When your fitness program involves losing fat, it is important to set concrete and achievable goals. Being able to set short-term goals helps you stay on track and will let you know when you need to modify your program. Knowing a realistic rate of weight loss will ensure that you lose weight, meet your goals and stay healthy.
Calories in a Pound
One pound of fat stores approximately 3,500 calories. You must achieve a caloric deficit of 500 calories a day, seven days a week, in order to lose 1 pound per week. A rate of 2 pounds a week requires a daily deficit of 1,000 calories. There is a limit to how many calories you can remove from your diet before you experience consequences for your health. A very low-calorie diet is any diet under 800 calories per day and requires physician supervision.
Basal and Resting Metabolic Rates
The FDA bases its daily value recommendations on a diet of 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day. A caloric deficit that results in the loss of 2 pounds a week would result in 1,000 to 1,500 calories daily. However, it is possible to determine your own daily requirements. Your basal metabolic rate is how many calories your body burns simply performing basic functions of survival. Your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, is how many calories you burn sitting quietly without participating in any physical activity. It is unsafe to reduce your caloric intake far below these minimal levels.
Calculating Your RMR
The Mifflin equation calculates your RMR based on your height in centimeters, weight in kilograms, age and gender. The equation for males is (10 x w) + (6.25 x h) - (5 x a) + 5. As an example, for a 98 kg, 177.8 cm, 34-year-old male, his RMR according to the Mifflin equation would be 1,925 calories per day. This amount, however, does not account for any calories expended in daily activity.
Determining Your Activity Levels
Once you have determined your RMR, you must multiply it by a factor based on your weekly activity level. These factors are 1.2 if you are sedentary, 1.375 for light activity, 1.55 for moderate activity, 1.725 for a high level of activity and 1.9 if you are extremely active. If the hypothetical male from above is sedentary, his daily caloric needs to maintain his current weight is 2,311 calories. If he is moderately active, exercising three to five days a week, his daily caloric requirement becomes 2,986.
Your Target Calories
This hypothetical, moderately active male will have to reduce his caloric intake to 2,486 to lose 1 pound a week, and to 1,986 to lose 2 pounds a week. The 1,986 calories a day is not much higher than his RMR of 1,925 calories per day, so cutting his calories much lower could cause his body to enter into a starvation survival mode and lower his metabolism.
While 2 pounds of fat per week is the target, it is possible that, in the beginning, more than 2 pounds will be lost. This additional weight is usually due to dehydration from exercise and from changes to the daily diet that may include less sodium and more fiber. As your body acclimates to these changes, this additional weight loss will level off.
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