Calorie Counting Tips

In order to lose weight, you need to know a thing or two about how to count calories. It's not difficult or time consuming (once you get the hang of it). You can start doing it as soon as tomorrow. Here is what you need to know about counting calories.

First, you have to know how many calories you burn every day. The number won't be the same for everyone. It depends on your height, weight, activity level, etc. Enter your information in this calculator to find out. Now you will click "calculate".

You will see three numbers there. You should pick the "fat loss" number in the middle. This is your magic number. If you don't eat more than this number every day, you will lose weight. Now remember, every time you lose weight, the number will change. You will need to revisit this calculator and enter your new weight in and get a new number to work with.

Now just start counting everything. Don't do any guessing. Actually count the number of almonds. Don't just grab a handful and count it as one serving. You have to count every nibble, bite, and crumb. This is not an obsession. You need to do this because nibbling can add up over the course of a day.

For example, you have a piece of chocolate cake and you don't want to eat the whole thing so you just take small bites throughout the day. You think it's so small that you don't have to count it towards your daily calories. By the end of the day, you have eaten about a third of that piece of cake. Yes you do need to count this because it adds up.

You need to read food labels carefully. You may look at the back of a bag of gummy bears and see "200 calories" so you think the whole bag is 200 calories. That may not be true. It's 200 calories PER SERVING. You need to look at what a serving is. It says a serving is 25 pieces. So count out 25 gummy bears and that will give you 200 calories. This is a very common mistake.

If you don't count everything, it can prevent you from losing weight at all. Also, you need to count every drink you take. Anything that has calories should and will be counted. You can choose to count these on your phone if you want. You could keep a small notepad with you or if you have an iphone, there are apps for calorie counting.

If you eat something and you aren't sure of how many calories it contains, you will need to find out. Just google it. For example, if I eat an apple I will google "calories in an apple".

You will notice that foods have a lot more calories when you eat them at a restaurant. A chicken fried steak and mash potatoes dinner at home will most likely be half the calories of one that you would eat at Applebee's.

Counting calories will help you to make wise decisions. You will "save up" calories if you know that you have a special occasion that night. You will make smarter snack choices and watch how much soda you drink. It will really help you to change your eating habits.

Following this plan will not make you lose 10 lbs a week. That is unrealistic and unhealthy. A healthy weight loss is just one or two pounds a week. It adds up over time and you will start to see a smaller you if you keep this up. After a month, you may lose 8 lbs. In 6 months, you could be down 50 lbs.

6 Simple Weight Loss Tips

There are quite a few things I wish I had known about years ago when the weight began to pile on. It took years for me to find out the truth about how to lose weight. Weight loss doesn't have to be hard. Small changes make a huge difference. Here are some tips you can begin implementing today.

Tip #1

Drink more water. When you don't drink enough water, your body will hold onto what little water it has because your body doesn't know when it will get water again. You need to create a constant flow of water so that your body relaxes and lets go of the extra bloating and water weight gain. Also, when you don't drink enough water, you will put a strain on your kidneys and liver. This will slow down your metabolism.

Having said that, there is a such thing as too much water. You don't want to drink too much. Drinking eight cups of water per day seems to be the magic number that experts have agreed on. At first, you may find yourself running to the bathroom a lot. Don't worry. That will subside after a couple of weeks.

Tip #2

Small food changes. Instead of purchasing white rice, purchase brown rice. Instead of eating white bread, eat multi-grain bread and wheat bread. Instead of getting 2% milk or whole milk, purchase fat free milk, soy milk, coconut milk, or almond milk. These little changes will help cut out a few extra calories. It's a step towards healthier foods.

Tip #3

Fiber. Make sure you are getting enough fiber. You should be getting around 30 grams of fiber per day. If you are like the average American, you are not getting enough fiber. Fiber can help you lose weight. It keeps your digestive tract clean and moving. If you find it hard to get enough fiber, take a fiber supplement. It would also be great if you took that fiber supplement 30 minutes before your meals. It will expand in your stomach and cause you to eat slightly less.

Tip #4

Walk a little. If you absolutely hate exercising or if you find it difficult to keep up with hard exercises, try walking. It burns fat. It builds lean muscle. It's just as effective as any other workout. It doesn't cost money either. You may think you walk enough during the day, but you need to set aside some time for walking other than your daily activities. You can start off with just 10 or 15 minutes. After a week goes by, add another 5 minutes to that. Continue until you are walking 30 minutes to 1 hour per day. You will be surprised at what a difference this will make.

Tip #5

Count Calories. This one is not as hard as you think. Basically none of the above things will help if you are eating 3 pizzas and 5 cheeseburgers per day. You have to do some form of portion control or calorie counting. This does not mean you have to starve or feel hungry all of the time. It also doesn't mean you have to say no to the foods you love. You can still eat!

To start off, you need to know how many calories per day you burn normally. This number is different for everyone. It depends on age, activity level, height, weight, etc. Go to this calorie calculator and plug in your gender, age, height, weight, etc. Now you will see three numbers. One for maintenance, one for fat loss, and one for extreme fat loss. You should choose the one for fat loss. Don't eat more than that number of calories per day. That's it. It's so simple.

Tip #6

Get some help. You have heard so many times that there is no magic pill. Well, there isn't. There are some herbs and vitamins that can help you though. For instance, if you are restricting calories but you still feel hungry, you may choose an appetite suppressing herb like Hoodia or Cinnamon. If you want to increase your workouts and calories burned, you may choose Green Tea or Chromium Picolinate. I'm not claiming that these are magic pills, but they do help. Clinical studies show that they increase fat loss and cut cravings.

Don't give up if you aren't 10 lbs smaller after a week. So many people have an unrealistic view of weight loss. A healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. If you lose more than that, you may be doing something unhealthy. It will be a slow process, but stick with it. It's worth it.

If you do at least half of the tips listed here, you will start to see some weight loss. It doesn't have to be hard to lose weight. Don't give in to those yo yo diets and low-carb bull that people try. These tips here are things that really work and they are things that you can continue doing for life. You can be that skinnier version of you. Envision it, dream it, live it, become it.

Herbs For Weight Loss

Everyone is always focused on their appearance. Most people are over weight and most people would like to lose weight. Using herbs with your diet and exercise routine will greatly enhance your results for weight loss. Here are some herbs that can help you with your weight loss goals.

Seaweed will boost your metabolism. Your metabolism is determined by your age, weight, and activity level and also by the foods you eat. It is best to go with a supplement that contains seaweed in safe levels.

Green tea will also boost your metabolism. Green tea has thermogenic properties that burn fat.

Cayenne will help you burn more fat. It can also help with faster digestion of foods. The faster foods are able to move through your body, the less fat that is stored in your body from those foods.

Ginseng gives you more energy. With an increase in energy, you can do more exercising. It also boosts your metabolism and helps you burn more fat.

Hoodia is known to suppress your apetite. If you aren't hungry as much, you are likely to snack less. Hoodia can help aid in your weight loss goals.

Nettle is a diuretic that can get rid of water weight and also boost metabolism.

You can find many supplements that contain these herbs. If you look at bottles of diet pills, you will see that they contain a lot of these herbs in their ingredients. That's because these herbs really work and they get your metabolism going.