Many people aren’t sure what calories are!

Ask the average person what calories are and see the answers you get!

Calories are a measurement unit to quantify energy.

In order for you to gain weight, you need to be consuming more calories than you burn.
On the contrary, if you are attempting to lose weight, you need to be consuming fewer calories and using more.

Things in the real world are not that simple.

Most people believe that drastically cutting down on calories is all that’s required to lose weight while having total disregard for the types of foods being consumed.

This is completely the wrong approach to take and is the perfect recipe for people to starve themselves and eventually ditch the diet.

A more pragmatic approach would be to implement permanent changes in the diet that are designed to make any calorie deficit more bearable. In other words, these changes are meant to avoid starvation.

AuthorityFoodNutrition.com have carefully researched and devised little dietary and lifestyle changes that have shown to ease weight loss journeys for many people.

Protein Is King

Whether you are seeking to build muscle, tone up, or even lose weight, protein is vital.
Adding more protein into your diet has shown to be the most effective and efficient way to lose weight without putting in a lot of effort.

Not only does protein help to suppress appetite, but it also helps to speed up the metabolic system.

Protein demands a lot of energy to metabolize itself, which means a protein-rich diet incinerates calories consistently.

Protein is universally recognized as the most filling nutrient that humans consume. One particular study seems to suggest that people who consume 45% of their calories in the form of protein took in almost 500 fewer calories daily.

Protein is also the best way of fighting off hunger cravings.

A different study noted that when 25% of any calories consumed were in the formal protein, food cravings and food thoughts were cut by up to 60%. Moreover, late-night munch urges were cut by 50%.

As you can see, for long-term, long-lasting, and steady weight loss, a high protein diet is a must. Best of all, high-protein diets have shown to help people avoid regaining weight or at the very least slow it down should they choose to abandon their diets.

Cutback on Carbohydrates

One of the basic principles of losing weight is to cut down on the carbs.

Experts believe that by sticking to a low carbohydrate diet can enhance the chances of losing weight when compared to a calorie restricted diet.

Diets that are low in carbohydrates are known for providing many other benefits for overall health including helping to alleviate symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

Not all people find it easy to cope with a low carbohydrate diet, and that’s okay, provided you get in plenty of fiber-rich carbohydrates usually from sole-ingredient foods.

Learn to Hate Sugar, Especially in Drinks!

By simply eliminating sugary drinks such as soda and most fruit juices, your calorie intake could be massively reduced.

Most dieters tend to think that fruit juices, especially “freshly squeezed” ones are really healthy. Little do they know that these so-called “fresh” fruit juices contain a lot of sugar, and are usually the main culprits responsible for dietary failings.

Liquid calories are different because they are not acknowledged by the brain like the solid calories. This means that by drinking high-calorie juices, the mind still thinks that the body requires further calorie intake.

Sugary drinks are also believed to be responsible for increasing levels of obesity, especially in children.

The damage caused by sugar is not limited to weight gain. Sugar can trigger all sorts of diseases and completely wreck the metabolism.

The bottom line is that there is entirely no requirement for a person to consume soda and fruit juices, plain water is a much better alternative.

Speaking of Water

A growing number of people are drinking more water when trying to lose weight.

Experts believe that by increasing water intake, a person can burn more calories for longer.

By merely drinking up to 2 liters of water a day can help you to burn up to 120 more calories.

Another clever hack is drinking water before eating. Drinking just before your meal has shown to enhance weight loss by up to 45%.

Certain caffeine beverages such as green tea and coffee are also great aids for weight loss. It is common knowledge that caffeine works to supercharge the metabolism momentarily.

Did We Mention Exercise?

The human body is an fantastic piece of machinery. When you consume fewer calories, your body automatically compensates this deficit by burning less.

This is exactly why a lot of the popular diets that involve calorie restrictions can bring the metabolism to a standstill over time. Restricting calories can also deplete muscle mass.

The best way to counter this is a regular resistance training which is designed to exert the muscles to the fullest.

Not only does resistance training help you to burn fat, but it can also make your body into an aesthetically pleasing work of art!

You don’t necessarily have to go to the gym to perform resistance exercises. Simple routines such as crunches, squats and press ups can be performed anywhere.

Swimming, jogging, and cycling are great forms of cardiovascular exercise. Regular cardiovascular exercise will not only assist you in losing weight, but it is also vital for maintaining good health and overall well-being.

There’s no substitute for exercise because the array of benefits are endless. Regular exercise helps to reduce risks of developing certain diseases, helps to prolong life, and promotes more energy.

How many times have you asked: “What is the ‘best’ diet for me?”

You’ve probably tried to lose weight in the past and never got the results you wanted. Or maybe you did lose weight, but you quickly regained it.

You are not alone.

According to the Huffington Post, Americans are a bit fatigued from dieting, but we valiantly “go on” diets in significant numbers year in and year out. Dieting is a multi-billion-dollar industry – one that shows no sign of slowing.

That’s because all diets work.

Here’s the catch. No diet will work permanently unless you make permanent changes to your daily habits and food choices.

A Weight Loss Diet

“Going on” a weight loss diet means doing something different from your usual eating patterns. A “weight loss diet” is a systematic plan with specific instructions to eat differently from the way you usually eat.

Think about it, your usual diet is the reason you’re attempting weight loss now. It may be fast food that is keeping you overweight, or that you typically eat dessert daily.

You may gulp hundreds of liquid calories from “gourmet” coffee drinks or regular sodas, building up your waistline, up to tens of pounds yearly.

Even if your usual diet is healthy, you may be eating too much food for your needs. Portion size is tough to control, especially if you’re dining out frequently. I’m a registered dietitian, yet I too have a hard time resigning from the Clean Plate Club!

You may do-it-yourself with a diet from a book. You may sign up for pre-packaged or frozen portions—some programs deliver all your foods for the day or week.

However, you decide to diet, as long as you stick to that program – and as long as you change from your typical food to one that is calorie-controlled – you will lose weight.

It’s relatively simple to lose weight — you’re changing the status quo and with change comes to weight loss.

But, what happens after the diet?

Changing Your Perceptions

It’s somewhat ironic that today we actually eat fewer calories than we did at the beginning of the 20th century.

Back then, people spent more hours just doing things that today we employ machines and technology to do. Imagine all the calories people used to burn in everyday activities.

Before electric stoves, you needed to build and stoke a fire just to cook your breakfast. Before washers and dryers, we hauled water and scrubbed our clothes before lugging them outside and hanging them out to dry.

Today we “drive-through” and eat in our cars. We stay seated and use the remote control to change the channel. In oh, so many different ways, we avoid burning calories.

And that’s just half the problem. We eat as much as we did when we were active. Worse, we’re eating differently, which contributes to our problem with obesity.

Some people eat mostly processed and refined foods and drink thousands of “empty” calories from soda, sports drinks, and even juice. Instead of fiber-rich whole fruits and vegetables, or whole grains and dairy, it’s an overly sweet Danish with fatty and sugary coffee drinks, a drive-thru burger, and an oversized all-you-can-eat dinner from the buffet.

We’re Susceptible

Public health experts have shown that our fat is not always our fault. Food industries have spent billions in promotion to induce us consuming their products fast and as ‘large’ as possible. Fast food franchises tempt us by offering supersized portions that cost just pennies more than the usual (large) sized, which translates to larger-sized waists.

Most people think of a diet as deprivation. Do you?

Do you “go on” a diet and stick with it for a few weeks, lose some weight, and then regain the pounds lost? Or do you use the diet to learn more about you, to understand what you can eat to lose weight, and then take it from there?

Let’s refute the belief that diet means deprivation. Most dictionaries mention that a word ‘diet’ represents an activity that describes our eating and drinking habits.

And if your usual eating habits are filled with unhealthy and processed foods, then that’s priority step to take. Change your usual diet to one that you enjoy and maintain, as you work your way down the scale.

The Best Diet

The best diet then is simply the plan that suits your tastes and lifestyle!

Since everyone is different, with differing tastes, lifestyles and budgets — and since we know that all diets work because they ask you to change what’s typical for you to a structured, calorie-controlled program – choose a plan that most closely includes the type of foods you like to eat, and the pattern that suits you best.

The Authority Food Nutrition Weight Loss Plan is great for those who want to customize their diet, maybe include frozen entrees, and are omnivores.

Readers can also choose to suit their lifestyle – from the Mediterranean Diet to Vegetarian or select a program that helps you eat to manage or prevent diabetes. Our goal is to help you find your diet, your way.

And once you’re near your weight goal, you’ll use the new behaviors you’ve practiced while following your plan — eating the portions that are right for you and modifying your usual recipes to lower the fat and calories content — and adopt it as your own typical diet and maintain your weight loss permanently.

All diets work, but we think ours work best – because they’re eating plans you can stick with for life.