Losing weight

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Calories and fat per serving	Fish in diet	Food guide pyramid	Healthy diet
Hunger center in brain	Muscle cells vs. fat cells	Weight loss	Yo-yo dieting

This is achieved either by reducing the caloric intake (eat less food or healthier food) or by increasing the energy expenditure (exercise more). Often, behavior modification techniques like eating smaller portions are used to help control eating habits. Once the weight is lost, these habits can be modified slightly for weight maintenance.

If you have unintentional weight loss, it can be a symptom of various medical or psychiatric disorders, or it can be due to increasing your exercise or decreasing your food intake.

HEALTHY CALORIE INTAKE

The U.S. Committee on Dietary Allowance has published recommended energy intakes (number of calories) for various age and sex groups. For example, a 20 year-old women who weighs 128 lbs needs 2,200 calories every day to maintain her weight.

This value would increase if she were pregnant or nursing a child, and it would decrease if she were trying to lose weight. The tables containing these values are available through nutritionists and online.

WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

One pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories, so to lose one pound a week, a person should consume approximately 3,500 fewer calories per week. This can be done by reducing the daily intake by 500 calories per day (500 x 7 days will provide a deficit of 3,500 calories per week). To lose 2 pounds per week, a deficit of 1,000 calories per day is required.

If this seems impossible, remember that physical activity also contributes significantly to weight loss. The deficit of 500 to 1,000 calories can come from a combination of increased physical activity and reduced intake on a daily basis.

Therefore, you don't need to experience significant food deprivation. The lowest intake per day recommended for women is 1,200 calories, unless they are in a medically-supervised, very low-calorie regimen which may have a daily level of 500 to 800 calories per day.

The lowest level recommended for men is 1,500 calories per day. A very low-calorie diet can also be used by males if they are in a medically-supervised program.