Calories to Lose Weight

When you start a weight loss program there are a few things that you should do. I am going to talk about two of them today. The first is to know what you are currently eating and how many calories you are consuming. The second is to figure out what you should eat and the calories to lose weight.

It is important to know how many calories you are consuming. Look at it this way; you are at your current weight for eating the way you currently do. By coming aware of the amount of calories you are consuming and the breakdown of the calories (fat, protein, carbohydrates, sugar, fiber etc...) you then can start making the proper modifications.

When doing this research do not just use one day. Record this data over an entire week span to get a good average. Some days you will most likely eat more and some you will eat less. It is the average that we are concerned about. When we start our diet it is the average we are going to be concerned with as well.

Once you know this number there are a couple things that we can do. For your reference, you need to expend 3500 calories to lose one pound of fat. So the most basic form of dieting is to eat 500 less calories a day. Over 7 days this should constitute 1 lbs of fat loss. Then if we exercise and expend another 500 calories a day we will be on schedule for 2 lbs per week weight loss.

Another way is to figure out your Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR). Your BMR is a formula that estimates your nutritional requirements to maintain your current weight. The result would mean that if you did nothing but lie in bed all day; this is the amount of calories that you need to eat to maintain your weight.

Obviously you move throughout the day which expends calories. That is why the BMR has a activity calculator. You should use this activity multiplier when using the BMR as a tool to figure out the amount of calories to lose weight. Otherwise it is possible for your boy to go into starvation mode.

It is my belief that this is what happens to most people when dieting. They cut their calories too much. People who do this usually experience initial weight loss during the first week and less the second. The body is starting to slow the metabolism. Then the body will start storing calories as fat in fear that less food will be consumed. This is what we want to avoid at all cost. To avoid this all you need to do is use the active multiplier on with your BMR and then subtract 500 calories. This way your body will not go into starvation mode.