However, it is not that easy, because if you go too far in reducing and consume few calories, your body will go into 'reserve mode', causing you to lose little or no weight. If you give your body too little food, it will think you are telling it that a time of famine is coming, and it will cause you to expend very little energy. It will prevent you from burning fat, since it considers that you will need it in the future to survive.
As we see, the wiser body cannot be. So how do we tell him that we just want to lose weight but that there is no food drought coming? Very simple: giving it the necessary number of calories so that it burns the fat that we have accumulated without slowing down our metabolism, and thus we can continue losing weight without any problem.
To lose weight you have to count calories
Let's get
to the topic. To begin with, we must be clear that to lose a kilo we must
have a deficit of at least 7,000 calories. That is why people who are very
overweight lose a lot at first, because their energy consumption is much
higher than that of a person with normal weight. That is, someone who is
obese may be consuming up to 5,000 calories a day, while an average person
would be consuming 2,500.
You, reader, must know the exact number to start with the plan. And how? Very easy: you can write down everything you eat for a week and add up the total calories to see how your diet is, or, more simply, download a free weight control app, such as MyFitnessPal, and enter what you eat and drink there .
How to lose up to a kilo a week
Once you have done
the daily calculation for at least a week, you have to lower your caloric
intake by 500. That is, if you normally eat 2,800 calories, you have to
start eating only 2,300. In this way you will lose 0.5 kilos per week.
If you cut 500 calories each day, you will have a 3,500 calorie deficit per week. In this way, in two weeks you can lose a kilo
If you cut 500 calories each day, you will have a 3,500 calorie deficit per week. In this way, in two weeks it will be 7,000, which will make you lose a kilo. If you want to lose weight faster and lose one kilo per week, you will have to burn the other 500 a day by playing sports or further reduce your energy consumption.
To make sure you stick to the plan, you can continue to use a weight-loss app or write everything down and then add calories. It's much smarter to do the former, reader.
If you see that with 500 less a day you are very hungry, reduce less. The fundamental thing is that you do not consume too few (never less than 1,000 daily), since you can get sick and slow down your metabolism. Result? You will not lose any weight, you will be hungry and when you return to normal eating you will be a victim of the 'yo-yo' effect.
This Number-Based Method Isn't for Everyone
Beware, this method is not for everyone. If you notice that you are obsessing or that it causes you stress, stop. Extensive control can end up being counterproductive, and can lead to overeating or anxiety.
If you obsess, stop: exhaustive control can end up being counterproductiveFortunately, there are plenty of other ways to reduce your calorie intake, like focusing on portion size instead of numbers. For example, you can reduce those things that you have already identified that are what make you fat the most, and increase the consumption of vegetables and good proteins.
And last but not least, you should know that not all calories
are created equal. There are foods that have, in fact, negative calories:
your body spends more digesting them than they have by themselves. You
already know what they are.
