How Many Calories Should I EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT?

When first trying to lose weight, people often ask: “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?” If you want to really lose weight, figuring out how many calories per day you need to eat to lose weight should be your first step in your weight loss journey. Almost 80% of your weight loss results will be determined by what you place in your mouth, for that reason it’s important for you to create your own nutrition weight loss plan…

How Many Calories Should I Eat: Calculator

Wondering how many calories should I consume a day? Well, that’s exactly what you should be asking IF you really want to lose weight. Now, figuring out how many calories you should be eating to lose weight can be a bit challenging because there is some math involved. Yet, if you want to be as accurate as possible, you have to do it.

Below is a simple calculator that will help you figure out how many calories you need to eat a day in order to lose weight. This Weight Loss Calculator even takes into account how much weight you want to lose and in how many days! Once this Calorie Weight Loss Calculator has all the information, it will tell you exactly how many calories you need to eat per day in order to lose weight and also how realistic your weight loss goal may be.

Make sure to share and bookmark this page so that you can always return to this FREE Calorie Weight Loss Calculator…

How Many Calories Should I Eat A Day Calculator Details…

The Calorie Weight Loss Calculator above makes use of the Harris-Benedict principle, which assess your basal metabolic rate — also known as your BMR. Your BMR is important to known because this is the amount of energy your body needs to function (to maintain your current weight). We use about 60% of the calories we consume each day for basic bodily functions such as breathing, pumping your heart, keeping you warm, and so on…

When the calculator above figures out how many calories you need to lose weight, it will let you know if you are trying to lose too much weight, too fast. It’s normally recommended not to lose more than 2 pounds a week. However, if you’re following a specialized program or under the supervision of a health professional, continue as you plan. Otherwise, adjust your goals in order to lose weight the healthy way.

You will also notice your BMR number (the number of calories needed to maintain your weight). This is a very important number to know because you can’t eat more than this in order to lose weight. And if you don’t want to use the calculation given by the Weight Loss Calculator on how much calories to eat, you can do the following:

How Many Calories Do I Need To Lose Weight: Take your BMR number and subtract 500 calories to lose weight. This is a safe amount of calories to subtract and is most recommended to use.

How Many Calories Should I Be Eating To Maintain: Continue eating your BMR calorie intake.

How Many Calories Should I Eat To Gain Weight: For weight gain, take your BMR number and add anywhere from 250 to 300 calories.

How Many Calories Should I Eat In A Day? The Harris Benedict Equation

The calorie calculator above does all the math for you to figure out how many calories you should eat per day. However, some people may be interested in seeing the actual Harris Benedict Equation to find their BMR themselves. Remember, this equation tells you how many calories you need to eat to MAINTAIN your weight. For weight loss, simply subtract 500 calories.

Step 1: Do One Of The Two Formulas For Yourself…

Women: 655 + (4.35 * weight in pounds) + (4.7 * height in inches) – (4.7 * age in years)

Men: 66 + (6.23 * weight in pounds) + (12.7 * height in inches) – (6.8 * age in years)

Step 2: Multiplying By Your Activity Level

Now you take the number you found in Step 1 and multiple by the “Exercise Factor”. This Exercise Factor is especially important to consider if you’re going to be adding exercise while trying to lose weight. Check out the chart below to determine the best one for you.

Exercise Factor	Category	Explanation
1.2	Sedentary	Little or no exercise
1.375	Lightly Active	Light exercise (1 to 3 days/week)
1.55	Moderately Active	Moderate exercise (3 to 5 days/week)
1.7	Very Active	Hard exercise (6 to 7 days/week)
1.9	Extremely Active	Hard daily exercise and/or a physical job

That’s all… Once you complete Step 1 and 2, you’ll know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. Now you just simply add or subtract calories depending on your fitness goals.

Also, one pound of fat is the same as 3,500 calories. So for every 3,500 calorie deficit, you should be losing one pound. That’s why eating at a 500 calorie deficit should make you lose 1 pound a week (500 * 7 = 3,500).

How Many Calories Should I Eat A Day: Chart

Here’s a simple chart that answers: how many calories should I eat daily? This chart, however, should only be used as a reference point because everyone is slightly different when it comes to their metabolism, even if they are the same size and gender… It’s highly recommended you simply use the Calorie Weight Loss Calculator above to find out your caloric needs.

This weight loss calorie chart comes from the Institute of Medicine¹. Keep reading reading below the chart to figure out how to make use of it in your weight loss journey…

Gender

Age

Sedentary*

Moderately Active*

Active*

Females

19-30

31-50

51+

1800-2000

1800

1600

2000-2200

2000

1800

2400

2200

2000-2200

Males

19-30

31-50

51+

2400-2600

2200-2400

2000-2200

2600-2800

2400-2600

2200-2400

3000

2800-3000

2400-2800

*Sedentary means you don’t do very much outside of normal work and regular activities. Moderately active means something like walking 1.5 to 3 miles daily at a pace of 3 to 4 miles per hour (or the equivalent). An Active person walks more than 3 miles daily at the same pace, or equivalent exercise.

How Many Calories Should I Eat To Maintain Weight: The Calorie chart above shows your daily calorie limit. It’s based on your age, activity level, and a BMI (body mass index) of 21.5 for females and 22.5 for men. A BMI of 25 – 29.9 is overweight and a BMI of over 30 is obese. If you are overweight, this chart will not be helpful to you. Use the Free Calorie Weight Loss Calculator at the top of this article…

How Many Calories A Day Should I Eat To Lose Weight: To lose about 1 pound a week, simply reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories a day. You could lower your calorie count lower but never go below 1,200 calories per day.

How Many Calories Should I Add To Gain Weight: Same idea as losing weight, add 500 calories per day to gain about 1 pound per week.

Remember, for successful weight loss that you can maintain over time, eat foods that are lower in calories but rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients.

10 Tips on Achieving Your Weight Loss Goal

By now, you should already know how many calories to eat per day in order to lose weight. Unfortunately, that’s the easy part. Now the real work can begin to really lose weight. Here are a few simple tips to help you on your weight loss journey…

1. First Week Results Can Be Misleading: The first week of losing weight can often cause you to lose weight faster because you’ll experience water weight loss. Do not get discouraged when you don’t lose the same amount of weight every single week. Stick to a good weight loss plan and you will see results in the long run.

2. Your Body Can Adapt To Fewer Calories: Sometimes when you eat too little calories, your body will adapt so that you don’t need as much calories as before. As a result, your body may end burning muscle instead of fat. Make sure you never eat less than 1,200 calories. And if your body does stop losing weight and you know you’re eating the right amount of food, try increase the number of calories you take in. This will help kick start your metabolism again.

3. Drinks Have Calories: Once you’ve answered, “how many calories should I consume?” It’s important that you stick to that number, which means keeping track of everything. To really help you boost your weight loss, try eliminating all juices and sodas from your diet. Many of these are high in calories and sugar. In fact, many hard core soda drinkers often lose 5 pounds in a week from eliminating soda altogether!

4. Eating More Protein Can Reduce Appetite, Cut Cravings by 60% and Increase The Amount of Calories You Burn: Protein is an amazing nutrient group that you’ll benefit from greatly. It’ll help you feel fuller, can increase your metabolism, and help your muscle repair after a tough workout. Of course, stick to lean meats like fish, chicken, lean ground turkey, and lean ground beef.

5. Drink More Water: Drinking more water can increase the number of calories you burn for up to 90 minutes! In one study, drinking a half liter (17 ounces) of water a half hour before meals made people lose 44% more weight over a period of 12 weeks!²By drinking more water, it’s a win-win… You’ll boost your metabolism and you’ll want to eat less when you drink water a half hour before eating!

6. Exercise and Lift Weights: When you start eating less calories per day, your body will begin to adapt by needing less calories. Your body does this by destroying muscle mass and making use of less calories. Studies have shown that lifting weights helps build your muscles so that your metabolism doesn’t drop to nothing. You don’t need to only lift weights, you can also do body weight exercises like push ups, pull ups, and so on.

7. Stay Away From White Foods: White foods include white flour products and white sugar. While it’s best to eliminate these foods for weight loss and health, you can at least greatly reduce these products. Instead of eating these foods, eat whole grain foods and other foods that are full of fiber.

8. Don’t Skip Breakfast: I’m sure you’ve heard this before, breakfast is the most important meal of the day and now research is showing why. Breakfast helps get your metabolism up and running again AND studies have shown that eating a good, healthy breakfast will help you feel fuller throughout the day and keep you from reaching for unhealthy snacks. Make sure your breakfast is made of whole grains and good sources of protein.

9. Take Your BMR As A Starting Point: While using the calculator above to answer: “how many calories should I consume?” is a great start because it makes use of the scientifically backed Harris Benedict equation, it’s not 100% full prove. We are each still individuals and may need to adjust our calorie needs accordingly. Feel too tired all the time on your diet?… You may need more calories. Feel energetic but not losing any weight?… You may need less calories. Whatever the case may be, try adding or subtracting 200 calories at a time and seeing what happens at 1 week intervals.

10. Find a Proven Weight Loss Program You’ll Love!: Discovering how many calories should you eat in a day is a great start to your weight loss journey. Now it’s time to do something about it. While there are many free workouts online and many simple guides online, nothing will get you faster weight loss results than by sticking to an actual weight loss plan that includes changing your diet AND exercise. Click Here to See The Most Popular in Home Workout Programs (Special Discount Inside)

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