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Health & Fitness

Calorie Count for Weight Loss?

First thing first, if you are female never go below 1200 calories and if you are male never go 1500 calories. Never. Ever. Not even on days you were too busy to eat or just didn't feel hungry. Never. You may read in a magazine how Christian Bale ate 900 calories to lose the weight for the movie The Machinist or how certain actresses used a secret diet plan of 1000 calories. There is no prize for eating the least amount of calories. Just serious medical problems.

 
Several formulas have been developed to estimate daily caloric needs for weight loss. You body is constantly burning calories, even when you are on the couch or asleep. This is regarded as your RMR (resting metabolic rate) and is a good place to start. Instead of thinking how little calories to lose weight, instead confirm how many calories you have to eat to have your body running properly.

There is a interesting equation, The Mifflin-St. Joer, that is particularly useful to find you RMR and easy to figure out once you convert your metrics. Warning, it is math but it is simple math for important results.  

 

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For Men RMR= 9.99 x weight in kg + 6.25 x height in cm – 4.92 x age in years + 5

For Women: RMR= 9.99 x weight in kg+ 6.25 x height in cm – 4.92 x age in years – 161

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Example: A 33 yr old 5’7’’ female weighing 150 lbs. Take 150 divide 2.2 to get 68 kg, convert 5’7’’ to 170cm.

                 (9.99 x 68 + 6.25 x 170 – 4.92 x 33 +5 = 1575)

Now figure in your activity level by multiplying you RMR by:

1.200 = sedentary (little or no activity, desk job with little exercise)

1.375 = lightly active (light exercise once or twice a week)

1.550 = moderately active (moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week)

1.725 = very active (hard exercise 6 to 7 days a week, Crossfit)

1.900 = extra active (a very physically demanding job or Olympic athlete)

 Example:  1575 x 1.375 = 2165 calories per day

To bring this to weight loss, one pound of fat has 3,500 calories in it and to lose 1-2lbs a week (what’s medically advised) it means creating a deficit of 500 to 1000 calories a day. If you RMR is 1538 calories and you burn 2,038 calories throughout the day, you will have a 500 calorie deficit. 

Now, you can still be eating within your calorie range, creating a calorie deficit and not be eating healthy. Some people dutifully count their calories and beam at the idea that they can count the entire bottle of wine they drank because they are still under their calories count.  The body is like any other engine and food is the fuel. Depending on your micronutrient balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, it will run differently with what you put in it.

This would be the perfect moment to go into some weight loss nutrition plan of either low-fat, low-carb, or high-fiber work perfectly. After years of training clients and my own experience losing 60lbs, I will say this: do with what works for your own body. Medical doctors put rigorous effort in watching how medications react with patients because they know every human body is different. Food is no different. One scoop of ice cream can have several different effects depending on who is eating it. Some people are very sensitive to insulin and one cookie could send them into a binge of eating the entire package of cookies. Some people have very serious issues around sodium and a simple thing like miso soup could lead them to trouble.

Just please feed your body, its the only one you have.

Stay tuned, next blog post will be on tools to help you track these calories.

Caroline Hawkins is a certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach from the American Council of Exercise. As owner of the fitness and employee wellness company Train for Today (www.trainfortoday.com), she has trained clients on building strength and losing weight through a holistic approach to health.



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