Counting Calories

Although most experts agree that moderate consumption of alcohol, specifically red wine, provides a dose of healthy antioxidants, alcohol is not calorie-free; it provides about 7 calories per gram.

If you are counting calories, remember that a 5-ounce glass of wine has about 100 calories. A 12-ounce can of beer (not light beer) contains about 150 calories, and 1.5 ounces (about a shot glass worth) of distilled spirits contains 100 calories.

If you choose to drink alcohol and you are following a weight loss program, factor in the calories and eat less of some food during a meal to allow for the extra calories. If fat is your main concern, remember that beer, wine, and spirits contain zero fat.

But know your limits and keep in mind that alcohol can impair your judgment and cause you to crave more food, so if you have more than one drink you may find yourself snacking without realizing what you’re eating. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you overindulge one evening, but don’t make a habit of it if you are trying to follow a diet plan.Chefs Diet Prepared Meals & Snacks

You’ve heard it before, but it’s true: Physical activity is the best way to burn calories, not taking the magic pills or using other products that are advertised on late-night television.

The harder you exercise the more calories you will burn, but even moderate exercise such as walking the dog or cleaning the kitchen burns calories. Plus, if you are following a weightloss program, burning calories by exercising allows you to eat more and still lose weight.

To lose weight and maintain weight loss, most adults will need to exercise at least moderately for at least 30 minutes daily. Research has shown that most people who successfully maintain their weight over time are more likely to exercise for 60 minutes daily. But if you have a hard time blocking out an entire hour for exercise, remember that shorter exercise sessions several times a day will burn calories and improve your health and fitness, too.

For example, a 140- to 150-pound person burns about 430 calories in an hour of aerobics, 260 calories in an hour of gardening, 250 calories in an hour of walking, and nearly 900 calories in an hour of moderate to intense running (about 8 mph).  Chefs Diet at Home:Chefs Diet brings a results-oriented, unique and convenient eating experience directly to your doorstep.

If you are following a weight loss program, you will need to count calories, plain and simple. If you’re following a plan based on meals prepared at home, check out some calorie counting books (such as the Doctor’s Pocket Calorie, Fat, and Carb Counter) and websites (such as caloriecounter.com). These resources will help you budget your calories on a daily basis.

Alternatively if you are too busy to count calories or if you just find it annoying and want to leave the calorie-counting to someone else, check out a food delivery service, such as Chef’s Diet, that does all the food preparation and calorie counting. All you need to do is read the labels on the prepared foods and you will know how many calories are in each meal and snack item.America’s Most Convenient Diet Delivery by Chefs Diet

Here’s how weight loss works: You need to burn more calories than you consume. Specifically, 3,500 calories equals one pound of fat, so you need to burn 3,500 more calories than you take in to lose one pound.

The math: If you cut 500 calories per day from your daily diet, you would lose about one pound in a week (7 days times 500 calories equals 3,500 calories).

To lose weight, most health experts recommend a 1,200-calorie per day diet for women and 1,500-calorie per day diet for men. Consuming fewer than these suggested calories over an extended period of time can prompt the body into starvation mode, which impacts the metabolism and may sabotage your weight loss program.

Even if you aren’t actively following a diet plan, you can maintain your current weight by keeping a few tips in mind to keep the unwanted pounds off:

-Trim calories in ice cream cones. If you like your ice cream in a cone, get the wafer rather than the waffle.

-Start drinking your coffee black. Creamers, sugars, and flavored syrups can add up to several hundred calories.

-Drink diet soda or sparkling water instead of regular soda.

-If you make popcorn for a snack, use half the amount of butter and mix in some lemon juice.

Everyone’s metabolism is different, but some basic principles apply in terms of three biological factors:

-Age: As you age, the amount of muscle in your body in proportion to fat starts to decrease unless you actively work to maintain it through exercise. Also, your metabolism slows with age and your body needs fewer calories to maintain basic functions.

-Sex: It’s not fair, ladies, but it is true that men tend to have more muscle in proportion to fat than women of the same age and weight. This is why men generally have a higher metabolism and can burn calories faster, so they often find it easier to lose weight.

-Body size and composition: If you are a larger person, regardless of your body fat to muscle ratio, you simply require more calories to function than a smaller person. But remember that muscle burns more calories than fat, so a small, muscular person will likely burn more calories than a larger, but less muscular person.

The term nutrient density refers to the amount of nutrients in food rather than the number of calories, although the nutritional community debates the term. Some nutrition experts say that any food should supply 50 percent more nutrients than it costs in calories.

For example, a quarter cup of sunflower seeds has 200 calories and a can of regular (non-diet) Sprite soda has 140 calories. But the sunflower seeds provide 20 percent of your recommended daily value of folate and vitamin B5, while Sprite provides neither, and because the 200 calories is about 11 percent of the total calorie intake (based on a 2000 calorie diet,) you are getting twice as many nutrients as calories, so the seeds are a nutrient-dense food.

Some people tend to fall for, and fail at, fad diets, and they can benefit from the structure of prepared meals as a way to eat healthfully and lose weight sensibly. Home delivery meals allow someone else to worry about the nutrient makeup of your meals, as well as the portions,, and all you have to worry about is eating what is prepared for you (What a hard life, we over here at Chefs Diet™ feel so bad for you).

If you are following a weight loss diet with Chefs Diet™, you can expect a weight loss of about eight to 10 pounds after one month, and a weight loss of about six pounds per month for the following months. Remember that everyone is different, and your results may vary depending on your metabolism, level of physical activity, and ability to follow the meal plan. But if you follow the menu schedule, you are more likely to achieve your weight loss goals.

Also keep in mind that for good health you should focus on loss of body fat rather than the numbers on the scale. A home delivery meal plan may promote the loss of several pounds of water weight during the first week, but then you will likely settle into a 1 to 2 pound weight loss each week, which is a healthy strategy.

People who are trying to follow a diet plan often underestimate the importance of portion control. One of the advantages of a food delivery service is that the portions are already measured. But it’s easy to confuse portions with serving sizes, especially when dining out at restaurants where a single portion (one person’s order) may be enough servings for 3-4 people. Keep these images in mind to remember recommended portion sizes and it will be easier to count calories:

-3 ounces of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.

-a medium apple or orange is about the size of a tennis ball.

-1 ounce of cheese is about the size of four dice.

-a medium bagel is the size of a hockey puck. 40-30-30 Diet Delivery

Many people who are following a diet plan use dining out as an opportunity to splurge a little. That’s fine, but if you are a busy professional who dines out often, it can be difficult to keep the calories under control if you are trying to follow a weight loss program. But if you do dine out often, keep these points in mind to cut calories:

-Ask for a take-home container at the start of the meal and put half of the food into it for the next day.

-Request that your meal be served without gravy, sauces, or butter, or ask for these items on the side.

-Choose foods that are steamed, baked, broiled, poached, or roasted, rather than deep-fat fried.

-Share a meal or dessert with a dining companion.

-Ask for salad dressings on the side, and use small amounts.