Write an article based on this "Calculate how many calories you currently consume. Find out your recommended daily calorie allowance. Lower your calorie consumption gradually. Control your portion sizes. Track your portions and calories in a journal or with an app. Swap sugary and whole-fat beverages for lower-calorie options. Replace high-calorie foods with filling, low-calorie options."
For a few days, keep a log of everything you normally consume. Read the labels of everything you eat and drink, and note the total calories and fat content per serving for each item. Add up the total calories and calories from fat that you consume per day.  Keep a written list of the items you consume and how much of them you're consuming or track them using a calorie counting app. For items that don’t have labels, such as produce or meat, search online or on your tracking app for calorie and fat estimates. Look up the daily amount of calories recommended for your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. Compare your recommended intake with the numbers in your food log. This will give you an idea of how many calories to cut from your diet.  For example, suppose you’ve been consuming around 3500 calories per day. If your recommended daily caloric intake is 2500, aim to cut around 1000 calories from your diet. Use MyPlate’s calculator to find your recommended daily caloric intake at https://www.choosemyplate.gov/MyPlate-Daily-Checklist-input. Enter your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. The calculator will list how many calories you should consume to maintain your current weight and how many you should cut from your diet to get to a healthy weight. Reduce your caloric intake slowly, even if you’re consuming hundreds of calories more than your recommended amount. Try reducing your calories by around 150 per day. You’ll have an easier time adjusting to your new diet, and you’ll be more likely to stick with it.  Don’t cut your calories drastically or consume fewer calories than the estimate you found on MyPlate. For example, if you need 2500 calories per day to meet your basic needs, consuming 1000 per day wouldn’t provide your body with the fuel it needs.  Additionally, your body might interpret a sudden drop in caloric intake as a sign it should store more fat. Your body evolved this fat-storing response in order to deal with periods when food is scarce. Plan your portions and meals to ensure you consume your target amount of calories. When you’re just starting out, use measuring cups and weigh items with a scale. Eventually, you’ll get a feel for what a 3 oz (85 g) portion of salmon or 1⁄2  c (120 mL) of cooked spinach look like. Plan your portions in advance, as you're more likely to cheat on your diet when you make decisions on the fly. For example, on Sunday night, list portions and meals for Monday through Wednesday. Write lists of meals and portion sizes in a journal or a food tracker app. Search online or on your app for the amount of calories each item in a meal contains. Use that information to ensure your daily meals meet your calorie target.  Suppose you're having baked chicken breast, rice, and broccoli for dinner. Look up calorie counts online or on your app for an average-size chicken breast (380-520 calories), 1⁄2  c (120 mL) of brown rice (108 calories), and 1  c (240 mL) of broccoli (31 calories). Be sure to measure your portions carefully so your calorie counts are accurate. You can cut a substantial amount of calories by drinking water instead of high-calorie beverages. Additionally, go for low-fat or fat-free milk, limit the amount of fruit juice you drink, and choose lower-calorie options if you drink alcohol.  For example, if you top your breakfast cereal with fat-free milk instead of whole milk, you’ll cut 60 calories. If you swap your 20  fl oz (590 mL) bottled soft drink at lunch for water, you'll cut 225 calories. As for low-calorie alcoholic beverages, light beer contains between 8 and 100 calories per 12  fl oz (350 mL) bottle. You could also have 1  fl oz (30 mL) of vodka, which contains around 60 calories, with soda water, which is calorie-free. Since you’re consuming fewer calories, you might be worried that you won’t get full. However, it’s the amount of food you eat that makes you full, not the number of calories. Fruit and vegetables contain fewer calories than junk food, and they’re packed with water and fiber, which help make you feel full.  For example, a 2 ounce (57 g) carrot has 25 calories, but a 1 oz (28 g) candy bar contains around 150 calories. Furthermore, a carrot contains vital nutrients; the candy bar is just loaded with sugar and saturated fat. Other filling, low-calorie options include oatmeal (make it with water or fat-free milk), fat-free or low-fat Greek yogurt (try topping it with berries), and lentils and beans (try making soup with black beans and kale).