An important aspect of losing fat is understanding calories. One thing holds true across all weight loss methods: you need to maintain a calorie deficit in order to lose fat. Knowing what your calorie needs are is crucial to the weight loss process. There are a few ways to figure this out:
1. The Crude x10 rule
Take your current weight and multiply it by 10. Eat that amount of calories per day and you will probably lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week if you are also exercising. I currently weigh about 200 pounds so for me that would be 2,000 calories per day. The best calorie formulas give me a calorie maintenance level of about 2275. I do exercise at least a bit each day, so in my case this rule would cause me to lose weight. It’s not terribly accurate, but it can give you a quick ballpark figure to work with.
2. Basal Metabolic Rate Formula (BMR)
This formula is a bit more accurate than the x10 rule. However, it is almost a century old and was somewhat flawed when designed. It tends to overshoot calorie needs by about 5%, but that can vary either way. This number gives the amount of calories your body needs if you were to do absolutely nothing but sit around. Given that people do engage in some activity each day, you must take this result and increase it by about 20%. This will give you the number of calories you need each day even if you have a desk job. Exercise will add to this, of course.
Men: (13.75 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.76 x age) + 66
Women: (9.56 x weight in kg) + (1.85 x height in cm) – (4.68 x age) + 655
3. Resting Metabolic Rate Formula (RMR)
This formula is the most accurate. Like BMR, you would take the end result and increase it by at least 20%. Any exercise you do must be added on top of that.
Men: (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age) + 5
Women: (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age) – 161
4. Women 1200 Men 1500 Rule
This is a popular guideline that gets tossed around quite often. I wouldn’t recommend following this, however. It could be that those numbers are close to what you should be eating, but calorie needs vary depending on weight, age, height, and activity level. One positive thing I would say about those numbers is that in most cases you shouldn’t go lower. If you’re eating around 1200 as a woman and you still don’t have a big enough calorie deficit then you should probably add exercise instead of subtracting food. It’s important to make sure that you give your body all of the vitamins and nutrients that it requires to function properly.
5. Just eat when you’re hungry
This is another popular concept that I would advise against. Different foods can make you feel hungry sooner despite having more calories than another food type. For example, when your body starts to process protein it causes a chemical release which instructs your brain that you are full. So if you eat food with more protein you may feel fuller for longer despite another food type loaded with carbohydrates which has more calories. If you just eat whatever you like when you’re hungry, or even if you choose healthy foods, you will most likely go above your calorie needs for the day. It’s incredibly easy to do.
