Category: Calorie diet

There exist many diets which are great help for those who decided to lose weight. One of such is calorie diet . As it is obvious from its name, calorie diet is based on certain amount of calories you can consume during a day. It includes a thorough work: calorie counting. The rule is simple: eat less calories than your body needs or in other words than you burn and you will start to lose your weight. Of course it is not so simple as it seems from the first sight. It will require a lot of will and strengths and probably the advice of nutritionist, because the diet, which suits to one individual, can be completely in no use for another person.

Calorie diet terminology

First, let’s touch some terminology. What is a calorie? A calorie is a unit of energy-producing potential supplied by food equal to the amount of energy required to raise a temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1degree of Celsius at one atmosphere pressure. When the food burns, the energy is released in the form of heat. The amount of heat given off show how many calories the food has. The biggest part of calories is used for keeping us a live. We take calories from food and burn them in the process of living. These calories are called Basic metabolic rate (BMR). The second part of calories is used for physical activity. The rest of them are used to process the food. It is suppose to be 10 percent of calories intake, for example if you eat 1800 calories, 180 calories of which are used to absorb the food.

Estimated BMR formula: convert your weight in pounds to kilograms (1kg = 2.2 pounds); women need to multiply this number by 0.9 and then by 24 while men multiply weight in kilograms just by 24. Furthermore nutritionists take the estimated BMR and multiply it by an activity factor. The latter varies from 1.3 for sedentary lifestyles, to 1.7 for moderate activity and 1.9 for heavy activity. To continue with in order to begin loosing your weight you need to deduct 500 calories from the total number of calories needed to sustain your weight.

Calorie diet requirements

Some general things to take into consideration if you decide to try a diet. First, your calorie diet should include more vegetables and fruits. The portions should become smaller. Things to avoid: foods that are high in fat and calories as well as the ones which are high in sugar. Make a plan of what you eat a day before. Take your time, do not watch TV or read newspapers at the time of eating.

Depending on all things mentioned before, also your gender and age, you are entitled to choose one of these popular calorie diets : low calorie diet , 1000 calorie diet, 1200 calorie diet and 1500 calorie diet. Also it will be mentioned some things about negative calorie diet.

Low calorie diet requires constant calorie counting and is good no longer than for a week or too. If using longer it can affect your health because low calorie diet is restricted from 800 to 1000 calories a day. It is a frequent choice of those who suffer from obesity and is strictly not recommended for pregnant women, adolescent nor children. The result is 2-3 kilograms a week or in total of 30 kilograms in 12 weeks.

There is no specific food permitted. The content must be of low-calorie. That is to say you are welcome to include steamed broccoli, small potatoes, steamed brown rice, low fat margarine, light salad dressing and other food to your new ration.

Advantage of low calorie diet

The advantage of low calorie diet is that if using it moderately it is the healthiest way for weight lose . Also you get a great variety of foods containing main nutrients. As disadvantages of it can be named temporary weakness, not easy to follow, quick gain of weight again, counting calories also can become frustrating.

Dear dieters, do not trick yourself. Eating smaller portions of the same highly processed, calorie-rich foods may lead to hunger and only temporary lose of weight. As well as such food has pure nutrients and is no good for your health. You can be surprised that by eating nutrients rich products you can lose weight even if it is more food.

Staying on low calorie diet is especially difficult as the body needs to adapt to new regime. So please be aware that first days you will probably feel hunger. You need to live through it. Do not avoid food which is not so easy to digest (whole grain bread, potatoes) and which will keep your stomach full. As it was mentioned low calorie diet needs calorie counting, so please work out them, do not guess because you can be wrong. Find the products you would really enjoy, as it is very important you to be in a good mood while being on a diet.

There are some popular calorie diets , which women choose to reach the desirable weight. Let’s review each of them.

1000 calorie diet

1000 calorie diet is supposed to be a low calorie diet . It can be used as a starter diet. After one week of 1000 calorie diet it is recommended to come back to not such severe one. As this will protect your metabolism to slow down and conserve fats.

To get an idea of 1000 calories per day, here is the menu sample:

Breakfast: banana sandwich made with two slices of whole meal bread and a glass of orange juice.

Morning snack: 100g low fat yoghourt.

For lunch it could be one whole meal roll with tuna and mixed lettuce salad.

Snack: 1 bag of lower fat crisps.

Dinner: roast chicken breast, potatoes mashed with 30 ml semi skimmed milk, steamed vegetables.

For the evening you could try 1 low calorie chocolate drink made with water. Drinks per day should be with no sugar: water, tea, coffee.

1200 calorie diet

For those who think 1000 calorie diet does not work, try 1200 calorie diet. Nutrition specialists think that using 1200 calories a day seems to be nutritious and is a base of most developed meal plans. It is important to stress the balance of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in such diet . It is suppose to be 55% of carbohydrates, 15% of protein and 30% of fat. As an example of 1200 calories diet could be: 6 ounces lean meat, 5 servings bread or starch, 3 servings fruit, 4 or more serving vegetables, 2 servings low fat dairy, 3 servings fat. Accordingly a serving of bread is equal to 1 slice of it or ½ bagel or ½ muffin. Speaking about serving of fruit, it could be 1 medium apple, banana or orange or ½ cup berries or cubed melon. A serving for vegetables means 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables or ½ cup of other vegetables. A serving for dairy is 1 cup of milk or yoghourt or 1 ounce of cheese.

1500 calorie diet

If you want to slim without strongly restricting your daily menu, choose 1500 calorie diet. This means that you can enjoy the beginning of new day with a toast(with 1 table spoon of butter and 2 table spoons of honey or jam) and 1 cup skim milk. As a snack it may be 1 serving fruit. Lunch can consist of  salad bar, 1 table spoon of beans, 2 table spoons of light dressing and one cup of skimmed milk. If you feel hunger in a while, eat 8 ounces of fat free yoghourt. Your dinner can be 3 ounces of seasoned chicken breast., 1 baked potato topped with 2 table spoons butter and 1 table spoon sour cream, also 1 cup deep green salad with 2 table spoons light ranch dressing, for the desert you can taste ½ cup of fat-free ready made pudding.

The negative calorie diet

The last thing to discuss is so called negative calorie diet. This is a non scientifically proved theory that some food has negative calorie effect. In other words such food take up more energy to digest then the calories that are in them. In such way speed of your metabolism increases and you start losing your way. Individuals who believe negative diet really works, recommend to eat such food as broccoli, asparagus, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, clams, chile peppers, spinach, turnip, cranberries, apples, oranges, lettuce, grapefruit, pineapples, strawberries, onions. One more thing – these products are eaten in their natural state, no cooking or adding butter. Individuals against this diet state that it has no scientific proof what makes it more theoretical than practical. Also it could be very difficult to stick to it for those who are not vegetarians, because negative calorie diet lies mainly on fruits and vegetables bases.