Diet Tips To Help Lower Calorie Intake

Obesity is on the rise. Just over 30 percent of Americans were obese in 1999, the CDC says, while nearly 42 percent of the population is clinically obese today. Some have referred to this as an "epidemic". Obesity isn't contagious, but we do live in a culture that makes embracing the factors that lead to it easy.

What can you do to take control back? Yup — it's simple. Not easy, but simple. Lower your calorie intake and increase your caloric expenditure to create a deficit. Diet makes up the lion's share of any weight loss efforts, and here's how you can start.

Why Lower Calorie Intake?

Obesity is quickly becoming an epidemic in Europe, Australia and the USA. It is becoming more and more important to try and battle an increasing waistline by watching what we eat. Cutting down the amount of calories that we take in each day is a simple method to try and avoid putting on any excess weight and you are completely in control of it.

This is dependent on each individual and these are just general guidelines. In order to lose weight you need to make sure your calorie intake is less than the recommended and certainly not above, doing exercise will burn further calories to increase the amount of weight you lose.

Count Calories for 2 Weeks

A good place to start if you are considering decreasing your calorie intake is to use online calculators to work out your actual required daily allowance based on your age, gender and current weight. Use the link below to Bodybuilding.com to get your reading. Two weeks before you plan to change your calorie intake I advice my clients to keep a food diary and count all the calories they consume, this way they start to take control of their diet and have an idea of how many calories are in the foods they regularly eat. Doing it for just a couple days does not give an accurate determination as you can easily stick to a "good" diet and cheat the system, be honest and get a full and accurate picture of your current intake. Facing the reality of your current diet is the first step to getting control of your nutrition - a bit like an addict admitting to their problem before treatment.

Use the following simple tips in your daily diet and your calorie intake should easily be lowered.

See Also: Don't Just Count Calories: Figure Out Which Calories Count

Eat smaller more regular meals

When you eat three big meals a day there is a temptation to over eat, but a good tip is to break your meals into six smaller meals throughout the day. This usually means that the size of the meal is small and by eating at regular intervals your metabolism stays active, keeping you feeling fuller and avoiding the ups and downs of energy crashes - which often leads to snacking. When eating six smaller meals it is a good idea to base each meal on a protein and vegetable combination to avoid taking in too many carbohydrates which is discussed in more detail later.