To lose weight, it is important to consume fewer calories than you burn. Losing one-half to two pounds a week is considered to be healthy weight loss, and this weight is likely to stay off longer than if you dropped a large amount of weight in a shorter time. While cutting back calories is the key to lose weight while exercising, never eat less than 1,200 calories for minimum nutrition.
Basal Metabolic Rate
To lose weight, you must know how many calories your body needs to maintain its healthy functions such as digestion and cell repair. The basal metabolic rate indicates the minimum amount of calories you should consume to stay healthy, based on your age, weight, height and gender.
While there are many easy-to-use BMR calculators in the Internet, you can figure it out by using the following formula:
Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) -- (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
Calorie Cutting
Thirty-five hundred calories is how many units of energy are in one pound. To lose a pound a week, which is considered healthy weight loss, you need to cut 500 calories per day from the diet, or burn 250 calories off with exercise in addition to cutting only 250 per day. While cutting calories and burning more than you consume is a healthy weight loss formula, it is not always guaranteed, and you may gain weight as you increase exercise occasionally since muscle is heavier than fat.
Diet Changes
To cut 500 calories a day from your normal eating, make simple changes such as switching from regular cola to diet, or even flavored sugar-free water drinks like Crystal Light. Swap whole milk for skim, and choose whole grains over processed or white flour. Avoid eating fatty, fried foods and incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables into the diet over heavily processed junk foods.
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