If you answer this question, that is half the battle in weight loss.
The minimum calories you need per day is 1200.
This will ensure that you are getting enough vitamins and minerals.
A more precise way to calculate the calories you need per day is, if you are a woman, to multiply your ideal weight by 12.
Men multiply their ideal weight by 14.
For example, a female who wants to weight 125 pounds can eat 1500 calories per day.
When she reaches that weight she continues to eat 1500 calories per day to maintain that weight.
OK, knowing your daily budget of calories is half the battle.
What's the other half? Actually sticking to that budget every day.
There's a way to do it so that you don't feel deprived.
In fact, you'll often have trouble eating that many calories per day because you'll rarely be hungry! What's the secret? Spread out your daily calories among 8-12 mini meals.
Having small portions all throughout the day fires up your metabolism and your body remains in "feast" mode rather than "famine" mode and doesn't unnecessarily store fat.
Three meals per day - with grim reminders to not eat between meals - is so ingrained in our culture.
I stopped eating three meals a day four years ago and have since become a grazer and have learned all about the calories in foods.
I'm much more energized after a 200 calorie meal than I ever was after a 1000 calorie meal.
Plus, it's nice to be able to eat throughout the day without guilt.
I know now many women who eat the same way and they all say the same thing.
Many people who eat this way use a timer or an alarm on their cell phone to remind them to eat every 90 minutes.
If, say, you eat 100 calories every 90 minutes you will get 1200 calories in for the day.
This is so much healthier for you than eating a 1200 calorie meal in one sitting.
Your stomach will thank you by causing you to rarely feel hunger.
There are hundreds of diets out there but in the end you can't escape calories.
It's all about calories, ultimately.
Just like you can't avoid price tags when you go shopping, you can't avoid calories when you are eating.
If you want to lose weight, that is.