Cutting Calories

http://our-medical-center.blogspot.com/2007/12/cutting-calories.html
For weight loss to occur, energy intake (i.e. the energy that your body gets through food and drink) must be less than energy expenditure (i.e. the energy your body expends through rest and physical activity), OR energy expenditure must exceed energy intake. Therefore, cutting calories or kilojoules consumed in the diet is the best way in which energy intake can be decreased and therefore weight loss achieved, in addition to physical activity.

The energy density of a food/nutrient refers to the number of kilojoules or calories in a portion of that food/nutrient.

The energy content of the major nutrients are:

Nutrient	Calories of energy per gram	Kilojoules of energy per gram
Fat	9	37
Alcohol	7	29
Protein	4	17
Carbohydrate	4	17

As you can see, fat provides the most energy per unit weight, and carbohydrate and protein provide the least. That is, fat is more ‘energy dense’ or concentrated than all nutrients. Therefore, reducing fat intake is one of the most effective approaches in reducing energy intake.

The following tips refer to ways in which you can reduce your energy (calorie or kilojoule) intake and therefore the energy density of your diet:

- Base your diet on plenty of plant foods, preferably those high in fibre (grains, cereals, legumes, fruits and vegetables); these foods are naturally low in fat. Consume moderate amounts of animal foods (meat and diary).

- Do not skip meals, cut out foods, or limit food variety. It is extremely important to still achieve good nutrition through a balanced eating approach.

- Reduce your food portions and save calories/kilojoules. Opting for bigger portion sizes often provides much more food than you need, adds more calories and fat to your meal, and can lead to eating more than is necessary to satisfy appetite.

- Make adjustments to the energy density of your meals. Energy density or calories can be lowered by, for example, switching carbohydrate for fat in a meal, adding fibre, and adding water to the meal (such as soups and stews).

- Replace high-calorie, high-fat foods with healthier alternatives that have a lower fat and calorie content. Watch out for low-fat products; they are lower in fat compared to their high fat counterparts, but they can still be packed with energy, as they often have a much higher content of added sugars. Also, be careful not to overeat on low fat products, as you will end up eating the same amount of fat or even more than would normally be the case.

- Use low-fat ideas in meal preparation and cooking; aim for low-calorie, reduced-fat recipes. Avoid frying; bake, boil, microwave or steam instead. Also, trim all fat off meat and remove the skin from poultry.

- Avoid or consume only small amounts of energy-dense foods including oils, margarines, creams, dressings, sugars, cakes, biscuits and confectionery – these foods are often high in fat and/or sugar and low in essential nutrients.

- Limit your consumption of high calorie-containing beverages, such as alcohol, regular soft drinks and high sugar fruit drinks. Opt for water and low-calorie drinks.

- Become familiar with food labels and teach yourself the calorie/kilojoule content of certain foods, as well as other important nutrients.

from asso.org.au

http://our-medical-center.blogspot.com/2007/12/cutting-calories.html