My Simple Diet Guidelines

These simple rules have helped me lose a few pounds every now and then while not limiting my food choices too much.

Basic rules

1. Calculate your basal metabolic rate ( calculator ) + activity level 
2. Eat no more than 50 grams of net carbohydrates a day (net carbohydrate = carbohydrate - fiber)
3. Eat at least 1 gram of protein per body weight
4. Calculate the calories in the carbohydrates + protein and add the rest as fat to arrive at your basal metabolic rate + activity level. 
5. Never eat less than 1,200 calories a day.

Here is my example

1. My metabolic rate is 1,784 plus my activity level for sedentary 1,784 x 1.1 = 1,962. According to this I have to eat about 2,000 calories a day to maintain my current weight.
2. 50 grams of net carbohydrates equals 200 calories (there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate).
3. My protein requirement is 168 grams because I weight 168 lbs (there are 4 calories per gram of protein).
4. 200 calories from carbohydrates + 672 calories from protein + 1,125 calories from fat (there are 9 calories per gram of fat) = 1,997 calories

I obviously never make it dead on, but I rarely go over my net carbohydrates and rarely go below my minimum protein requirements. After a few weeks of starting with the basic rules I realize that my actual calorie intake to maintain my body weight are about 2,500 calories.

Here is a chart that shows my daily planned calories vs my actual calories broken down by macro-nutrients. Note how Even though I have tried really hard to eat 2,600 calories a day, it is very hard for me as I am barely hungry on this diet and I almost always end up eating slightly below 2,000 calories a day.