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Zest: Dieting- Calorie Counting and Portion Control
This is where you learn to cut back your excess calories by taking a firmer hand on your eating and drinking. You need to reduce unwanted and unnecessary energy sources: saturated fats, alcoholic drinks and overly sweet and sweetened food. However such elementary precautions are obvious and although these simple steps will help to control your weight gain it is in no way a guarantee of weight loss; to really get a tighter grip on your calories you need to approach dieting with one of these two distinct methods:
Calorie counting and portion control.
(If you can't be bothered to read up on calorie counting and would rather see how Don Pepe uses portion control to his advantage click here.)

Calorie Counting:
This method of diet control is perhaps the most exact and as such it is ideal for beginners and people who are relatively inexperienced in dieting.

The principle of calorie counting is simple. You need to create a calorie deficit and in order to to do this you need to measure your calorie requirements (how much energy you need on a daily basis) then simply eat 200 to 500 calories less than you require in order to begin the process of weight loss.

There are two ways to calculate how many calories you require on a daily basis. One, quite a rough method which doesn't account for lifestyle and other factors, the other more accurate but requires more arithmetic.

The rough method:
For weight in Kg
Total Weight in Kg x 33 = Total Daily Energy Requirements

Example for a 72 Kg individual:
72kg x 33 = 2,376 Calories required daily
Therefore this individual would plan to consume 1,876 calories per day to create a calorie deficit (which is 500 calories less than this individual's Total Daily Energy Requirements)

For weight in lbs
Total Weight in lbs x 15 = Total Daily Energy Requirements

Example for a 144 lb individual:
144 lbs x 15 = 2,160 Calories required daily
Therefore this individual would plan to consume 1,660 calories per day to create a calorie deficit (which is 500 calories less than this individual's Total Daily Energy Requirements)

The precise method:
This method requires more calculations, but allows for gender, lifestyle and other factors and as such gives a more precise measurement of your Total Daily Energy Requirements.
Click here for the calculations.

Planning your calorie intake:
Okay, so now that you've worked out how many calories you must eat in order to lose weight you must now begin to plan your daily calorie intake. (What you can eat and drink during one day.)

To do this accurately you should keep a food diary. Calculate in advance what you plan to eat and how many calories each meal contains. Your total meals for each day should not exceed your allocated calories needed to create a deficit. (If you eat more meals than your previously planned number of calories you won't lose weight.)

To count the calories of each meal, weigh or measure each portion size then multiply this figure by the calories contained within the meal.

Weight of meal in units x calories of single unit = Total Meal Calories

For example:
A 55g serving of porridge (which is oats and skimmed milk)
T the energy of 1 gram of porridge is 3.89 calories (which is the combined amount of energy in 1 gram of oats and 1 gram of milk)Therefore:

55g of porridge x 3.89 calories = 214 calories

You can find the calories within each meal on food packaging and labels (or within suitable food charts found in most supermarkets)

Of course all of this is a lot of work and a real bore. If you're a lazier person and can't be bothered with organisational skills check the portion control method for an alternative means of reducing calories.

Portion Control:
Okay! Now we're talking! This method is nothing like as precise as calorie counting but its a whole lot easier to follow and can provide results just as easily and more importantly it is the method Don Pepe uses to maintain a year-round six pack (although it has done nothing to help him out with his big nose, sticky out ears and balding head. The chump.)

Most people are creatures of habit and tend to consume the same type and the same amount of foods and drink on a daily basis. Provided you learn to eat the right sorts of food and you cut out the wrong types of food, (check out the food groups section!) all that is needed to create a calorie deficit is cutting back on the volume of food that you eat.

Cutting back is easy and is nothing more challenging than measuring your portion size. There are a couple of methods for this:

Downsize your helpings by using a smaller plate or bowl for each meal.
or
Use measuring cups to measure the volume of your pre-diet portions then downsize by using smaller cups for all forthcoming meals.
or
Use the palm of your hand as a measure (a favourite method of body builders) A regular non-diet meal would be one palm-size portion of protein, one of carbohydrates and half a palm of healthy fats. To cut your portion size aim to consume per meal; half a palm of protein, half a palm of carbohydrates and quarter a palm of healthy fats.
or
Use weight scales to measure your initial portion size then weigh all future meals to ensure you eat less.

For many of you this method might sound haphazard, but it truly works. Calorie counting and other means of watching your diet requires a lot more planning and can be tedious (and that's on the best of days) Portion control on the other hand is easy and can be done anywhere; at home, at a restaurant or on holiday.

How can I be sure my means of dieting is working?
Weigh yourself before you begin your diet, then weigh yourself a week later and continue to do so on a weekly basis. For those taking weight loss seriously you should aim to shed 1kg to 1.5kg a week. If you are not shedding this sort of weight you haven't created a large enough calorie deficit.

To create a larger calorie deficit using calorie counting as a means of weight loss you need to decrease the calorie count of the foods that you consume.
To create a larger calorie deficit using portion control you need to further decrease the size of your meals.

How to weigh yourself
Your body weight fluctuates during each 24 hour cycle depending on levels of hydration, bodily excretion and the rate at which you consume food. Therefore to get a true sense of your weight, weigh yourself three time in one day. Once in the morning, once at midday and once in the evening. Combine the weights together then divide by three to get your true weight.

How much weight should you aim to lose?
If you stick to a healthy diet (that's a healthy diet not a stupid diet that causes you to shed severe levels of weight through dehydration or starvation!) you should aim to lose at least 1kg of weight a week and certainly no more than 2.5kg. If you shed more than 2.5kg in one week you could be overdoing it and causing damage to your internal organs.
As to how much weight you wish to lose is of course an entirely personal thing.
Government levels of health dictate that 15-20% body fat for men is healthy and 20-25% for women.
For a leaner look and for that coveted six pack you need (on average) less than 12% body fat
The immune system to stay healthy needs at least 8% body fat.
Going lower than 5% fat poses the threat of severe medical problems.