Nowadays, everyone seems to be offering a quick weight loss solution. Due to the sheer volume of information available, it can be incredibly difficult to determine which tips work and which don't. To help you get a better idea of how weight loss actually works, here are the facts about caloric intake:

Dieting Consistency

While it is possible to lose weight with a quick program or meal plan, that isn't always the best idea. After all, what's the point in losing weight if you're going to gain it all back within six months?

A much better idea is to gradually build healthier eating habits over time. Jumping straight from a 3500 daily calorie intake to a 1500 daily calorie intake without a significant change in physical activity levels is not healthy and will be incredibly uncomfortable for you. Instead, you should plan out a specific calorie deficit that you are shooting for. In order to do this, you will want to calculate your BMR or basal metabolic rate.

BMR

Your BMR is a function of your height, weight, gender, and age, and you can easily find a calculator online. Your BMR will tell you how many calories you should eat in one day in order to maintain your current weight. While everyone is unique and different, your BMR will give you a very good idea of how to plan your diet.

Your BMR plus the calories you burn during exercise will amount to the total amount of calories you burn each day. Any calories you eat past that limit will increase your weight, while any deficit will result in weight loss over time.

Once your know your BMR, you will want to decide how much weight you want to lose and how fast. As a general rule of thumb, A 3500 calorie deficit is roughly equal to one pound of weight loss. Thus, if you want to lose one pound a week, you should try to eat 500 calories less than your BMR plus physical activity. If you want to lose two pounds a week, then you could eat 1000 calories a day less than your BMR plus physical activity.

However, you generally don't want to reduce your caloric intake by much more than that. If you consume too few calories each day, then you might end up burning muscle instead of fat, which is probably not the result you want.

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