A great way to determine the value of a certain food is by its generosity. The best foods are the ones that make you work the least and give you a whole bunch of nutrition in return. The nature of these wondrous foods lies in their extreme simplicity -- they bring you lots of satisfaction with little calculation. When it comes to counting calories, these foods let you take your thinking caps off because they're low- or no-calorie foods. So when it comes to helping you stick to a nutritious diet, they are a dream come true.
No matter how hard you try to escape them, the fact is that calories do count. It's true that if you eat more calories than your body can burn, you will gain weight. It's also true, however, that depriving yourself of essential calories means depriving yourself of the energy you need to move and grow. The answer is balance, and the key is to become calorie savvy.
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Nutritionist Susan Burke March says, "Your body has achieved neutral energy balance when the calories you take in are equal to the calories expended. To lose weight, you need to achieve a negative energy balance, where the calories you take equal less than the calories expended."
The best way to assess how many calories you eat per day is by keeping track. A great way to do this is by writing it down. Keeping a food diary is more than a fact-finding mission. It will do wonders to help you become aware of the foods you're eating and also give you insight as to why you may be eating them.
Studies suggest that when people report their own calories intake, they significantly underestimate their consumption of high-calorie and over-estimate the low-calorie foods. Keeping track will do wonders to gear you in the right direction. Fortunately, thanks to eDiets, counting calories just got a whole lot easier. You can get a free, innovative nutrition tracker that does all the work for you. All you have to do is enter the foods you eat each day, and the nutrition tracker does the rest. It counts calories, carbs, protein and fat.
Once you determine how many calories you should eat to fit your specific needs, the next step is making sure you stay satisfied. This is when calorie-free foods, otherwise know as deprivation destroyers, come into action. "Hunger is distracting and energy-depleting, and most people who diet fall off the program because they are hungry all the time. Food is the best fat-burning strategy. Eat the right foods to satisfy your hunger and maintain your energy while losing weight," March says.
What's the key to calorie-free? According to March, very few foods are ultimately void of calories, but there are calorie-burning foods. These are foods that burn up more calories in the process of digesting them than are actually contained in the foods themselves. The best way to stay satisfied, keep your energy level in full force and make sure your caloric intake stays in a healthy range is to include these super foods and snacks in your daily diet.
