Diet Success Means Knowing all About Calories

August 6, 2008 by Jeff Ainslie
Filed under: Fat Loss, General, Nutrition 

success One of our most common questions on the show is “How many calories should I be eating”? Here is a post that I wrote about 8 months ago, that I’m re-posting so everyone can figure this out or remind themselves of how to do it.

If you never want to go on a diet again, the simplest way is to start eating like a person at your goal weight and keep doing it. You will lose weight faster at the start and it will slow as you approach your goal weight, but you will never be “on a diet” again.

First of all, you need to know your BMR (basal metabolic rate), which is how many calories your body burns in a day to stay alive. If you were asleep for 24 hours, your BMR would be the amount of calories you would burn.

Here is an online BMR Calculator.

To get a realistic measure of the total calories that you burn in a day, you need to multiply your BMR by a number that represents how much activity that you do in a day.

  • If you get little or no exercise, multiply your BMR by 1.2.
  • If you exercise lightly or take part in easy sports one to three times a week, multiply your BMR by 1.375.
  • If you are moderately active — three to five times a week — multiply your BMR by 1.55.
  • If you are very active — hard exercise or sports six to seven times a week — multiply your BMR by 1.725.
  • If you are extra active — very hard exercise or sports and a physical job — multiply your BMR by 1.9.

Here are some ballpark figures that I worked out for a weight loss of 50 lbs.

5′5″ woman, 30 years old who exercises lightly (BMR x 1.375)

175 lbs - 2165 calories per day
125 lbs - 1850 calories per day

If this woman eats 300 calories per day less on a continuous basis, over time she will lose 50 lbs and maintain that weight. With eating 300 calories less per day, she can expect to lose about 0.6 lbs per week at the start.

5′10″ man, 30 years old who exercises lightly (BMR x 1.375)

225 lbs - 2950 calories per day
175 lbs - 2550 calories per day

If this man eats 400 calories per day less on a continuous basis, he will also have a 50 lbs weight loss. With eating 400 calories less per day, he can expect to lose about 0.8 lbs per week at the start.

This is how most people put on weight in the first place. They simply eat a few more calories per day on a continual basis and over time they store more and more fat. They eat the calories of a heavier person, and gradually become that heavier person.

It is clear that diets don’t work because as soon as people go off of a diet, they start eating like they did before the diet. The best approach is to know your goal weight and then figure out how many calories per day you will need to eat to maintain that goal weight.

Start to eat your “maintenance” calories at the start of your weight loss. If you eat like a thinner person, you become that thinner person. You will gradually lose the weight and never feel deprived along the way. It’s not a sexy weight loss plan, but it works in the long term.

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Comments

4 Comments on Diet Success Means Knowing all About Calories

  1. Fat 2 Fit Radio » Blog Archive » Fat 2 Fit Show #37 - Celebrity Diet Secrets on Wed, 6th Aug 2008 9:18 pm

    2. [...] Mentioned in the Show: Number of Calories you burn drinking Ice Water The exact number of calories you should be eating The Fattest American States Diabetes Rates in the United States Exercise is the key to sustain [...]

  2. Calorie Intake « Me And My Fat - A Weightloss Blog on Tue, 26th Aug 2008 10:54 am

    3. [...] enter your information you can calculate your basic bmr.  Once you have this, the blog entry (here) at Fat 2 Fit Radio, offers calculations based on your usual daily activity to determine how many [...]

  3. hernan on Mon, 13th Oct 2008 9:30 am

    4. thanxs for all the good info……

  4. Fat 2 Fit Radio » Blog Archive » Fat 2 Fit Show #44 - Calories In/Calories Out on Wed, 15th Oct 2008 6:02 am

    5. [...] Mentioned in the Show: How Many Calories do you actually burn each day? Gross Calories Vs Net Calories Running or Walking - Which burns more calories? The 100 Calorie Food [...]

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