Weight loss can be achieved solely through a reduction in caloric intake. Many people who are physically unable to exercise or even ambulate, must rely strictly on monitoring calorie intake to maintain weight. While measuring your daily calorie consumption is an important factor in any weight-loss program, the fact remains that most people are active to some degree. Knowing your metabolism and tracking your daily or weekly activities are keys to wisely employing a calorie component in a weight-loss strategy. There's plenty of help available for developing a safe and effective, calorie-conscious weight-loss plan.
Step 1
Research the basics of basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the minimum caloric intake needed to sustain a person. There is ample information available, whether though research at the library or by visiting online sites. Although many variables play roles, BMR measures the amount of energy--calories burned--by your body through such functions as brain activity, breathing, cell production, blood circulation and chemical production. Hair and nail growth, for example, are accounted for in your BMR.
Step 2
Calculate your BMR. There are numerous calculation formulas employed, but most yield similar results by taking into account such factors as age, sex, height, weight and body-fat content. The Harris-Benedict Equation, for example, uses a formula to determine female BMR expressed as "655 + (9.6 x W) + (1.7 x H) - (4.7 x A)." In the equation, "W" is weight, "H" is height" and "A" is age. A four-digit (normally) figure is yielded which represents a woman's BMR. The calculation for men is "66 + (13.7 x W) + (5 x H) - (6.8 x A)." By adding this number to the total number of calories burned through daily activities---work, exercise or taking care of a household---you can arrive at a daily caloric intake number.
Step 3
Take in fewer calories each day or week than you expend in the same amount of time. Generally, you need to burn 500 fewer calories per day than you consume to lose one pound per week. You can accomplish this strictly through reducing your caloric intake or by combining your diet with an increased exercise program. If you usually treat yourself to a 300-calorie candy bar each day at lunchtime, simply eliminating that snack would result in a 2,100-calorie weekly reduction. You'd lose about one pound every 10 or 11 days following such a regimen. Taking a walk each night in addition to eschewing the candy bar would put you on a one-pound-per-week weight-loss pace.
Step 4
Read food labels and adjust your diet to accomplish a calorie-reduction-only weight-loss goal. You can probably replace many foods with less calorie-rich items, as well as reducing fat and cholesterol intake. Such a program will leave you feeling no hungrier and more energetic, possibly prompting you to include an exercise component for faster and healthier weight loss. Reading labels and researching the calorie content of foods and food groups will, in fairly short order, make you knowledgeable and conscious of the relationship between your mouth and stomach.
Tips and Warnings
- A simple way to arrive at a rough estimate of your BMR is the rule-of-10 method, by which you multiply your weight by 10. If you weigh 200 pounds, for instance, your BMR could be estimated to be 2000.
- Remember to subtract your hourly BMR number from an activity's listed calorie-burning number. For example, if walking three miles burns 300 calories, but your BMR is 80, you actually burned an extra 220 calories by walking.
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