Discover The Truth About A 500 Calorie Diet
Are you a bit of a risk taker when you want to lose weight? If you are the 500 calorie diet may be just what youre looking for. The truth about this diet is it is considered an extreme form of dieting; but is highly popular. Low calorie diets are common and 500 calories is at the lower end of the scale.
A diet is considered low calorie if it involves ingesting no more than 1200 calories per day. The idea of a low calorie diet is to lose weight quickly. If not administered correctly they can be dangerous and as such it is important to plan your 500 calorie diet with a professional dietician or nutritionist before starting. This article will help you to decide if the 500 calorie diet is right for you.
It is well known that the way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. However a very low calorie diet can actually do more harm than good. When your body is craving more calories (energy) it can affect your metabolic rate. This means your body actually starts to eat away at your muscle mass.
It is doing this for the purpose of converting the muscle mass to energy, since there are no food reserves to take from. Because gaining muscle is the path to losing fat, this can have a highly detrimental effect on your body.
500 calories per day may be sufficient for some people depending on their:
– Gender
– Activity level
– Height
– Body type
– Overall health and well being
For other people though, particularly overweight people, consuming only 500 calories a day is almost like starving yourself. Your body is more than likely used to taking in over 2000 calories per day and up to 5000 or more. If you all of a sudden drop to 500 calories or less your body moves into starvation mode. Your metabolism then slows down to conserve energy.
While you are on the 500 calorie diet your body will learn to live with fewer calories. That means if you go back to your old high calorie habits (as all too many people do) you will have a sudden gain in weight, which is more than what would have occurred, had you not gone on your low cal diet.
The only real way to determine your ideal daily calorie intake is by using a bmr/amr calculator. You will then know how many calories you need to be healthy and to support your lifestyle. If you take 500 calories away from this, then you have the ideal number of calories, to take in per day to help you get your weight down.
As men and women are obviously different their ideal calorie intake is also different. This of course means while the average woman may need only 1200 to 1300 calories a day to survive, her male counterpart may need from 1500 to 1600. Again this is why it is so important for you to consult with your physician before starting any diet.
In conclusion a 500 calorie diet can be dangerous. However, if proper precautions are taken, such as a physical, to determine your overall health fitness, you can lose weight quickly.
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Walking For Weight Loss
Walking for weight loss is easy and best of all it’s free. You do not have to join a gym or a club to be able to walk. all you have to do is step right out your front door. Anyone can do it, even your kids. I can be quite enjoyable to get out of the house and go for a walk in the morning after breakfast or in the evening after dinner. It doesn’t matter when you go, as long as you go.
Walking for weight loss should be combined with a healthier eating plan as well. This combination should net you up to a three pound weight loss per week. Start by buying fresh, healthy foods and measuring out single portion sizes.
Portion sizes is the biggest problem some people have. They just do not know when to stop eating. You might even be surprised that a single portion size is the size it is. When you realize that you have been eating three or four portions of something all at one time then it will make sense to you why you are over weight.
If you make up a meal plan then limit yourself to about 1200 to 1500 calories per day. This range is the perfect amount to lose weight at about 1-2 pounds per week. You may see a big drop right in the beginning but what you are seeing is your body adjusting and getting rid of water weight first.
Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables along with lean meats like chicken, turkey, fish, and shrimp. Lean protein helps build lean muscle. Whole grains provide the fiber and essential fatty acids your body needs so stock up on nuts and seeds like almonds or sunflower seeds. Watch your salt intake and stay away from sugary snacks and breads made with white flour.
Before you start your daily walks, go buy a new pair of shoes. A good pair of shoes with the mesh upper will help your feet breathe and stay cooler during your walk. Dress in layers for the weather changes that can happen and just tie your jacket or sweatshirt around your waist should you have to take it off.
If yiou are interested to know how far you have walked then get yourself a pedometer. A pedometer measures every step you take. If you count as you go you would need to count 2000 steps to measure one mile. I think it would be better to have the pedometer do it, frankly. That way you could listen to music or talk with your walking partner instead of counting.
Otherwise you could just clock a certain distance with your car then you would know how far you walk with out having to guess or count your steps. Try to get in 30 minutes of walking for weight loss per day. Increase the intensity and do some power walking once you work up to longer walks or do some basic interval training.
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Weight Loss Calculator
Before you start losing weight it is a good idea to prepare yourself on several fronts. Making sure that the motivation factor is present is one of the first things but most importantly you should learn to use a weight loss calculator to make sure you are burning more calories than you take in each day.
The process is simple. First calculate the amount of calories you need every day. For most people, to lose weight, you should consume 1200 to 1500 calories per day. The calculation is easy. All you do is input your height and weight and level of activity then do the math.
This weight loss calculator will tell you the amount of calories you need to be able to maintain your current weight. Since you do not want to maintain your current weight, you want to shed some of those pounds then you need to take in about 500 calories less than what that calculation gives you.
Next, calculate how many calories are in each serving of food you eat. You may have to practice at measuring out just exactly what a serving size is to get good at it. Make sure you are accurate and aren’t sneaking in just a little more here or there. Those little sneak-ins will add up and all of a sudden you will wonder why you are not losing the weight you want anymore.
Go buy yourself a book that lists calories for servings of food that do not come with labels like fresh fruits and vegetables, or do a search online. You might be able to find a list for free online. Do the same for eating out and when you do eat out make better choices based on what you learn online.
Know how many calories are in each gram of fat, carbohydrates and protein. This will help you when you figure out the percentages of each one that you need each day. So, keep this in mind: Carbohydrates and proteins have an equal amount of calories in each gram at 4 and fats have 9 calories per gram. Fats should make up no more than 30% of your daily calorie count. Carbs and protein should make up 50% and 20% respectively of your daily calorie intake.
Make sure they are good carbs though. The carbs you get from breads and cereals and sugar are overly processed and you should avoid them completely. Basically anything that is made with “white” products. White flour, white sugar, white rice should simply be avoided. These are all considered bad carbs and do nothing for you accept keep you gaining weight and fat around the middle.
The best way to use your weight loss calculator is to do it all yourself. Keep careful records in a small notebook in your purse or in your car so it is handy when you need to write something down. Maybe you could even get an app for that for your phone so you can keep all the information you need right at your fingertips.
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Rapid Weight Gain
Most of the talk these days is about losing weight but what if you find yourself in the position of needing rapid weight gain? If this is your case, say, needing to gain weight for a sport you play then you need to do the opposite of burning more calories than you take in each day. You need to take in more than you burn.
How do you make this rapid weight gain work and still stay in good shape to continue playing your chosen sport as effectively as you did before? You will need to be very careful while overloading your body with the calories it needs and maintaining the workouts you need to stay in shape so you build lean muscle and not pack on the fat.
Start by creating a plan or two. One for eating the right kinds of foods to help you gain muscle and one for working out. You will need to balance these two plans correctly to get the results you want. If you don’t know where to start then ask for help from your coach or your parents. Maybe even make an appointment with a nutritionist recommended by your doctor.
Start by figuring out the total amount of calories you need in a day. There are formulas for this kind of thing and then add good calories to each meal until you have a meal plan that will work for you.
If you watched the last summer Olympics seven gold medal winner Michael Phelps, at one point they interviewed him and asked him how many calories he needed to maintain his workout schedule. I believe it was in the range of 10,000 calories per day or something like that. An enormous amount, at any rate.
You may not need that many calories to achieve your weight gain but do not be surprised if you are close to that amount. Keep your meals balanced though, with protein and the right kinds of carbs and good fats. Good fats are the mono and polyunsaturated types found in olive oil and fish.
Keep the proteins lean, protein is needed for building muscle mass. Before you prepare them make sure that you cut off all the fat. It is no good for you. If you like fish then that is a great way to get lots of lean protein in your diet. Shrimp is especially good for you as it has the best source of protein packed into those little bite sized morsels.
The carbs you take in should be good ones also, like whole grain. Change up the cereal you eat in the morning to oatmeal or a whole grain cereal. Stay away from the sugary cereals and the flavored oatmeal instant packets. Too many bad carbs. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, too.
Use these tips and the advice you get from your coach, doctor, or nutritionist to safely get your rapid weight gain so you can start your next season as healthy as you can with the same competitiveness you had the last season.
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