You may be asking yourself, “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?”. The answer to that question may surprise you. The general thought on this has always been calories in vs. calories out. If you consume more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than your body can burn, you lose fat. Makes perfect sense right? In theory yes. But in reality it is a little more complicated than that.
There are lots of formulas out there that can help you answer the question “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?” But the reality is, using these formulas is a bit of a guessing game. It’s difficult to estimate how many calories your body burn at rest in a 24 hour period. This is called the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMI). The BMI is simply the amount of calories that your body burns on a typical day at rest.
One popular formula to estimate your BMI is:
For Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in .lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
For Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in .lbs) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)
Once you have your BMI you can start to estimate what you burn in your workouts. (again, a bit of a guessing game)
Then you can estimate how many calories you eat in a day. (a great tool for this can be found at www.myfitnesspal.com)
Once you know your BMI, estimate your caloric intake and your caloric burn, you should be able to come up with a caloric deficit. Knowing that 1 pound of fat equals around 3500 calories, you can estimate that you will lose about 1 pound of fat for every 3500 calorie deficit. Simple right? Every single day?
A lot of people have found that focusing on “How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight” can be challenging. Which can make it difficult to follow long term. Counting calories is one way to lose that weight but studies have shown that if you focus more on WHAT you eat, instead of HOW MUCH you eat, you are going to be more successful in the long run.
Here are a few tips that will help you lose weight without having to count calories.
- Don’t drink calories! This one thing alone will help you lose weight! One 12 ounce soda has around 240 calories in it. Fruit juice is loaded with calories and sugar. That starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino at Starbucks can have as many as 600 calories! Think about this. If you DRINK on average of 400 calories a day for a year, that is an extra 146,000 calories! Just by simply cutting those calories out can equate to a 40 pound weight loss (assuming 1 pound of fat equates to 3500 calories). Lose 40 pounds in 1 year, just by cutting out crappy drinks. Drink Water. And lots of it. Don’t think that those diet sodas are the answer either. Some say they are even worse!
- Cut the carbs. This one is simple. If it’s white, Don’t eat it. Period. (except cauliflower). We have become a society that thrives on carbs! Breads, donuts, chips, bagels with cream cheese. Focus more on vegetables, healthy fats, and lean protein.
- Exercise every day! You don’t have spend 3 hours at the gym every day. Just get up and do something! Mow the lawn. Take a walk, go for a jog, stretch, do some yoga. Just do something every day and get moving.
- Cut the sugar. We consume more sugar in the USA than any other country in the world. According to the USDA the average american consumes 140-160 POUNDS of sugar every year. Make a conscious effort to cut sugar from your diet. (tip #1 will save a lot of sugar)
How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight? Use these 4 tips and you won’t have to count calories.
