Calorie restriction is an essential part of weight loss. If you do not lower the number of calories you consume each day to at least the number of calories your body burns, you will gain weight. In this article I discuss in greater detail how calorie restriction can help you lose weight and how you can effectively reduce your daily caloric intake.

Let's start by explaining calories and what they actually are. A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy. In nutritional terms a calorie often refers to a kilocalorie (kcal) which is the approximate amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 1kg of water by 1 degree Celsius. The body absorbs calories and energy in two ways; - 1) From the food that you consume. - 2) From the fat that is stored in your body.

As you can probably see, the ideal weight loss situation is to force your body to burn fat for energy. This can be achieved by eating less than your normal appetite i.e. reducing your caloric intake. Your body will then be forced to burn stored fat to get the additional energy it requires. If you think of the body like a car it may be a little easier to explain. Let's imagine that this car requires twenty gallons of petrol every week but you purchase twenty four gallons instead. Every week you build up a reserve of four gallons which you can use at a later date if needed. However, if you do not use up these gasoline reserves soon you will quickly find that you need a large storage tank. Similarly with your body, if you burn as many calories as you consume you will be fine. If you consume more calories than you burn for an extended period you will find your fat stores rapidly expanding. To lose this excess weight you will have to consume less calories than you burn.

So now you understand the theory behind calorie restriction you probably want to know how many calories should you personally eat to force your body to burn fat? One suggestion is to eat fewer calories than those needed to fuel your basal metabolic rate (BMR) i.e. the calories you need to survive. You can calculate your BMR with the help of BMR calculators which are available for free online. Once you have your BMR number you should focus on consuming less calories. As long as the number of calories you consume is lower than your BMR number, your body will start to burn fat. However, I understand that this can often be easier said than done so here are a few tips to help you restrict your daily caloric intake:

1. CURRENT DAILY CALORIC INTAKE:- What is your current daily caloric intake? How different is this to your BMR number? By looking at your existing caloric intake you have a base to work with which makes the whole calorie restriction process a lot more manageable. For example, let's say your BMR is 2000 calories a day. You write down all the foods you eat in a week and it turns out you are consuming an average of 2500 calories a day. From this you can see that you need to lose 500 calories a day. You can modify your existing diet so that it contains less calories instead of trying to create a completely new 2000 calorie per day diet.

2. PLAN YOUR MEALS:- If you are going to restrict your daily caloric intake you need to plan the foods that you will be eating for each meal of the day. Otherwise you cannot be sure how many calories you will end up eating that day. For example, if your BMR is 2000 calories a day and you plan meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner all containing 500 calories plus three 100 calorie snacks you will be well on your way to burning fat. However, if you pop into the cafe for breakfast before work and then again for lunch how can you be sure how many calories you have consumed? It is inevitable that you will not stick to this plan at all times but those who have a meal plan and follow it most of the time will be a lot more successful than those who count the calories as they go.

3. AVOID FAD DIETS:- Fad diets do get results and do reduce your daily caloric intake. However, very few fad diets are effective or healthy in the long term. In fact, certain fad diets can be seriously damaging to your health if taken up for prolonged periods. A healthy, well planned, balanced diet is the best option for both long term health and permanent weight loss.

Calorie restriction is one of the most straightforward weight loss solutions out there. Simply calculate how many calories you are burning using a BMR calculator, make sure the food you are eating each day contains less calories than your BMR number and your body will be forced to burn fat. Yes it takes a little planning on your part and yes you may have to give up some of the foods and snacks that you enjoy but if weight loss is your ultimate goal then this is a relatively small sacrifice.