If you want to lose weight, the standard advice has always been to reduce your caloric intake and increase your physical activity.
"Initially, any caloric restriction will almost always result in weight loss," explains Megan Wroe, RD, wellness manager.
"Calorie" refers to the amount of heat energy required to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.
This translates to 1 kilocalorie (1, 000 calories) of energy for every 1 calorie of food.
There is a caloric value associated with every meal you consume, and you can easily find this value using any number of resources.
According to the FoodData Central database maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture, a medium banana has about 100 calories.
Here, a caloric deficit comes into play, which simply means burning more calories than you take in.
To lose 1 pound every week, for example, you would need to make a caloric deficit of 3,500 calories, as 1 pound is equal to 3,500 calories.
Men should eat 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day and women 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day.