Calories to Lose Weight - How Many?

A "calorie" is a unit of energy stored in a particular food. Foods with more energy stored in them are higher in calories than are foods with less energy. For dieters the basic rule to losing weight is that your body must burn more calories (energy) in a period of time than you put in it by eating.

Before beginning a diet it is a good idea to determine how many calories you are eating each day now and work to reduce that number. Failing to have a good idea of what their real calorie consumption leads most people simply choose an arbitrary number of calories they are going to eat each day, say 1200, and then try to create a diet to meet that goal. The problem with this method is that by not establishing what you are currently eating, 1,200 calories might not be enough to deliver the level of nutrition your body is used to. If the new, lower calorie number is too low it may cause your body to go into starvation protection mode which makes losing any weight extremely difficult.

Here's a good way to determine where you are now: For a sedentary person (not getting any exercise other than normal daily living), multiply your current weight times 13 to determine your current basic daily calorie requirements;

EXAMPLE:

For a sedentary person currently weighing 180 pounds their daily calorie requirement is 2,340 (180X13)

For that same 180 pound individual, if they are moderately active (getting at least a half an hour of exercise 3 to 4 times a week) instead of sedentary, the multiplier rises to 16. So the current daily calorie requirement is now 180X16, or 2,880

Still using our 180 pound person as an example, if that person is "very active" (exercising 5 to 7 times a week) the multiplier rises again, to 19. Now the daily calorie requirements to maintain current weight are now 3,420, or 19X180.

One word of caution: Anyone who is not currently exercising at all should speak with their doctor before beginning any serious exercise program. But, you can start to work in additional exercise throughout the day by doing simple things like parking at the back of the lot at the store and taking the stairs instead of riding the escalator or elevator. All exercise counts and it all adds up to be the best weight loss diet!

The moral here is to lose weight most effectively so it will stay off and not come back; the loss needs to be slow and steady to allow your system to get used to the new you. Once you establish your current daily calorie intake try reducing it by 500 calories a day to start. You will start to lose weight and you will still retain your health.