Calories In, Calories Out, and Weight Loss
Everybody knows that all we need to do to take off the pounds is the burn more calories than we consume. It's as simple as that—or is it really? If it's really just a matter of burning more calories or eating fewer calories, why isn't everybody slim?
Why Calorie-Counting Diets Don’t Work?
The fundamental reason calorie-counting diets usually don't work has to do with the body's natural mechanisms for preventing starvation.- If we reduce calorie consumption for 3 or 4 days in a row, the body turns down its metabolic thermostat to burn fewer calories.
- If you eat 300 fewer calories, but your body burns 400 fewer calories, you can actually eat less and gain weight!
But you will like the way to handle this problem.
How to Make a Reduced-Calorie Diet Work?
The way to make a reduced-calorie diet work for you is not to follow it every day.- If you look at your consumption week by week, you definitely need to reduce calories (and it generally doesn't actually work to try to burn calories to lose weight, because it would be necessary to exercise 3 or 4 hours a day or more to burn enough).
- If you look at your calorie consumption day by day, however, you will actually lose more weight if you get off your diet about every three days.
Suppose you normally eat 2,000 calories a day and you decide that 1,500 calories a day would be perfect for you to lose a pound a week.
To Make This Plan Work, Vary Your Food Intake.
- On day 1, nibble on salad and sip your soup so you consume just 1,250 calories. You will have a 750-calorie deficit.
- On day 2, muster your willpower to do the same. In just two days you will have a 1,500-calorie deficit.
- On day 3, however, eat normally, but only normally. You won't have a calorie-deficit for day 3, but you will still have the 1,500-calorie deficit for all three days your diet plan requires.
