It is the question on every dieter’s lips, how many calories should I eat to lose weight?
Well the answer depends on a couple of factors in particular your current weight and the amount and type of exercise you do.
Knowing the maximum number of calories you should consume each day as part of any calorie controlled diet is essential for success.
To determine this number we are going to need to do a bit of math, don’t panic it’s pretty easy.
The first calculation you need to do is to determine your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
Calculating BMR
If you’re a male then the formula is
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)
If you’re a female then the formula you need to use is
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
Next we need to determine your daily calorie intake to maintain your weight, taking into consideration daily activity.
The formula is basically (BMR x Activity level) + BMR = amount of calories you need to consume to maintain your current weight
Activity Level
• No exercise, Activity Level Value = 0.2
• Small amount of exercise, Activity Level Value = 0.3
• If you exercise 3 – 5 days a week, Activity Level Value = 0.4
• Intense exercise daily (more than 45 minutes), Activity Level Value = 0.5
• Athlete level daily exercise, Activity Level Value – 0.6
Once you have determined the amount of calories you should eat to maintain your current weight with your current activity level you can determine the amount of calories you need to cut (by either dieting, exercising or a combination of both) to lose weight.
A pound of fat contains 3500 calories, so if you want to lose 1 pound a week you will want to cut 500 calories a day from your maintenance weight calorie value. For example if you currently consume 2100 calories a day without any weight loss then you will want to reduce the calorie intake to 1600 calories to lose one pound a week.
So now you know the answer to the question “how many calories should I eat to lose weight “ you have no excuses, get out there and exercise and make better diet choices and slash and burn those calories
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