How Many Calories to Lose Weight?
How Many Calories Can I Have and Still Lose Weight?
by Kathryn Martyn
To figure out how many calories you should have, first start with where
you are. In other words, figure out how many calories it takes to
maintain your present size and then reduce from there.
You can go about this in many ways. Most people simply choose an
arbitrary number, such as 1200 calories, and that's what they eat. But
in nearly every case that's not nearly enough calories to ensure
adequate nutrition, not to mention the deprivation that sets up.
While losing weight, and to this day, I eat more than 2000 calories a
day on average and I've maintained a good weight for my height for over
17 years. Remember, your body requires calories to maintain itself.
Basic Calorie Requirements Calculation Based on Activity Level:
Sedentary : 13 X Weight = Avg. cal/day
Sedentary is not exercising at all.
Moderately Active: 16 X Weight = Avg. cal/day
Moderately Active is exercising approximately 3-4 times per week
Very Active: 19 X Weight = Avg. cal/day
Very Active is 5-7 strenuous exercise sessions per week.
If you weigh over 200 pounds now, and you'd like to weigh closer to 150,
here is a calculation you could use to get started: Assuming you are
going to be adding enough exercise to quality as Moderately Active,
we'll use 16 as our modifier:
150 pounds X 16 calories per pound = 2400 calories
Less 500 (Using the common 500 calories per day reduction) gives us a
total of 1900 average calories per day
If you started to incorporate a plan that allowed an average of 1900
calories every day, you'd start to lose weight. The mistake most people
make is to reduce calories too much, which ultimately sacrifices muscle
plus sets you up for feeling deprived. It's far better in the long run
to go more slowly, keeping as much muscle as possible while burning
calories via exercise. Remember too, even if you don't eat quite that
many calories on many days, you might eat more on the weekends for
instance, so it ends up being closer to your goal of 1900 average per
day. Take the total calories for the week divided by seven.
Remember, this average calorie number gives you plenty of wiggle
room during the week. You can have some treats along with
everyone else, or add more on weekends. Instead of constantly
saying, "I can't...I'm on a diet," now you can say, "Thank you,
that looks delicious," and enjoy some. It doesn't ruin your diet
plan because you've got a large enough calorie allowance that if
you are more careful some days than others, it will work out to
the average number of calories you want. I tend to eat far fewer calories during the week than on weekends and my totals
generally average out to 2000 to 2200 calories per day.
The 500 calorie reduction is a well accepted amount. You can reduce your
calories further, but I wouldn't recommend it. It doesn't benefit anyone
to try for faster weight loss, in fact, if you reduce your calories too
much you end up wasting muscle in the process, which is exactly what you
do not want to do. If you want faster results, it's better to add more
activity, thereby burning more calories at rest.
You may be thinking I'm nuts, recommending 1900 calories per day, but I
can say for a fact that if you eat too little (1000 - 1200 calories is
too few, IMO) then you set yourself up for all of the following:
Deprivation. You're going to feel deprived, mentally and physically. One
thousand calories isn't enough for your basic metabolic needs, much less
to fuel yourself for your activity needs. Add more food! Just have a bit
more than you're already having, so for instance, if you are allowed 1/2
cup of vegetables is a whole cup going to ruin all your progress? I
doubt it. Eat a whole cup, or go ahead and have two oranges. Fruits and
vegetables are very low calorie but provide high nutrition.
Sure, some veggies and fruits are high in sugar, but it's natural sugar.
I seriously doubt our planet grows any killer foods - it is more likely
the food industry which has processed those foods to become nothing more
than a dried powder, then add back more sugars, and chemicals so it will
resemble the original product, is more harmful than a simple apple or
banana?
If you are diabetic or must watch the sugars, have a small bit of
protein along with the higher glycemic food, such as an ounce of cheese
with your apple. Notice I said an ounce of cheese, not a slab big enough
to feed a small country.
Metabolic Slow-Down Feeding yourself too few calories sets you up for
metabolic slow-down. Studies have shown time and again that a heavier
person can find it difficult to lose weight, even though eating very low
calories, simply because their body's metabolism is burning at such a
slow rate. As you probably already know, exercise helps to speed up your
metabolism but so does eating. That's why they say breakfast is so
important, not only to fuel yourself but because it starts the metabolic
furnace burning, and it continues to burn all day. If you don't eat
anything until noon, you don't stoke your furnace to start burning until
then either.
Has the ultra-low calorie approach worked for you so far? If not, why
not try something more reasonable? Tag along with a friend who doesn't
have a weight problem and you'll see how sometimes they eat more,
sometimes less, but on average they eat enough to fuel their body and
maintain their weight.
Adding more food gives you additional eye appeal. If you split up 1000
calories over the course of an entire day you're looking at pretty
skimpy portions on your plate each time you eat. I like to feel like I'm
getting enough to eat and I do this by rounding out my plate with extra
vegetables.
If I'm having a frozen entree for instance, I'll cook up a cup or more
of frozen vegetables to add to my plate. The extra veggies really fill
me up, providing the satisfaction I need, and I often have a bit extra
vegetables to throw away. Is that wasting food? No, it's smart. Far
better for me mentally to have extra food to toss away than to be
licking the plate because I'm still hungry. I'm also not likely to start
wanting something else to eat right after dinner if I'm feeling content
with the amount I've eaten.
Make an effort to learn to like your food as is. Plain mixed vegetables
with nothing on them are delicious. It took me awhile to stop putting
butter on them, and then even quitting the Molly McButter (just
chemicals and sodium). I eat them plain and yes, they are great. Nature
made our fruits and vegetables naturally sweet and all those "extras" we
are used to using like butter on vegetables or potatoes certainly make
things taste all yummy but they also make us larger than we need to be.
Those "extra" calories add up.
Start to Slowly Make Adjustments to What You Eat or How Much You Eat
For instance wean yourself off adding sugar to your cold cereal. Read
the label; all processed cereals contain a ridiculous amount of added
sugar already. There's no need to add more. My only exception is brown
sugar on oatmeal. I don't sugar my cereal at all anymore but it took me
awhile to make the change. Start by adding a bit less, then next week
cut back a bit more until you break the habit entirely. Tiny changes
make up for big results over time.
If you feed yourself well, and focus on increasing your activity, even
if only a little, then you will continue to lose fat, build muscle and
get more shapely, all the while increasing your metabolism so you can
eat more food!
About the Author:
~~ Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of the
free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss,
and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com
Get The
Daily Bites: Inspirational Mini Lessons Using EFT and NLP for Ending
the Struggle with Weight Loss.
(Read our
Weight
Watchers review and get more
Weight
Watchers coupons >)
Also on Momscape Today:
More Weight
Loss Articles
Diet Reviews
Weight
Watchers Coupons
Weight Watchers Canada Coupons
