How Many Calories To Lose Weight
Dylan Graves
Counting calories is a popular method of losing weight. The
intention is to burn more calories than you eat, and therefore
lose weight. Of course, there is no definite number that
everyone should eat each day, and therefore no special number
which we need to cut back on in order to loose weight. The
essential figure to consider when calorie counting is the
amount of calories you need to consume each day in order to
maintain your weight as it is. This may involve a few sums, but
once you have that figure, you can work out the amount you want
to reduce.
In order to work out the amount you need to maintain your
present weight, you first need to work out your BMR. There are
many ways that you figure this out online, and it should not
take you very long. Once you have done this, then you need to
work out how much activity you do during an average day. If you
are sedentary, times your BMR by 1.2, If you are slightly
active, times it by 1.375. If you are moderately active (if,
you do exercise most days a week) then times it by 1.55. If you
are even more active than that, times the BMR by 1.725, and if
you perform hard labour, or are involved in competitive sport,
times the BMR by 1.9.
You may need to fetch a calculator at this point. For example,
a woman weighing 200 pounds may have a BMR of 1675 and be very
inactive, so she would times her BMR by two, and produce a
result of 3350. This figure is the amount of calories the woman
would need to consume if she wanted to stay at the weight she is
now.
Once you have worked out how many calories you need in order to
keep your weight the same, you can then start to cut back your
intake in order to loose weight. It is considerably healthier
to cut back the amount of calories you eat a little bit at a
time. This is also dependant upon how much weight you want to
loose. Guidelines recommend that you should loose no more than
2 pounds each week, and it is probably better in the long tem
if you only aim for one pound. Each pound is the equivalent of
3,500 calories, which conveniently mean that reducing your
intake by 500 calories a day will lose one pound a week through
diet alone.
You can lose these 500 calories purely by cutting them from
your diet, or you could lose 250 from your intake, and then
burn 250 calories thought exercise. You should take into
consideration how much you exercise, as well as what you eat,
and record it all in a diary. This is not there to reveal how
little you did on a certain day; it is an account of each
little step you take towards losing each pound at the end of
the week.
You should try and keep your calorie reduction even: so if you
can’t exercise one day, don’t be tempted to cut back more
rigorously on your eating the day after. It is far more
important to consistently lose weight, even if it is only a
little, than punish yourself for small infractions. With the
latter policy, you are likely to give up before you have even
reached your goal.
Once you start losing weight, you also need to remember to
revise your BMR and weight loss plan. The calorie cutback which
was suitable for weight loss in a 200-pound woman will not have
the same effect on a woman who now weight 180 pounds. If you
find yourself reaching a plateau, where you care no longer
losing, consider checking your BMR – you may find yourself
pleasantly surprised.
About The Author: Dylan Graves works out everyday and has a
great physique. Discover free how to have a 6-pack of washboard
abs at
http://www.burnthefatfeedmuscle.com
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