To figure out how many calories you should have, start where you are. In other words, figure out how many calories it takes to maintain your current size and then reduce from there. You can go about it several ways. Most people just pick an arbitrary number like 1200 calories and that’s what they eat, but in almost every case that’s not nearly enough calories to ensure adequate nutrition, not to mention deprivation.
Losing weight and till date, I eat more than 2000 calories a day on average and I have maintained a good weight for my height for more than 17 years. Remember, your body needs calories to maintain itself.
Calculating basic calorie requirements based on activity level:
Sedentary : 13 X Weight = Avg. cal/day
sedentary isn’t exercising at all
Moderately Active: 16 X Weight = Average. cal/day
moderately active exercising about 3-4 times per week
Very Active: 19 x weight = avg. cal/day
Very active 5-7 vigorous exercise sessions per week.
If you weigh over 200 pounds now, and you want to weigh closer to 150, here’s a calculation you can use to get started: Assuming you’re going to add enough quality exercise like That moderately active, we’ll use 16 as our modifier:
150 pounds X 16 calories per pound = 2400 calories
less 500 (using the normal 500 calorie per day deficit) gives us a total of 1900 average calories per day
If you start incorporating a plan that allows an average of 1900 calories each day, you will begin to lose weight. The mistake most people make is cutting calories too low, which eventually sacrifices muscle and sets you up to feel deprived. It’s better to move slowly, while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible while burning calories through exercise. Also remember, even if you don’t eat as many calories on several days, for example you may eat more on the weekend, so this averages out closer to your target of 1,900 per day. Divide the total calories for the week by seven.
Remember, this average calorie number gives you plenty of room to go through the week. You can have a few treats with everyone, or add more over the weekend. Instead of constantly saying, “I can’t, I’m on a diet,” you can now say, “Thanks, it looks delicious,” and enjoy some. This doesn’t ruin your diet plan because you have enough of a calorie allowance that if you’re more careful on some days than others, it will work up to the average number of calories you want. I tend to eat far fewer calories during the week than on the weekend and my totals usually average around 2000 to 2200 calories per day.
A deficit of 500 calories is a well-accepted amount. You can reduce your calories further, but I don’t recommend it. Trying to lose weight quickly doesn’t do anyone any good, in fact, if you cut your calories too low you end up wasting muscle in the process, which is really not what you want to do. If you want faster results, it’s better to do more activity, which will burn more calories than you do at rest.
You might be thinking I’m crazy, recommending 1900 calories per day, but I can say for a fact that if you eat very little (1000 – 1200 calories is very little, IMO) then you can achieve all of the following Let’s set ourselves up for:
Loss, You are going to feel deprived mentally and physically. 1000 calories is not enough for your basic metabolic needs, much less to fuel yourself for the needs of your activity. Add more food! A little more than what you already have, for example, if you’re allowed to eat 1/2 cup of vegetables, will a full cup ruin all your progress? I doubt it. Eat a whole cup, or go ahead and have two oranges. Fruits and vegetables are very low in calories but provide high nutrition.
Sure, some vegetables and fruits are high in sugar, but that’s natural sugar. I seriously doubt that our planet grows any lethal foods – it’s more likely that the food industry has processed those foods to become nothing more than a dry powder, then add more sugars, and chemicals. So that it is similar to the original product, is more harmful than an ordinary apple or banana?
If you’re diabetic or must watch sugar, have a little protein with a high-glycemic food, such as an ounce of cottage cheese with your apple. Notice, I said that an ounce of cheese is not a slab big enough to feed a small country.
metabolic slow-down Feeding yourself too few calories sets you up for a slowing metabolism. Studies have shown time and time again that a heavy person may find it difficult to lose weight, even when eating very few calories, simply because his or her body’s metabolism is burning so slowly. As you probably already know, exercise helps 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 keeps burning throughout the day. If you don’t eat anything until noon, you don’t light your furnace to burn until then.
Has the ultra low calorie approach worked for you so far? If not, why not try something more sensible? Tag along 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 bodies and maintain their weight.
Adding more food gives you extra charm. If you split 1,000 calories over an entire day, you’re looking at far smaller 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.
For example, if I’m making a frozen entree, I’ll cook a cup or more of frozen vegetables to add to my plate. The extra veggies really fill me up, provide the satisfaction I need, and I often have a little extra veggies to throw in. Is he wasting food? No, it’s smart. It’s better for me to have extra food to toss than to mentally lick off the plate because I’m still hungry. I will not be inclined to eat anything else immediately after dinner if I am feeling satisfied with what I have eaten.
Try to learn to like your food just the way it is. Plain mixed vegetables with nothing in them are delicious. It took me a while to stop putting butter on them, and then also gave up 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’re used to using like butter on vegetables or potatoes certainly make things tastier, but they cost us a lot more than we need. They also make They add “extra” calories.
make gradual adjustments to what or how much you eat
Stop adding sugar to your cold cereals. read the label; All processed grains contain ridiculous amounts of added sugar. No need to add more. My only exception is brown sugar on oatmeal. I absolutely don’t add sugar to my cereal anymore but it took me a while to make the change. Start by adding a little less, then reduce a little more the next week until you break the habit completely. Small changes over time add up to big results.
If you feed yourself well, and focus on increasing your activity, even if only slightly, you’ll continue to lose fat, build muscle and become more toned, as well as raise your metabolism. will increase so that you can eat more food!
