Losing fat requires restriction. When you give your body less food than it needs, it draws on stored energy to keep you going. There is no set number of calories that will make you lose weight. Your calorie needs are determined by a number of factors, and even then some fine-tuning is required to find the precise figure. Every body uses food energy slightly differently, and what worked for your best friend may not work for you. But there are a few guidelines that can help you get off to a good start.
Calorie Needs
The first step in weight loss is determining how many calories you need. Divide your weight by 2.2, and multiply your height in inches by 2.5. Multiply your weight figure by 9.99, multiply your height figure by 6.25, and add the two totals together. Multiply your age by 4.92, and subtract it from your other total. Add five for a man or subtract 161 for a woman. Multiply your final total by 1.5 to find the approximate number of calories you need to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, you must eat below your calorie needs every day.
Cutting Calories
Creating a deficit of 500 calories per day leads to a loss of a pound per week. It may be as simple as giving up soda or cutting out your morning muffin and latte -- it all depends on how much you've been eating thus far. For example, if your calorie equation works out to be 1,400, and you've been eating 1,900 calories daily, cutting 500 calories will only stop the gain. You will be eating at maintenance level, and will have to trim additional calories to lose weight. Keeping a food diary for a few days may help you pinpoint areas where you can trim calories relatively painlessly.
Exercise
You can lose weight by cutting calories alone, but regular exercise is essential to maintaining that loss. It also helps make the calorie deficit easier to bear. If you burn 250 calories per day by exercising, you can keep losing a pound per week by eliminating only 250 calories. On the other hand, if you cut 500 calories and burn an additional 250 per day, your weight loss will progress more quickly. Aerobic exercise like running and cycling burns more calories than resistance training in most cases, but resistance training helps you retain muscle mass, ensuring that the weight you do lose comes from fat instead of muscle tissue.
Creating the Deficit
Reducing your calorie intake doesn't mean you have to go hungry. In fact, you may actually eat more food while consuming fewer calories. The trick is to choose foods that have a very low energy density. These foods are generally full of water and fiber -- think fruits and vegetables -- that add bulk without very many calories. Foods with high energy densities have a lot of calories packed into a small package. This means you have to eat more of them to fill up. Fat has twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbohydrates, so limiting your fat intake is a simple way to control calories. Keep portion sizes under control, as well. It's easy to go back for seconds if a small portion leaves you truly hungry, but it's also easy to mindlessly consume a large portion even after you're full, just because it's there.
References
- MayoClinic.com; Weight Loss: BEtter to Cut Calories or Exercise More?; Donald Hensrud; June 9, 2011
- American Council on Exercise; How Many Calories SHould I Eat and How Often Should I Exercise for Optimal Weight Loss?; Natalie Digate Muth
- "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; Poverty and Obesity: The Role of Energy Density and Energy Costs; Adam Drewnowski, et al.; January 2004
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