Diet Information

Calorie Restriction

May 22, 2009
By J White

Calorie restriction is an integral part of any weight loss plan. Unless you plan to spend hours each day exercising, this is the only method that assures you of losing inches from around your waist. So if you are to have the success you want, you need to get this right.

That being said, when dieters apply this method, there is a mistake that many tend to make: they restrict their calories too much.

On the surface, you might think that the more you restrict your calories, the faster you will lose weight. If burning fat was like siphoning water from a large barrel, then this would be the case. Unfortunately your metabolism does not work this way.

Why too few calories is bad

When you restrict your calories too much, you slow down your metabolism and your body’s ability to burn fat efficiently. This is because your body interprets this as starvation and reacts by not only slowing down the metabolizing of food, but also it is predisposed to storing any excess as fat. As such, making sure that you maintain a fast metabolism is a major part to quick weight loss.

To ensure that this does not happen, you need to know the appropriate calorie amount that will help you to lose weight consistently without slowing down your metabolism.

Your Calorie Restriction Guide

The best way to do this is by using your basal metabolic rate or BMR as a guide. This value represents the amount of calories you need if your were to spend your entire day lying still in bed. Since any movement requires the burning of calories, using this value as your maximum calorie intake will assure you that you will lose weight.

To calculate this value, you can use a BMR calculator. Once you determine your value, use it as a guide for determining the amount of calories you need to consume on your diet. This calorie restriction, along with your exercise program, will have those fat cells steadily shrinking, enabling you to eventually get in beach body shape.

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