Calorie intake for weight loss

You have to calculate your calorie intake very good for weight loss.

In a pound of stored fat are approximately 3500 calories. So if you exercise or follow a diet, or by combining both, you will lose one pound of body fat if you are creating a 3500 calories deficit. If you create an approximately 7000 calories deficit you will lose two pounds and the trick goes on, with 10500 calories deficit you will lose three pounds. (On average 75% of this is fat, 25% lean tissue).

The calorie deficit can be achieved either by calorie-restriction alone, or by dieting or exercising, a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). If you want to sustain your weight loss that is almost impossible without exercising and increasing regular exercise, you must follow a diet and by combining these two will result a program that is best for lasting weight loss.

An alternative way of calculating a safe minimum calorie-intake level is by reference to your body weight or current body weight. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your daily calorie maintenance needs is a useful start. You may increase this depending on your weight loss goals. 

Everyone is different and has a different lifestyle and because of this everyone will have a different daily calorie intake requirement.

What happens when calories are too low?

Reducing your calorie intake drastically with 1000 or more calories is not safe. The useful and healthy guideline for lowering your calorie intake if you want to burn the fat is to reduce your calories by at least 500. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the levels for a minimum calorie intake per day for a man, that is 1800, and for a woman 1200. The calorie level never drops below these numbers that are quite low. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit.

1) Muscle mass is broken down for energy (catabolism).

2) Metabolic rate will begin to drop (typically) after 3 days of very low calories - this is related to, and compounded by the loss of muscle mass.

3) With very low calories you risk sluggishness, nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and often irritability. 

You are completely set-up for a regain in fat if you suddenly return to your previous eating patterns.

If you want to lose weight, set a target calorie intake below your total daily expenditure.

If your progress is slowing down, add or subtract a bigger number of calories to your calorie intake. For most people, a calorie plan of plus or minus 300 to 1000 calories per day will do the job. Every week weigh yourself and recalculate your total daily energy expenditure. 

If you are a female, never eat less than 1200 calories per day. If you are a male, never eat less than 1800-2000 calories per day.

And remember, you can cut calories, but you can also burn more calories via exercise. And your calorie intake for weight loss will bring visible results and you will be proud of your body.

What's the required calorie intake for weight loss?
That's a question I commonly hear, so I decided to take this opportunity to explain in a little more detail in this particular article.

There are a few simple equations that you could use to calculate generally how many calories per day YOUR particular body would require to lose body fat.

This of course differs from person to person, however there are some constants that don't change.
For example, there are approximately 3,500 calories in one pound.

Regardless as to whether these calories come in the form of carbohydrate, fat or protein the amount of calories doesn't change. Only the quality of those calories may be different, which of course is important.

In this article, however I'd like to keep the focus on finding that 'magic number' first and foremost.
In order to determine your personal calorie intake you would first need to know your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).

In a nutshell, your Basal Metabolic Rate is a measurement of the amount of calories your body requires or burns in order to maintain your current body weight.

Have you ever had someone tell you that they have a slow metabolism? In essence what they are truly telling you is that they have a low BMR or a low basal metabolic rate.

There are plenty of online calculators available for you that will instantly do this calculation.
An online BMR Calculator will typically require that you input your age, gender, weight, height and activity level and instantly return to you an approximate number of calories you'll need in order to maintain your current body weight.

Once you've determined how many calories your body needs to maintain your current body weight (do you remember how many calories are in one pound?) you'll then need to subtract 250 - 500 (500 is the maximum) calories per day from this amount in order to arrive at YOUR required calorie intake for weight loss of approximately 2 pounds per month.

Consider that if you were to eat 250 fewer calories per day, in one week you will have eaten 1,750 fewer calories and in 2 weeks you'll have eaten 3,500 fewer calories which is equal to 1 pound.
In 2 weeks you'll have lost one pound of body fat and in one month that would be 2 pounds lost which is considered to be a safe way to lose weight.