The calorie is the measure of energy. Every human being needs a certain amount of calories to survive. Calories play a vital role in determining an individual’s body weight. People live long to lose weight by consuming fewer calories. But there is no need to try too hard; You can achieve weight loss just by understanding your daily calorie needs and the number of calories you eat each day. You should have an idea of your daily food needs based on your lifestyle and eating habits.
It is recommended to take 1200 to 1500 calories a day to lose weight. This amount of calorie intake is very necessary to maintain a healthy body and works well for weight loss. You can continue with this diet plan for a few months, but it becomes really difficult to stick with the procedure forever. The only key is to keep eating highly nutritious foods and maintaining a healthy diet.
People never eat the same amount of calories that they burn. They may have fewer calories from not eating enough or more calories from eating too much. If you really want to lose weight, try to eat fewer calories than you burn so your body burns stored fat and results in weight loss. If you want to maintain your weight, try to calculate the number of calories you can burn and eat the same amount every day.
Calculate your daily energy needs
The calorie calculator helps you understand how many calories you need each day. You can find calorie calculators online and use them to estimate your daily caloric needs. You need to burn the extra calories to lose weight.
Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR)
BMR is very important in determining the number of calories you need to maintain, lose, or gain weight. It helps estimate your overall metabolic rate and is generally determined by several factors such as genetics, gender, age, height, weight, and your level of physical activity.
The very simple formulas for calculating BMR are to multiply your total body weight by 10. For example, if your weight is 120 pounds, your BMR is 1,200 calories per day.
There are also some other formulas to calculate the BMR
Harris – Benedict’s formula:
This calculates BMR based on total body weight, height, age, and gender. However, this formula may underestimate the daily caloric needs of very muscular people and may overestimate the caloric needs of overweight people.
The standard formula for calculating BMR for men is
BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kg) + (5 X height in cm) – (6.8 X age in years)
The standard formula for calculating BMR for women is
BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kg) + (1.8 X height in cm) – (4.7 X age in years)
For instance,
You are a man
You are 30 years old
Measures 177 cm (5’8 “)
You weigh 154 pounds (70 kgs)
Your BMR = 66 + 959 + 885 – 204 = 1706 calories per day
You now know your BMR, but the BMR does not include the number of calories from the activity level. You must determine your total energy expenditure (the number of calories you burn every day) by multiplying your BMR at different activity levels.
There are various levels of activity as follows:
Sedentary
– No exercise or no physical activity involved. This is calculated as TMB x 1.2
Slightly active
– Very light exercise. This is calculated as TMB x 1,375
Moderately active
– Moderate exercise. This is calculated as TMB x 1.55
Very active
– Hard core exercise. This is calculated as TMB x 1,725
Extremely active
– Involved in sports, daily hard work, etc. This is calculated as TMB x 1.9
Now, based on the example above, your BMR is 1706 calories per day. If your activity level is “Moderately Active”, your total energy expenditure is calculated as 1.55 x 1706 = 2644.3 calories per day.
Katch-McArdle formula:
This calculates BMR based on lean body mass and is therefore more accurate. This does not have separate formulas for men and women.
BMR = 370 + (21.6 X Lean Mass in KG)
** This formula applies to both men and women ***
For instance,
You are a man
You are 30 years old
Measures 177 cm (5’8 “)
You weigh 154 pounds (70 kgs)
Your BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 70) = 1882 calories per day
Multiply the activity level factor with BMR to determine the total energy expenditure
If your activity level is “Moderately Active,” your total energy expenditure is 1.55 x 1882 = 2917.1 calories per day.
Activity diary
Use an activity diary to keep track of the results of your weight loss program. Keep a goal and monitor the results periodically. For example, if you weigh 75 kg (approximately 165.3 pounds) in the month of June and want to lose 10 kg (approximately 22 pounds) in 2 months (that is, by August), track your goal progress on the activity diary. Write down all the activities you do during this period. Include details of the foods you eat, drink, exercise, etc. and analyze the results every week. You can definitely feel the difference in two months. The activity diary is very useful for weight control.
Don’t hurt yourself to burn the calories that are already stored in your body. Practice light exercises like jogging, walking, etc. to burn extra fat.
