When people refer to a calorie reduction diet they are referring to calorie counting and reducing the overall number of calories consumed in a day. For example; On average women consume around 2,500 calories per day while men consume around 2,800 calories per day. On a calorie reduction diet we may choose to limit ourselves to 1,200 or 1,500 calories in order to lose weight.

No matter what we do to shed those excess pounds, no matter how many 'miracle weight loss products', miracle (or super) foods we buy because of the miracle weight loss claims and guarantees they make, the best thing we can do is to listen to our family doctor. Most medical professionals will tell you to exercise more and eat less in order to shed your excess pounds. In short, this means following a calorie reduction diet and motivating yourself to get active.

The one thing you must be aware of when formulating your calorie reduction diet plan, is to reduce your calorie intake enough to cause weight loss happen while providing sufficient calories (and nutrients) to stop your body going into "starvation mode."

It stands to reason that a reduction in calories is necessary in order to lose weight because the calories we consume must be insufficient to provide our everyday energy requirements if we are going to burn excess fat cells. However, if you already have a very limited calorie intake and you still find it difficult to lose weight, oddly enough, you may need to consume MORE calories! This is what has occurred: Your body is an expert at survival and it has gone into starvation mode, it is conserving energy rather than burning it.

Put simply, this means that if you reduce your calorie consumption to 700 calories per day your body interprets that as some kind of crisis in which you are unable to find food. It responds by going into survival mode where it reduces calorie consumption in order to preserve life. The body can survive for a surprisingly long time without food, as was demonstrated by a group of 10 Irish hunger strikers in 1981. The leader, a man named Bobby Sands survived without food from March 1 to May 5, 1981, a period of 66 days.

If you have dramatically reduced your calorie consumption as part of a long-term calorie reduction diet and have stopped losing weight, speak to your doctor to receive advice regarding whether to increase your calorie consumption in order to achieve further weight loss. In general, it is not advisable to reduce calorie intake to under 1000 calories per day without constant medical supervision.

In modern society, most of us consume more calories than our bodies require for energy needs, so it's a good idea to make use of a calorie reduction diet. Even those who are not actually overweight can benefit from this. If they have been gaining weight then by watching their calorie intake they can stop themselves from gaining unwanted pounds. The easiest way to engage in a calorie reduction diet is to eliminate foods that are "fattening" like processed foods, frozen meals etc. You can also reduce your carbohydrate intake by by reducing the amount of bread, cereal, rice, potato and pasta you eat, even if you just cut it out of one meal per day. These types of food are high in readily accessible energy that require very little digestion, because they require very little digestion they also consume very few calories in the digestive process. You can also view these as 'man-made' foods. A good rule of thumb is to consume more naturally occurring foods and less man-made ones.

As a guide, you should be spending 90% of your grocery shopping time in the meat and fresh produce departments. It is also fine to purchase frozen vegetables like peas, carrots, corn, broccoli etc. Purchasing these in the freezer department ensures that the goodness is locked in compared to purchasing fresh vegetables that deteriorate over time in the fridge or pantry. Consume moderate amounts of lean protein including meat, eggs and protein rich vegetables like mushrooms and legumes. As mentioned before, avoid or reduce processed man-made food if possible.

Example food types:

• Natural foods: Fresh and frozen vegetables, oats, nuts, fresh fruit, lean meats etc.
• Man-made foods: Bread, cakes, pastries, convenience meals, processed meats, potato crisps, biscuits etc.

So don't just count calories, look for natural foods when choosing which foods to include in your calorie reduction diet.