If you are one of those people who doesn't eat too many calories as is, and then try to reduce your calories after that by 500-700 calories, you may actually creating a negative effect in your weight loss efforts. If you get calories to only 800-1000 calories a day, your metabolism will actually slow down as self preservation method so you won't consume as much energy as you would normally. This will really put your metabolism into slow gear so you won't be really consuming as many calories.

If you ever find yourself in this rut, or better yet, to prevent yourself from ever getting into this situation, use the 20% rule to lose weight in a more healthier and permanent manner.

STEP 1: FIND OUT HOW MANY CALORIES YOU EAT NOW
I discussed how to do this in another article. But to sum up, you can determine how many calories you consume in a day by keeping a food journal and recording how much food you eat during the day. This is best done after each meal during the day so you don't forget. Do this 3 days out of the week. Next be honest with yourself. You need to be completely honest about the food you're eating. Don't skip out reflecting the small pat of butter you put on your bread or the extra helping of chicken you had at dinner. Another way to find out how many calories you're eating is to weight your food. Finally, at the end of the day tally up how many calories were consumed.

STEP 2: SUBTRACT 20% FROM YOUR DAILY CALORIC INTAKE
Let pretend that you're a male or female name Devon (this name in gender neutral right?). Devon's food journal states he or she eats about 2000 calories a day. Further Devon would like to lose 20lbs. So her calculations look like the following:
2000 calories X 0.20 = 400 calories
2000 calories - 400 calories = 1600 calories.

If Devon cuts his or her calorie consumption by about 400 calories a day, so that he or she is only 1600 calories per day, then Devon can lose between 0.5 to 1lb per week. This is healthy rate of weight loss that can be sustained, won't leave Devon hungry, and won't slow down his or her metabolism. So in about 6-8 months, Devon should reach his or her goals. Slow and steady always wins the war. Plus, Devon will probably be more likely to keep the weight off than if he or she lost the weight in half the time.



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