In order to lower calorie consumption, you simply need to choose foods with fewer calories, or eat the same foods you already do, only in less quantity. As long as the end result is lower daily calorie intake, either way leads to some success. You should carefully consider these options, however, because according to some research, lowering your overall food intake may not work as well as making changes to your diet involving eliminating or restricting certain foods.
If you are planning to cut your calorie consumption, the easiest way may seem to be simply eat less food. You may decide to make adjustments such as eliminating snacks or restricting yourself to single servings during meal times. These adjustments will usually result in lower calorie intake, but can also leave you tired and hungry, which makes it very difficult to maintain this type of dietary plan. In addition, some research shows that this type of food deprivation can lead to metabolic changes that actually interfere with the process of burning calories.
Some research seems to indicate that when the body is deprived of food, the metabolism typically slows. The result is that even though you may be consuming much fewer calories, you may not lose weight; in fact, you might actually gain it. Many respected weight-loss studies claim that cutting calories without regard to the type of calories being cut can have adverse consequences on health, and often do not result in significant weight loss. These studies claim that to avoid metabolic slowing, it is important to focus calorie cuts on very specific food groups and to make sure your overall food intake is gradually reduced.
Carbohydrate intake is typically considered the best area to begin cutting calorie consumption. Many carbohydrates are converted to sugars that the body ultimately stores as fat, so it is considered important to pay attention to the type of carbohydrates you are consuming. One way to identify a good carbohydrate is to look at the fiber content. Carbohydrates that are high in fiber are usually considered good, while low-fiber carbohydrates are considered of lower quality and should be eliminated or reduced. In addition, high-fiber foods work well because in the process of digesting fiber, a great number of calories are burned.
Foods that are high in protein and low in fat should be used to replace the bad carbohydrates. This includes lean meats such as fish, poultry, and some types of pork. In addition, nuts, berries, and some types of seeds are nutritional alternatives to many high-carbohydrate snacks. Making these types of dietary choices can often result in both lowering calorie consumption and speeding up metabolic rate.
