How Many Calories Should I Consume to Lose Weight?

Losing weight by knowing your energy needs is not new and a common question often asked by dieters and weight watchers is how many calories should I consume to lose weight? The amount and kind of calories you consume determine the amount of fat you have in your body. In a smart way, knowledge of calorie tracking and portion sizes can help determine how many calories you need to lose weight.

The required calories to lose weight depend on your energy needs! The energy needs of everyone may not be the same for so many reasons including differences in level of activity and body weight. If you know your energy needs then you could easily calculate the required calories to lose weight. The food you eat provides energy which is used for 3 basic processes

1. Physical activity: Your body uses energy for any physical activity you carry out which include running, jogging, walking and body building exercises

2. Food digestion

3. Basal metabolic rate: This is the energy you use at rest when you are not performing any physical activity. Energy used for breathing and blood circulation fall under this category.

If you know the energy you need to power these processes on daily basis then you could easily eat food that will supply this energy alone. To calculate your daily energy needs, you need to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and know your level of activity.

To calculate your BMR, use online calculators on websites like Bmr-calculator.net. All you need to fill in is your height, weight, age and sex. Once you know your BMR then you can calculate the amount of calories you need daily by doing the following

If you do not exercise- Multiply BMR by 1.2

If you do light exercise(1-3 days per week)- Multiply BMR by 1.375

If you are moderately active ( exercise 3-5 days weekly) – Multiply BMR by 1.55

If you are very active( exercise 6-7 days weekly)- Multiply by 1.725

If you are extra active and do hard exercise or constant training- Multiply BMR by 1.9

You must be honest enough to place yourself in the right place if not, you might not get it right. If you use a BMR calculator and you get 1430 calories. Again if your level of activity is moderate, then your daily energy needs will be 1430 multiplied by 1.55 (1430 x 1.55) = 2216.5 calories

Interpretation

From the calculation above, the daily energy needs is 2216.5 calories. This means that if you get about 2216 calories daily from food with your level of activity, you may not gain weight because this is just enough to meet your energy needs and there is none left to be stored.

To maintain your current weight, you need to eat foods that will give this figure. However, to lose weight, you need to eat less than this! This is how it works, still using the example above (2216 calories daily). If you eat exactly 2000 calories, then your body needs to get the remaining 216 calories from your fat storage and in the process, you will burn stored fat. If you eat 1800 calories, your body will get the remaining 416 calories from stored fat and you will lose weight. However, do not restrict your calorie intake so low as it is not the best thing to do.

The question, ‘how many calories should I consume to lose weight?’ is just a small portion of what you need to know about your weight. You need to strive to maintain a healthy weight by taking care of what you eat, your lifestyle and your habits.

The AMOUNT and KIND of calories you consume really matter to your weight. Get good calories from fruits, veggies, lean protein and complex carbohydrate. Cut down sugar sweetened drinks, ice cream, burger, cakes, fries, doughnut and other empty-calories

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