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Can You Lose Weight by Cutting Calories?

Controlling weight in the body is really about supply and demand. If you give the body more than it needs, it will store the extra for later use. If you provide less than is needed on a daily basis, your body will use these stores, and you will lose weight. Exercise also helps by increasing the basic amount of energy the body needs each day.

  1. Basic Weight Loss Principle

    • Every day we take in calories through the food we eat. These calories provide the energy our bodies need to function. If we take in more than we need, the body stores these extra calories for later use, resulting in weight gain. If we don't take in enough, our bodies will use what was stored at an earlier point in time, resulting in weight loss.

    Caloric Needs

    • Your daily caloric requirement is actually the number of calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. The exact number varies from individual to individual, but for most moderately active adults it falls between 2,000 and 3,000. Calculators are available online to help you more accurately determine your exact requirements.

    Surplus and Deficit

    • Working from your base caloric requirement, you can control weight gain or weight loss by creating a caloric surplus or deficit. There are approximately 3,500 calories in a pound of body fat. Creating a 500 calorie per day deficit in your diet will cause you to lose a pound per week. By contrast, if you take in 500 more calories than you need each day, you will gain a pound per week.

      This is also where exercise can contribute significantly to weight loss. Physical activity requires more energy, and results in a higher base caloric requirement. You can create the same 500 calorie deficit by cutting 300 calories from your diet and walking to burn an additional 200.

    Nutritional Considerations

    • Your body needs nutrients found in proteins and carbohydrates. Fad diets often include cutting out meats, where your body gets most of its protein or carbohydrates. While these methods will result in rapid weight loss, a balanced diet with exercise and caloric-intake control is a much healthier way to go.

    Supplements

    • If considering a diet supplement, carefully read the nutritional labels before using these products. Many supplements contain diuretics which cause you to lose water weight. This can result in an unhealthy state of minor dehydration in the body. Others contain stimulants that can cause a maintained increase in heart and breathing rates.

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