A Guide to Counting Calories

Counting calories is a very important part of weight management. It doesn’t matter if fat loss or muscle gain is the primary goal if you want to improve the way you look, proper calorie intake is critical.

For the most part, people are unsure of how many calories they need to attain their goals. To help solve that problem, here are a couple of formulas to help you determine your proper caloric intake and begin counting calories. All you need is a little high school math.

The first formula helps determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

Counting Calories: Determine Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

Your BMR is the amount of calories that you burn while at rest, and is the minimum amount of calories required to perform the necessary functions of life.

For women, the formula is:

655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age) = BMR

For men, the formula is:

66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age) = BMR

To figure out the formula, do what is in parentheses first, then follow the formula from left to right.

Example: 130 pound woman, 5 foot 6 inches tall, 30 years old

655 + (4.35 x 130) + (4.7 x 66) – (4.7 x 30)

655 + (565.5) + (310.2) – (141) = 1389.7

So the woman in this example would need 1389.7 calories per day, just to survive. This next formula complements the BMR formula and gives a more accurate calorie intake level based on physical activity. This is known as the Harris Benedict Formula and to do this one, the BMR should already have been determined.

Counting Calories: Apply the Harris-Benedict Formula

For a sedentary person (someone who doesn’t work out or have a physically demanding job):

BMR x 1.2 = calorie level

For someone who is lightly active (works out one to three days per week):

BMR x 1.375 = calorie level

A moderately active person (exercises between 3 to 5 days per week):

BMR x 1.55 = calorie level

A very active person (exercises 6 to 7 days per week):

BMR x 1.725 = calorie level

An extra active person (physically demanding job, plus exercise on a regular basis):

BMR x 1.9 = calorie level

You need to be honest when calculating the Harris-Benedict Formula. Don’t consider yourself moderately active if you worked out three times in one week, but that was two months ago. What’s stopping you from working out more often? If you want to exercise more, but don’t feel like you have the right clothing, for example, you could always look online for some new fitness gear – and maybe even see if there is an adidas promo code available for you to use and save some money.

With these two formulas at hand, you can now determine what your daily caloric intake should be. With this information, your health and fitness goals should be easier to reach, but as with any nutrition plan, you must have the desire and the discipline to succeed.

Counting Calories: Set a Regressive Goal

Once you know the total calories you expend in a day–target around 500 calories less than that per day to begin weight loss. Any more than that and your body will adjust your metabolism super low because it will believe you’re starving and you’ll lose less and more slowly.

When you lose around 5% of your body weight, drop an additional 50-100 calories a day to keep losing weight and avoiding a plateau. Your body will adapt slowly to decreased caloric intake and by staying ahead of the adaptation, you’ll perpetuate weight loss. Eating healthy is a sure-fire way of achieving your weight loss goals. Counting calories can be hard for people who haven’t paid attention before to what they were consuming, it takes some getting used to, they can go for a food home delivery service who will prepare and put together specific meals that you have requested to help facilitate your weight loss. Comparing the services like marley spoon vs home chef will show you which one would suit you best with dietary and weight loss needs.

Counting Calories: Supplement Naturally to Lose Weight Faster

Weight loss can be a slow journey. But it will happen if you’re committed to counting calories and stick to it. Often it can take a year or more to lose 50 pounds. Sticking to diets for that long is why many people aren’t successful. They give up too soon.

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