Proper diet and exercise is an important factor in your health, and one part of a proper diet besides eating right is knowing how many calories you are taking in compared to how many calories you are burning. If you consume more calories than you burn your body will store those extra calories as fat.
Another important factor in the calorie game is where these calories come from. A balanced diet from all food groups is very important for your body’s nutritional needs. If you are on a 1500 calorie per day diet, you don’t want 1000 calories of that to be from carbohydrates.
To determine how many calories your body needs compared to how many calories you consume daily you first need to know how many calories are in the foods you eat. Here”s a handy (and free) calorie counter that you can use to determine your needs.
Along with that calorie counter chart above, use this nutrient chart to help guide you with nutrient intake. This chart will help breakdown meal by meal how many calories of protein, carbohydrates and fat you should consume to either maintain your current weight or to lose weight.
Neither of those charts will help if you don’t know how many calories are in the food you are eating. So here’s a handy calorie counter that will tell you what you are eating. This site has a neat little set of charts that will tell you all of the caloric information that you will need to determine how many calories you are taking in.
Of course none of these charts will do any good to tell you how many calories you are burning during exercise. To lose weight not only do you need to watch your caloric intake but you need to monitor how many calories you burn during exercise. And since not all exercises burn calories at the same rate, here is another chart to tell you what you are burning during your exercise routine.
Most of us can exercise with no real problems, but if you have had prior health conditions such as a heart attack, or injuries that limit mobility, or if you have any health conditions that could be affected by a change in your diet, then you should consult your physician before starting your diet and exercise program.
Exercise within your limits, if you are just starting off then it is impractical to think you will lift hundreds of pounds of weight or run several miles, or do 50 pushups, or even 10 pushups if you are very out of shape. You should start slow and work your way up to minimize your risk of injury. Also, when you are trying to lose weight, don”t try to rush it and lose a lot at once as this is usually more harmful than good.
Determine a goal weight loss and set small increments, smaller weekly goals like 2 or 3 pounds per week. If you lose weight at a smaller rate and exercise as you go you will develop a more toned and healthy body. If you try to rush and lose a lot of weight quickly then you will actually lose muscle mass before you lose fat weight as fat is your body’s way of storing energy. And since you have lowered your caloric intake your body will try to store energy, fat.
So don’t try to rush it, watch your caloric intake compared to what you are burning and be patient and consistent and the weight will come off and you will develop a stronger, healthier body.
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