If you are on a weight loss plan, you know you have to limit your food intake. For instance, if you are using a low-carb diet, you need to limit the amount of carbohydrates you eat. You may be on a low calorie diet in which case you have to carefully count the calories you eat each day. Dieting is not easy and you have to keep careful watch of what you eat.
In a more “traditional” diet, you will limit the number of calories you consume. In order to lose weight you must consume fewer calories than you burn off. One pound is equal to 3500 calories. Essentially you must burn 3500 calories in order to lose one pound. By cutting back on the number of calories you eat each day, you can lose weight. Sometimes people cut their food intake (thus calories) to only 500 calories a day. While, this may help you to lose weight, you may not be consuming enough essential vitamins and minerals. You may find that you have diminished energy.
There are also low fat diets where you limit your intake of fats. You can decrease your risk of cardiovascular disease by limiting how much fat you eat. This is not necessarily to say that you should use a low-fat diet, but that you should eat fat in moderation. Do not eat a Big Mac Hamburger and large fries, everyday for example. Remember though that our body does need some fat and there are fats that are “heart healthy.”
Low-carb diets have become very popular. People limit how many carbohydrates they eat. People change their food intake by limiting foods with many carbohydrates. People do usually lose weight and rapidly on these diets. However, they do not always keep the weight off. Low-carb diets make changes in your body so that you begin to burn fat as your primary fuel source and not carbohydrates. Low-carb diets like the Atkins Diets have people eating more foods that are high in fat and cholesterol. This is not necessarily ideal for healthy living either.
The best way to limit your food intake and have weight loss and maintenance may be to make overall changes to your diet habit. Sure, you should not eat an abundance of foods containing fat. Do not eat high fat fast food all the time for instance. You can lower your calorie intake as well. There is a difference between how many calories someone who is mostly sedentary needs to eat as compared to an active athlete with a high metabolism. Do not cut calories too low or skip meals. Doing so, can actually throw your body into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow down.
You can discuss with your doctor how you can make healthful dietary choices. Make changes to your diet that you can follow throughout life. This means you need to eat well-balanced meals. And yes, once in awhile it is ok to indulge in that big piece of chocolate cake or those French fries and hamburgers. Just work to make good choices and remember to remain active.