If you eat fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight, you'll lose weight. This page will help you learn how to start a calorie reduction diet.

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please contact your doctor before using the information presented here.

• Reducing calories is a time honored way to lose weight. In order to start a calorie reduction diet, you need to track what you're eating, determine how many calories you should be eating, and adjust your diet.

• Begin by keeping a food diary. In your diary, record the time and place you ate, as well as the food you ate, and how much of it you consumed. Some people also find it helpful to record their mood at the time they ate.

1. Don't rely on memory;record the food in the diary as close as possible to the time you ate it.
2. Do not alter your eating habits while keeping the diary.
3. At the end of the day, use a calorie counter to total up the calories you consumed each day.

1. A food journal

2. A calorie guide

3. A calculator

4. Motivation

(Creative Commons photo by Elaine Vigneault)

1. To determine how many calories you need to maintain your current weight, you can use this formula:
   1. If you're sedentary, multiply your current weight by 14
   2. If you're moderately active, multiply your current weight by 17
   3. If you're active, multiply your current weight by 20
2. For every pound you'd like to lose each week, you'll need to reduce the number you calculated by 500.
   1. For example,a sedentary woman who weighs 200 pounds would need 2,000 calories a day to maintain her weight (2000 X 10).
   2. To lose a pound a week, she would need to reduce that number by 500 calories.
   3. Her target caloric intake would be 1500 calories a day.

• Go back to the food journal you kept in step 1, and, with the calorie needs you calculated in step 2, and a calorie counting guide, develop a plan to adjust your eating.

1. Can you substitute fruit for higher calories snacks?
2. Substitute skim milk for whole milk?
3. Reduce portion sizes?

• As you continue your diet, keep track of what you eat with your food journal, taking time at the end of the day to add up the calories you've eaten during the day, and make any adjustments needed as you proceed.

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