our body. Each of them contain different level of energy. Carbohydrates and proteins contain approximately 4 calories for each gram while fats contain approximately 9 calories for each gram.

It doesn't matter where our calories originated, the calories we eat are either changed to physical energy or they are stored in our body as fat and they will stay that way until we use them. We use them by doing physical activities or we reduce our calorie intake so that our body draws reserved energy from our body.

Cutting our calories

Our weight is simply a balancing act. If we burn less calories than we consume than we will gain weight.

3,500 calories is approximately 0.45 kilogram fat, thus we must burn more than 3,500 calories than we consume to lose 0.45 kilogram. So when we cut 500 calories from our normal diet every day, we will lose approximately 0.45 kilogram a week because 7 days x 500 calories = 3,500 calories. However, it is not this simple, and we normally will lose a combination of water, fat and lean tissue and also because of the changes which occur in our body as a result of the weight loss, we might need to lessen our calorie intake to lose weight.

Cutting our calories is actually not to difficult. As a matter of fact, it is as simple as:

• Skip high-calorie and low-nutrition foods
• Swap high-calorie foods with low calorie foods
• Reduce food portion sizes

Skip high-calorie and low-nutrition foods

For a start, skip a few high-calorie foods like our morning latte, our soda during lunch or a bowl of ice cream after dinner. We should identify the foods which we can cut, or try change it with low-calorie food.

For example :-

• Change latte (16oz), about 250 calories to black coffee (16oz), 0 calories
• Change chocolate ice cream (1 cup), about 285 calories to strawberries (1 1/2 cups), about 70 calories
• Change lemon-lime soda (16oz), about 200 calories to sparkling water (16oz), 0 calories

Swap high-calorie foods with low calorie foods

When it comes to minimizing calories, a simple replacement can make a big difference. For example, we can save about 60 calories a glass just by simply drinking fat-free milk instead of whole milk.

For example :-

• Change whole milk (8oz), about 150 calories to skimmed milk (8oz), about 85 calories 
• Change regular-crust pepperoni pizza (1 slice), about 315 calories to grapes (1 2/3 cups), about 100 calories 
• Change ranch-flavored tortilla chips (3oz), about 425 calories to air-popped popcorn (3 1/2 cups), about 110 calories 

Reduce food portion sizes

How many calories we consume depends on our food portion. 2 slices of pizza means twice the calories. We normally underestimate how much we eat, especially when we dine out. A good way to control our calories is to control our food portions.

For example :-

• Reduce 8oz of orange juice, about 120 calories to 4oz, about 60 calories 
• Reduce 6 inch (73 grams) buttermilk pancake, about 175 calories to 4 inch (41 grams), about 85 calories 
• Reduce 1 1/2 cups of whole grain spaghetti, about 260 calories to 1/2 cups, about 85 calories 

Replacing our high-calorie foods with lower calorie foods as well as reducing our food portion sizes will help to cut our calories and reduce our weight. Add physical activities to our calories counting will help us to lose weight even more.

5 Killer Tips To Lose Weight Fast

For you to lose weight fast, here are 5 killer tips to lose weight fast. These 5 tips to lose weight fast shall burn your extra fat and shall make you live a healthier life.

1. You Must Drink Plenty Of Water Daily

Drinking plenty of water daily is the best way to lose weight naturally. We are required to drink 8 glasses of water daily to avoid dehydration and to stay healthy. Avoid drinking sodas or sweet drinks or calorie laden drink. Drinking water also helps to flush toxin out from our body.

2. Have More Meals Daily

Do not stick to your regular 3 large meals per day to lose weight. Our body cannot metabolize large meals and it will transform all un-metabolize excess into fat. Most experts believe we should have about 5 to 6 meals daily and spread throughout the day. The meals should be small meals or you will end up having extra fat storage.



3. Add Weight Training To Your Workout Routine

In order for you to have a maximum fat burning, you should add weight training programs to your workout routine. Weight training programs will help you to tone you body, make your body stronger and increase your overall health. Apart from that, weight training will help to burn calories and fat faster and help to increase your metabolism.

4. Choose Food With Protein

Choosing foods with high protein content shall increase your metabolism and allow your body to burn more fat rapidly. Foods with high protein help you to reconstruct your muscle after your workout and retain the leanness of the muscle. You should choose proteins for your weight loss diet carefully by choosing proteins which contain low fat.

5. Reduce Calories Intake Wisely

When you embark on a weight loss program, you may find it to be tempting to reduce your calorie intake abruptly. A sudden reduction in calorie intake will cause your body to quickly burn all available calories and will cause your metabolism rate to slow down. Know how much calories your body needs daily to function properly and how much it needs to lose weight.

Follow the above tips to lose weight fast and to learn more about how to lose lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks, read about the method called Calorie Shifting Method.

5 Healthy Eating Tips

1. Go crazy on vegetables. Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing pounds. Nature has a terrific spread when it comes to choosing vegetables. And the leafy green vegetables are your best bet. Try to include a salad in you diet always.

2. Eat intelligently. The difference between man and beast is that we are driven by intelligence while beasts are driven by instinct. Don’t just eat something because you feel like eating it. Ask your self whether your body really needs it.

3. Watch what you eat. Keep a watchful eye on everything that goes in. Sometimes the garnishes can be richer than the food itself. Accompaniments too can be very rich.

4. Quit snacking in between meals. Do not fall for snacks in between meals. This is especially true for those who have to travel a lot. They feel that the only time they can get a bite to eat is snacks and junk food. The main problem with most snacks and junk food is that they are usually less filling and contain a lot of fat and calories. Just think about French fries…tempting but terribly fattening.

5. Try to stick to black tea/coffee. Black tea or coffee can actually be good for you. But personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like the metabolism.

6 Best Weight Loss Methods to Lose Pounds Daily

1. Drink a Lot of Water Daily
Adults body contain minimum of 60% water and for thin adults they contain more water than fat adults. So it is only logical to drink plenty of water daily. This will not only replenish the loss water in your body, it will also give you the best weight loss method and it is a cheap method. Apart from being the best weight loss method, drinking water will also flush out the harmful toxin in your body.

2. Start Your Day With a Glass of Water

As soon as you wake up, drink a glass of water. This will let out all your digested juices and lubricate your body. This will also make you feel full and you will eat less breakfast.

3. Drink a Glass of Water Before Your Meal
Drinking water before eating your meal is one of the best weight loss method because by drinking drink a glass of water, it will take some space in your stomach and this will make you eat less as you feel full fast.

4. Stay Away From Sodas
Most people today drink a lot of sodas instead of plain water. This is a sure way to ensure you becoming fat even if you drink diet sodas. The best weight loss method is to avoid sodas and drink plenty of plain water.

5. Eat More Watermelons
Eat watermelons on a daily basis. A watermelon consists of 92 percent water, which is not only one of the best weight loss fruit, it also provides us with lycopene (contain in the remaining 8%), an anti-oxidant that protects the human heart, prostate and skin health. Watermelon is also one of the best weight loss fruit because a two-cup contains serving of watermelon contains:

2 gm dietary fiber
25 gm sugar
1 gm protein
80 calories
20% (of the daily value) vitamin A
25% (of the daily value) vitamin C

6. Increase Your Fiber Intake
Fiber is one of the best weight loss substances as it will make us feel full faster and it stays in our body/stomach longer than other food/substances that we eat. This will slow down our rate of digestion thus keeping us from feeling hungry earlier.

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This article was originally published in Ezine Articles
6 Best Weight Loss Methods to Lose Pounds Daily

Healthy Weight Loss Plan

A healthy weight loss plan is a plan that can make you lose weight in long term and good for your weight loss maintenance. Here is a healthy weight loss plan that you can carry out:

Exercise
Exercise is very important for weight loss. It plays a major role in a healthy weight loss plan. A regular exercise 30 minutes daily is sufficient to make you lose weight. Go walking, jogging or swimming with your friends who likes exercise. This will encourage you and make you exercise more.

Focus Your Mind on Losing Weight
To focus your mind on losing weight is another healthy weight loss plan. If you read Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill wrote “Thought Are Things”. This simply means that if you focus your mind on losing weight, mixed with persistence, your purpose of your healthy weight loss plan and a burning desire to lose weight, you will lose weight.

Record Your Daily Calorie Intake
It is very useful to record your daily calorie intake in a diary. Every healthy weight loss plan should include this practice. In any healthy weight loss plan, it is very important for you to keep track of your calorie intake because you need to determine how much calories you need daily and how much you need to burn daily.

Eat Only Small Portion
This is also a healthy weight loss plan which will give you great results. You eat only small portion from each of your meals 4 to 5 times daily. In this healthy weight loss plan, you eat half of whatever you usually eat.

Healthy Eating at a Restaurant
If you are now on a healthy weight loss plan, but you love going to restaurants, here is some guides for you to healthy eating at a restaurant.

a. Just drink plain water, Chinese tea or green tea without sugar
b. Skip the appetizer menu. At restaurants appetizers are usually high-fat foods and they are bad for your healthy weight loss plan. For example, these appetizers are mozzarella sticks, chicken wings and potato skins

c. When you order the main dish, avoid high fat food and cream sauces. Split your meal in half, half for eating in the restaurant, half for take-away. This you can eat as leftovers during breakfast tomorrow. By practicing this you will have a healthy weight loss plan and save your money

d. If you are going to order dessert, just order one dessert and share with your companion. This practice is important for your healthy weight loss plan because most desserts in restaurants have more calories than your entire meal

Fast For 2 To 3 Days a Week
This is a very effective healthy weight loss plan. However it requires patient and practices. You fast 12 hours a day for 2 to 3 days a week. The night before you fast you should eat your regular meal and tell yourself that you are going to fast the next day. During your fast breaking, do not over eat and just eat your regular meal.

Fasting as a healthy weight loss plan is totally different than starving. You will die if you starve yourself but you will be healthy if you fast as fasting will give your digestive system a rest.

However, if you have any medical problems, consult your physician before you start fasting.

Eat Slowly
When you are on a healthy weight loss plan, it is recommended that you eat slowly. Eating slowly can lead to losing weight because our brain takes about 20 minutes to tell us that we are full.

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Best Ways To Lose Weight

You may have read many articles suggesting the best diets or exercises for you. But nothing happens to you when you follow those diets or exercises. You thought you have found the best ways to lose weight but you don’t. So something is wrong somewhere. Is it you or those diets and exercise?

Here are three best ways to lose weight :

Best Ways to Lose Weight No 1: Tell yourself that you want to lose weight!

Surprise? Yes, this is the best ways to lose weight. If you really want to lose weight then you have to tell your mind and sink it in there that this is what you want. By not affirming this to yourself, you will not lose weight. This is by far the best ways to lose weight. This you have to do first before you start any programs or diets whatsoever.

Even if you have the best diets in the world, once you have start to have the feeling of boredom with the diets or you feel pain or pressure to proceed with the diet, you will simply go back to your old diet patterns as this has always been there deep down in your mind.

So you need to eliminate all your old thoughts and replace them with new thoughts such as you are going to lose 10 pounds in a week and you going to persistently support this thought with getting the right diets and exercises.

Best Ways to Lose Weight No 2: You have to eat to lose weight.

Most people starve themselves in order to lose weight. While this may work for a certain period of time, but when you start to eat again you will gain more weight than before. This is because your body will store your food as fat because it is thinking that food is no longer available. A short period result is not what we are looking for. You have to be able to lose weight and maintain your weight.

Furthermore by not eating you will damage your body in the long run. Research has shown that when you do not eat, you do not send calories (fuel) to your body to burn for energy. As your body need energy to function, a lack of energy will make your body not function properly and it slow down its metabolism to preserve energy and to survive. This will lead to other problems such as mental fatigue.

So how much and when do you eat? The best is to eat 4 to 5 small meals daily and should consist of 40% of carbohydrates, 30% of protein and 30% of fat. By 7 pm, you stop eating because food taken after 7 pm is likely to be stored as fat because you will not do much activities after 7 pm.

Best Ways to Lose Weight No 3: Burn more calories than what you eat.

It is good to monitor how much calories you eat daily. By doing so you will be able to determine how much you need to burn daily. You need to know how much maintenance calories you need daily and how much calories you need to burn for your optimal fat loss.

If you do not burn more calories than what you eat, your body will store all the excess calories as fat.

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Fat Burning Exercise

To be able to lose weight, you must burn your body fat to the maximum. So, how do you go about burning body fat to the maximum? Expert suggested that the best fat burning exercise is to combine cardio training and weight training. For those who have a high rate of metabolism, they can simply eat a little less and train a little less and still will have the maximum effect on burning body fat and losing weight. But for those who have low rate of metabolism, they will find it difficult to lose weight by doing less training and less eating. This is because their body is not burning enough calories. So in order for them to lose weight, they need to burn more calories.

Doing 3 short cardio workouts per week, approximately 20-30 minutes per session will maintain your weight and health. For the purpose of losing weight, do cardio 4 to 7 days per week and other physical activities for 30 to 40 minutes, at a moderate pace.

Recommended cardio trainings for burning body fat are:

1. Step Aerobics – mostly preferred by women and burns approximately 400 calories in 30 minutes.

2. Bicycling – both stationary and outdoors are acceptable for a great cardio exercises. It will burn 250 to 500 calories in 30 minutes depending on resistance and speed.

3. Swimming – it is a full body exercise and excellent for burning body fat. Swimming can burn approximately 400 calories in 30 minutes.

4. Racquetball – the side to side sprinting is an excellent cardio exercise. By doing racquetball you will burn over 400 calories in 30 minutes.

5. Rock Climbing – apart from being a good cardio exercise, it also strengthen your arms and legs and can burn up to 380 calories in 30 minutes.

6. Cross-Country Skiing - an incredible cardio exercise and it involves both upper body and lower body and can burn approx 330 calories in 30 minutes.

7. Running - an excellent cardio exercise because it burns serious calories. It burns 300 calories in 30 minutes.

8. Elliptical Trainer - is an excellent cardio exercise and a great way to build endurance and can burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes.

9. Rowing - is both a cardio exercise and will strengthen your arms and can burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes.

10. Walking - Brisk walking is a less strenuous form of cardio exercises and it is good if you are just starting to exercise. Brisk walking can burn up to 180 calories in 30 minutes.

For weight trainings there are various trainings available. There are squats, chest press, leg press, overhead press, cable row, triceps pushdown, torso twist and so on. If you are a beginner, it is advisable that you get the advice of an expert, or get a good workout book so you will not injure yourself doing the weight trainings. There are certain guidelines that you have to follow such as how many repetitions for each exercise and how many days are you allowed to do the exercise in a week. All these are very important for your well being and for burning body fat.

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Top Ten Tips for Getting Fit in 2009

Here are ten tips to help you start the new year on a HEALTHY, fitness-forward note.

1 – Identify Your Goal
Plan your goals. It's much more than saying “I want to lose weight.” You need to outline steps to attain your goal. Start by writing down HOW MANY POUNDS YOU WANT TO LOSE and BY WHEN YOU WANT TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT. Be realistic – you didn't gain this weight overnight and you won't lose it overnight. So think sensibly – divide the amount of weight you want to lose by two (losing two pounds per week is healthy and recommended by doctors.) Don't let this commitment to a date intimidate you; it will set you on the path to change.

2 – Believe in Yourself
Successful losers believe that failure is not an option for them. They envisioned a new life filled with health, energy, and vitality.

3 – Make It a Lifestyle
Jumping into a new fitness or eating plan that isn't sustainable, will not give you lasting results. You need to think of eating smarter or exercising as part of your way of life – a better life.

4 – It's Never Too Late
As we get older, we may think it's too late for us to change our heating habits. But it's never too late!

Take charge of your health and energy today. It has nothing to do with age – but making smart choices. At least 80% of your success will come from what you eat and drink. So regardless of your age, you can start making smarter eating choices beginning right now.

5 – Stop Thinking Negative Thoughts!
This is hard to do. You need to begin by accepting your body – just as it is – before you can change it. Take a moment to reflect about your body. I bet there is a slew of negative thoughts there. These negative thoughts can unravel your best intentions, erode your self-confidence and motivation to succeed. You need to get past them to experience true, lasting results.

If you find yourself thinking something bad about yourself, just say “OOPS” out loud. It may sound silly, but it's a great reminder to stop negative thoughts in their tracks and return to positive thinking. Remember that your body is a precious gift!

6 – Harness the Power of Frustration
Frustration can create a powerful desire for change; it's one of the most valuable motivational tools. Just think about how being unfit has cost you – whether in your career, intimate relationship or family life. How many activities have you missed because you physically couldn't do them: How often have you stayed home because you felt too ashamed or embarrassed about your body?

Be honest with yourself and explore every aspect of your life in which inactivity or overeating has held you back. Why not journalize all this – a journal will help you immensely. This will help you to propel forward toward your goals.

7 – Start Your Day with Sunshine!
Open those curtains at night and let the morning sun in! As it gets lighter with the sun rising, you'll slowly be aroused – both body and mind – to get out of your sleep stage. Wake up before your alarm goes off. We don't like those noisy buzzers anyway! You'll be refreshed, happy and ready to begin you day.

8 – Cut Back on Watching TV
This can also be true of the computer! It's called the "loser zone" – that is where we spend way too much time resulting in no significant improvement in your life.

The number 1 Loser Zone activity for Americans is watching television; and number 2 is the computer.

The average person spends 30 hours each week at these activities. Even cutting one hour daily off this inactivity you will have seven extra hours per week.

9 – Hang with the Right Crowd
Surround yourself with happy, successful people whose goals you share. Since we tend to emulate the behavior of the people around us, either consciously or subconsciously, spend time with fit, health-conscious people and you'll be inspired to adopt their ways.

Now don't think you need to drop all your old friends whose habits you don't admire; just be wise when choosing where and when you socialize with them.

10 – You Are Not Perfect – So Stop Trying to Be!
Perfection is not only unrealistic, buts is also a huge burden. Perfectionists may start out with the best intentions by wanting to better themselves or their situation, but they end up as control freaks. Should something minor go wrong, the feel like it's the end of the world. You don't need that stress to drive you batty!

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Best Of The Best Weight Loss Secrets

Depending on one person’s unique metabolism it is pertinent to use different kind of method to lose weight. One person might lose weight just by exercising while another may not. One person whose metabolic rate is high does not get fat eating all kinds of food. So, the best diet differs from one person to another. The guidelines below however shall be applicable to everyone trying to lose weight.

Best Weight Loss Secret 1 : Best time of day to exercise

Start exercising early in the morning as it will jump start your metabolism and causes your body to burn fat. Doing exercise in the evening is also good because exercise suppresses appetite.

Best Weight Loss Secret 2 : Best time of the day to eat junk food

Eat your junk food early in the morning when your body needs calories the most. For all kinds of sugar it is also in the morning just before a long cardio or circuit training workout. When doing the cardio or workout, your body will use fuel (calories) which is from the sugar. After the exercise, you do not eat anything for an hour so your body starts to burn body fat as alternative source of fuel, since there is no sugar left in your body. In a nutshell, eat your junk food before noon so you will have enough time to burn those calories.

Best Weight Loss Secret 3 : Best diet for anyone

The best diet for everyone is 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat. The carbohydrate is for your body fuel, the protein is for maintaining lean muscle mass and building muscle and the fat should be from healthy and good fats like olive oils, nut oils, seed oils (sesame, sunflower, poppy) which promotes fat loss and decreases appetite.

Best Weight Loss Secret 4 : Best type of exercise program

Cardiovascular training, resistance training, and stretching are all important and you should do to lose weight.

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Low-Carbs Diets Is Not The Best Diets

The best diets are very important in our quest for fast weight loss. Our day to day diet will make us gain weight if we do not control our diet and we ought to choose the best diets to have an effective and fast weight loss.

So, what are the best diets in the market? There are a lot of best diets if you search the internet. At the time of this writing there are about 531,000 results for “best diets” from Google search. Before you buy any of this so called best diets, it is better for you to know about diets out there in the market that gives you inaccurate information on how to lose weight.

What Is Low Carbs Diet And How Does It Work?

Low-carbohydrate diets or low carbs diets are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate consumption usually for weight control or for the treatment of obesity. Foods high in digestible carbohydrates (e.g. breads, pasta) are limited or replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of proteins and fats (e.g. meats, soy products) and often other foods low in carbohydrates (e.g. green leafy vegetables).

Eating low carbs do not work because they are too strict, not sustainable and make your life miserable as your body does not function properly without carbohydrate. Your body needs carbohydrate to form glucose or blood sugar, which is essential for most body functions. When you reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your body, your body is forced to find alternative energy from your body and the energy is body fat. When body fat is broken down for energy, a chemical called Ketones is produced. Ketones is a chemical produced when there is a shortage of insulin in the blood and the body breaks down body fat for energy. High levels of ketones can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis and coma, sometimes referred to as ketone bodies. Ketones will cause you to lose appetite hence the weight loss. As a side effect Ketones will also cause you to have bad breath, nausea, headaches, irritability, dizziness, fatigue and loss of sleep. By practicing low carb diets it will actually cause you to lose weight initially and after a period of time when you become boring of the lack of variety of food, the strict nature of the diet and the side effects it causes, you will eventually start to eat more carbohydrate and eventually you will gain more weight than before.

As such, eating low carbs is not the best diets because the price you have to pay is not worth it. Your overall health is far more important. The best diets we are looking for is something that will make you lose weight fast in a healthy way.

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