by Amanda Coers

Created on: April 24, 2010

When planning your personal fitness and diet plan, it’s important to understand what it takes to lose a pound of body fat. One pound of body fat contains approximately 3,500 calories. Usually a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day will help you lose one pound a week. In order to create that calorie deficit, it is important to cut calories from your daily diet and also exercise.

Of course, different factors will affect your individual weight loss. Men and women burn calories and lose weight differently. Find a system that works for you. Generally a lower-calorie diet and moderate exercise three times a week is a great way to kick-start your weight loss. There are some wonderful websites available to help you tailor your individual plan. It’s a great idea to first assess what your caloric needs are for your age, gender, current weight and level of activity.

A great site to first visit is: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator. htm

The daily caloric intake calculator listed on that site will give you a result that is tailored for you as an individual. Once you’ve learned what your caloric needs are, you can begin to take a good look at your eating habits. Keeping a food journal is an outstanding way to really examine what you’ve been eating. It may seem tedious at first, but the rewards are worth the small effort!

The Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research conducted a study with the help of 1,500 overweight and obese participants. The individuals who kept a food journal often lost twice as much weight as other participants who did not keep tabs on their food intake. Whether you jot down your meals in a small spiral notebook or enter the data online, this small step can really help you take charge of your weight loss.

 The following websites offer free online food journals and wonderful weight loss tips and strategies:

http://www.fitday.com/

http://www.sparkpeople.com/

http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/

http://www.nutridiary.com/

After keeping a food journal and cutting calories in a safe and healthy way through better food choices, you can also begin to enjoy moderate exercise. Walking is a great way to ease into a fitness routine. A fun way to get started with a regular walking regimen is to wear a pedometer. It is encouraging to see how many steps you’ve taken and challenge yourself to add to that amount each day.

To start out, go for a ten-minute walk at least three times a week. It couldn’t be more simple. Once you feel comfortable with an easy ten-minute walk around your neighborhood or favorite local park, add an extra five minutes to your daily walk. Your ultimate goal should be to walk for 45 to 60 minutes at a brisk pace to blast away those extra pounds.

You’ll be able to slim down and improve your overall well-being with a few simple – inexpensive – and easy changes to your daily lifestyle and eating habits.

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