What is a calorie? Definition of a calorie is "the amount of energy, or heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius". A calorie is a unit of energy associated with food and beverages and is a measure of energy, or heat, that food produces as your body uses as fuel.
The first step in counting calories to lose weight is your personal to calculate how many calories you burn in a day (total daily energy expenditure), this is the total number of calories your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. This is known as the level of maintenance and will become a reference point (the number of calories) from which to start your diet.
The average calorie maintenance level for women in the United States is about 2,000 per day and the average for men is around 2,500 per day. This is only an average basis and usually much higher for athletes or active individuals.
A quick and easy method to find out how many calories you need per day for weight loss and maintenance is to calculate the caloric value of the multiplier as set out below.

Fat loss = multiply your weight in pounds by 12 calories (12 x lb).

Maintenance = multiply your weight in pounds by 15 calories (15 x lb).

This is a very easy method to estimate your daily caloric needs, but has a weakness because they do not take into account your particular activity levels or body fat levels. Although this will provide a good estimate of the number that you can work with.
Maintenance numbers you get is the number of calories you need to consume to stay at your current weight is. To lose weight your calorie intake must be less than the calories you burn.
To lose one pound of fat per week, you must reduce your weekly calorie intake by 3500 calories, which works from the five hundred calories per day. This can be done by reducing your calories by 500 or combine diet with physical activity. The point is to balance calorie intake with the number of calories burned, the secret of success of maintenance diet and weight loss.
Become more aware of calories in food calculate your daily regime is essential if you're trying to lose weight. Research has shown that men and women underestimate the consumption of daily calories by 500 to almost 1000 calories. You can get a truer picture of the guard, seven day eating plan of what you normally eat and drink during the day.

At the end of each day to eat, add the total number of calories you consume and write it into the dining plan. At the end of seven days, add the total calories for the entire week and then divide by seven, you now have your daily calorie intake.

Using a calorie calculator can make counting calories easier - you can total how many calories you need for day-to-day activities to provide greater control over how many calories you need to be included in the daily diet. Another technique for low calorie eating is to maintain your fat intake because it is the most calories.
Moderation is always important when you're counting calories, severely limiting calories, causes the body to decrease metabolic rate, which reduces its ability to burn fat. At the same time, hunger signals increase and you quickly begin to crave high energy foods filled with fat and sugar, the same food that you are trying to do without.

This is because when you return to normal eating habits, decreased metabolic rate caused by caloric restriction means that your old eating habits actually represent excess calories. You not only get back fat stores just lost, but also you can even get a little extra.

Diet by counting calories means that all foods are allowed, is not prohibited as long as calories consumed do not go to your daily calorie allowance. Counting calories can also be flexible enough to accommodate the lifestyles of the most busy.

Health experts agree that a healthy diet that includes counting calories and low fat is essential for long-term is health weight loss. Ways to reduce body fat and maintain muscle is to have a food program for life. Quality food and more energy output are the basics you need to go to.

Bulk foods that fill you and do not fill you, low-fat foods and refined sugars that do not have an ideal. Frequent small meals should be consumed during the day each containing a little protein to maintain muscle mass and energy levels.

As before get the calories from high-quality food, but if you can not, use a blender to make a mixture of skim milk with added nutrients whatever you want to use, as long as you are counting from your daily total calories.

Now use it out of the blender mixture and eat solid foods for your everyday. Spread out over many small meals a day rather than the traditional three meals a day.