Friday, December 8, 2006

Low calorie diet plan


The low calorie diet plan is a pretty easy to understand weight loss program... you create a diet that consists of foods that are primarily low calorie foods so that you end up taking in a lower number of total calories than you previously did. On the surface, that's really all there is to it. And, right up front, for anyone wondering if a low calorie diet plan actually works, it does. When done correctly it will indeed work and will indeed allow you to lose weight safely and effectively. In this article I will explain how and why this type of diet works so well, exactly what you need to do to create your own low calorie diet and start losing weight, and also give some examples of low calorie foods.

The first thing you should know about the low calorie diet is that most of the popular diets and weight loss programs around these days are variations of this very diet plan. The only difference is they change things around to make it seem more appealing to you. Why? So they can make money off you. It's true. The whole idea behind the low calorie diet and low calorie foods is that you are keeping track of how many calories you are eating in an effort to eat less of them. It's the most basic, simple and safe way to lose weight. But, people don't want to hear that.

They don't want to have to monitor the foods they eat and count calories. They don't want to have to eat less calories, because that would mean having to eat less food. That's no fun! Instead people pick a weight loss program like the Weight Watchers diet plan and are blind to the fact that all it really is is just a low calorie diet plan that costs money.

With Weight Watchers every food is assigned a certain number of points. Every person is then assigned a number of points they can reach a day.

The gimmick of this weight loss program is that you can eat pretty much whatever you want as long as you stay within your point range. Does that sound familiar? If not, replace the word points with the word calories.

How about now? Yup, Weight Watchers is just a low calorie diet plan that went out of it's way to make it seem like it was something different and better. Forget all about low calorie foods... with Weight Watchers it's all about low point foods. Yeah, huge difference.

And a low carb diet like Atkins? Sure, carbs and calories aren't the same, but carbs make up calories. Every gram of carbs equals 4 calories. So, when you start following a low carb diet plan, all of a sudden you "accidentally" end up on a low calorie diet plan as well. The same applies to the low fat diet. Low fat foods just happen to be low calorie foods too.

So, what's the main difference between all of these fancy gimmick diets (also called fad diets) and the plain old simple and basic low calorie diet plan? Money. Most of the gimmick diets usually require you to buy or pay for something. A diet book, a manual, a guide, a weight loss program membership, specialty food, etc. while the not-so-fancy diet plan consisting of just eating mostly low calorie foods and taking in less calories total is... free.

Now the one "problem" with the low calorie diet plan is that some people don't understand the meaning of the word low. In this case, the word should really be lower. Some people incorrectly starve themselves and go WAY too crazy with the low calorie foods and therefore take in WAY too few total calories. This is unsafe, unhealthy, and just plain wrong. The key to the low calorie diet plan is lowering your calorie intake by very small and very gradual amounts. At most a person should expect to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week on any weight loss program. To do this, all you really need to do is subtract about 500 calories from your daily diet.

If you always ate about 3000 calories a day and wanted to start losing weight, you would just need to start eating 2500 calories a day instead. Or, you could eat 2750 calories a day and burn the other 250 off at the gym. The reason the low calorie diet plan works so simply is because the human body works just as simply. The body requires a certain number of calories a day to do everything it needs to do. If you consume that exact number of calories each day, your weight will not change. If you consume more than this number, you will gain weight. And... if consume less... you will have yourself quite the effective weight loss program.

The low calorie diet plan really is just as simple as that. As far as low calorie foods go, you really don't need to be TOO concerned with that. Your main goal is to make sure your total calorie intake for the day is what it should be. Whether this happens by eating 20 low calorie foods, or by eating 10 higher calorie foods makes little difference. You're calorie total is what is most important on this weight loss program. Usually foods consisting of mostly protein and little of everything else are pretty low in calories too... like tuna fish, grilled chicken breast and turkey. Foods consisting of mostly carbs and little of everything else also tend to be low calorie foods. Examples include oatmeal, brown rice, whole grains and vegetables.

But, like I said... the key to the low calorie diet plan isn't so much about low calorie foods as it is about taking in less calories total each day than your body requires. You also want to do this in a very slow and very gradual way. If you're maintaining your weight when eating 3000 calories a day, start eating 2500. That is all this weight loss program requires, just a very small decrease in total calorie intake. The calories you do take in should still come from good sources of course. Lots of protein and complex (good) carbs, as well as "good" sources of fat. There is nothing you need to buy, nothing you need to sign up for, and nothing you need to join. The low calorie diet is free, simple and effective... what more can you ask for from a weight loss program?


source: http://www.intense-workout.com

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