Calorie counting has long been a popular part of weight loss. With dozens of resources available to help you know the calorie count of most foods, it's easy to know how many calories you're taking in. But how many should you eat if you intend to lose weight? The simple answer is this: less than you burn. But it's really not that simple. Your ideal caloric intake will vary according to your weight loss goals, level of exercise, even your job.
The Formula
The body takes in energy (calories) in the form of food, and consumes those calories through daily living. Walking consumes calories. So does talking. Even eating consumes calories. Calories the body takes in but does not consume is stored in the body as fat. If the body consumes more calories than it takes in, then it burns previously stored energy.
One pound of body fat equals approximately 3,500 calories. Therefore, eating 350 fewer calories per day could mean losing 1 pound every 10 days. Alternately, you could combine eating 350 fewer calories daily with a daily exercise routine that burns 350 extra calories, and lose the same amount of weight in 5 days.
How Many Calories?
To calculate how many calories to consume for weight loss, you need to estimate your average calorie budget. A man of average size with a non-physically-demanding job needs about 2,500 calories daily, while a woman with the same job needs about 2,000. This will vary with body size, body type and activity level. For example, Olympic athletes often consume over 7,500 calories daily while in training.
Counting your current calorie intake is a simple exercise in math. Keep track of what you eat in a journal. Using one of many online tools, find out approximately how many calories that food put in your body. Once you find out how much you take in vs. how much you burn, you can set a calorie goal based on how many pounds you want to lose.
Example
Say you wanted to lose 7 pounds in 2 weeks. After journaling your eating habits for a week, you find out you consume 3,000 calories per day and burn 2,500. Losing 7 pounds means losing 24,500 calories, or 1,750 per day.
You could do this by eating only 1,250 calories daily, by burning an extra 1,750 calories per day, or by any combination of diet and exercise that equaled 1,750 calories.
Don't Go Overboard
Though it may seem tempting to starve yourself, the best approach is slow and steady weight loss, using a combination of reduced calorie intake and moderate exercise. Don't aim to lose more than a few (one to three) pounds per week. Most aggressive "starvation" diets are hard to stick to, and often cause health problems in those who can stick. Also, you can trick your body into thinking it actually is starving -- in which case it will save your fat for later and start burning the energy stored in your muscles and even your organs.
Different Kinds of Calories?
Some research suggests the source of your calories may be as important as the number of calories consumed. For other health-related reasons, this is certainly true: there's a huge difference between 300 calories of salad and 300 calorie of potato chips. From a pure weigh loss standpoint, the case isn't so clear. Still, most experts agree that people dieting for weight loss should get as many of their calories as possible from healthful, nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables and legumes. Put another way, when counting your calories it's important to make your calories count.
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