Calorie Specific Diet

Calorie specific diets are those diets that require the dieter to stay within a certain caloric range. This range is usually around the 1200 calorie diet to 1800 calorie diet mark. Men generally need more calories than women, so men participating in a calorie specific diet would generally have a 2,000 calorie diet to 2,200 calorie diet daily intake. Calorie specific diets work under the principle that, when the body isn't using a certain amount of the calories, those calories get stored away as fat. When the amount of calories the body ingests drops, the body uses up the new amount of calories and plus burns the stored calories as well, resulting in weight loss.

In order to successfully complete a calorie specific diet, the dieter must make a plan as to how many pounds of excess weight he or she would like to lose. Then, the appropriate amount of calories per day to eat while dieting must be decided upon. This must be a reasonable choice and a goal that can safely be met. If one is going to implement exercise into the dietary plan then one must account for caloric energy needed to feed the body during and after exercise. It is suggested that taking into lifestyle or planned dietary lifestyle into consideration will aid the dieter and prevent possible discouragement.

An example of a 1500 calorie a day diet would be:

For breakfast: 2 pancakes or waffles with a small amount of syrup (1 tsp) and no butter. One could interchange butter with the syrup, with 1 tsp. of butter being used. One 8 ounce glass of skim milk and 1 fruit may be eaten. Mid morning is a good time to eat snacks, as there would be less likelihood of eating a large amount at lunch if the edge is taken off hunger. For snack one could have one half cup of juice, orange or grapefruit, with a carbohydrate such as a whole grain, or an 8 ounce glass of water and a fruit.

For lunch: 1 sandwich on whole grain bread may be had, preferably a sandwich with protein, such as chicken or turkey, with no condiment. Salad may be eaten with no dressing or a small amount of light dressing (1 tsp).

For a mid afternoon snack, yogurt without fat content may be had, with a small amount of fruit and a small amount of whole grain, with an 8 ounce glass of water.

Dinner may consist of protein in the form of meat or beans. At least 3 ounces of meat may be eaten, with one of the whole grains (rice or pasta) or beans, with a small amount of olive oil or butter. Salad may be eaten with a variety of vegetables ranging from carrots to broccoli, with at least an 8 ounce glass of water.

When dieting it is important to eat enough of the required food groups to support the body while losing weight, as well as drinking enough water to flush the body of its toxins.

Negative calorie diets are diets that may use up calories while eating and digesting food. Approximately 10% of the body's caloric intake is needed to digest foods eaten. Negative calorie foods are eaten while raw and not after being cooked or covered with any kind of condiment. Foods that are harder to digest, like some fruits and vegetables, could be considered negative calorie food. It is suggested that the negative calorie diet be used as a means to supplement other dieting techniques and not as a means with which to lose weight by itself. If a person is dieting and has cravings in between his or her meal times and snack times, eating a negative calorie food may be beneficial. It must be said though that no food is calorie free, it is only that if eaten by itself, more calories may be used during the digestion process than actually used by the body.

Calorie counters are helpful dieting tools, especially for persons employing calorie specific diets. Calorie counters are used as a means of keeping track of the calorie content of foods that will be eaten, or foods that have been eaten. This type of dietary aid can be found on the internet, and is used by plugging the type of food and serving size information into the calorie counter database, where thousands of files of information about the caloric intake of a particular food is stored. There are also calorie counters that are used to see how many calories have been burned off while exercising. These counters may be hand held or strapped to the wrist like a watch. They are helpful in determining heart rate and calorie burned.

Before considering any method of weight loss or exercise program, it is recommended that consulting a doctor or nutritionist about physical well being and nutritional planning take place. Please consult a doctor before attempting any type of weight loss or exercise program.