subject: 1200 Calories A Day [print this page] Funny, how when we think of a diet or food restriction we put numbers on it, 1200 calories a day or 900 calories a day. What if, both calorie numbers have their place, but not in the usual way, how about looking at calories from a different side, how many calories do you need to give you energy and fuel for your day but not enough to cause you to gain weight. What if you had enough intake of food that allowed you to burn off the extra calories with exercise? Instead of looking at what you can't eat, look at what you can eat.
In theory, it takes a 3500 calories loss per week to lose a pound of fat. You can do this by eating less calories or burning off the calories through exercise.
When deciding to diet it's important to know if you're going to be exercising as well as cutting back on your food intake. The amount of calories you consume has to be enough energy to support your body performing its normal functions. When you cut back on too many calories you make your body believe its starving and then your metabolism slows down to a crawl, it doesn't burn calories consistently. This creates a situation that makes it difficult to get to a natural body weight.
Eating from multi food groups balances nutrients that support your system. Not eating the right combination of foods can work against your weight loss. Who wants to be paddling against the tide? You want your metabolism to stay high and strong. This way you will burn the maximum amount of calories a day, losing the maximum amount of weight per week.
Everyone loses weight at a different rate so you cannot guess how much you will lose, the best thing is to have a good steady goal of 1 or 2 pounds lost per week.
The longer you keep the weight off the more comfortable your body is with being your new weight which helps reset your metabolism.
Foods
Some of my favorite lower calorie satisfying foods in the summer are: watermelon, strawberries, pineapples, yogurt parfaits(made at home),bell peppers or cucumbers dipped in hummus. Quinoa is a great grain to add to salads in the summer, it helps you stay filled up plus it has cooling properties.
Marinate a 4 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast in lemon juice and olive oil and bake at 375 degrees until cooked through. Serve with 1 cup steamed snap peas.
Planning out your menu can help keep you organized with recipes and meals during the week when life is so busy. In the beginning use your favorite whole foods till you get comfortable with substitutions.
