Achieving a healthy weight helps improve your overall quality of life. Being overweight increases your chances of dying early and developing heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. The number of calories this amounts to varies according to your genetics, size, age, gender and activity level.
Step 1
Figure your basal metabolic rate -- the number of calories it takes to simply pump blood and breathe -- using the Harris Benedict formula. The Journal of the American Dietetic Association confirms that this formula is a way to figure out calories burned.
Step 2
Multiply your weight in pounds by 4.35 if you are a woman or by 6.23 if you are a man.
Step 3
Multiply your height in inches by .47 if you are a woman or by 12.7 if you are a man.
Step 4
Multiply your age in years by 4.7 if you are a woman or by 6.8 if you are a man.
Step 5
Add 655, your step 2 total and your step 3 total if you are a woman. Add 66 to these steps if you are a man. Subtract the number from step 4 from these totals to get your total basal metabolic rate.
Step 6
Determine how many extra calories you burn through daily activity. Multiply the number in step 5 by 1.2 if you are sedentary; by 1.375 if you participate in light exercise one to three days per week; by 1.55 if you do moderate exercise three to five days per week; by 1.725 if you do hard exercise or participate in sports most days of the week; by 1.9 if you have a physical job and participate in extreme training daily, says fitness expert Tom Venuto, author of "The Body Fat Solution."
Step 7
Subtract between 250 and 1,000 calories from your final number in step 5 to lose ½ to 2 lbs. per week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among other health experts, do not recommend exceeding this rate of weight loss because you are likely to lose lean muscle and be unable to sustain this rate for the long term.
Tips and Warnings
- Several websites will help you calculate your calorie needs for weight loss. Try MyPyramid.gov and navigate to the MyPyramid Plan section.
- Do not dip below 1,200 calories per day if you are a woman or 1,500 calories per day if you are a man, says Medline Plus. Going too low in calories will most likely result in nutritional deficiencies, fatigue and irritability. If your calculations put you below this number, increase activity or commit to a slower rate of weight loss.
Things You'll Need
- Calculator
References
- "How Many Calories Should I Eat Cheat Sheet;" Tom Venuto; Burn the Fat; 2009
- Harvard School of Public Health: Getting to Your Healthy Weight
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Losing Weight
- Journal of the American Dietetic Association: The Harris-Benedict Studies of Human Basal Metabolism: History and Limitations
- Medline Plus: Tips for Losing Weight
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