The Mayo Clinic and many other health-related websites have calorie calculators that determine how many calories you should eat per day to maintain your current weight. Enter variables such as weight, height, age, gender and frequency of exercise, and the calculator determines the right number of daily calories for you. [3] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world’s leading hospitals Go to source
For women: 655 + (4. 3 x Weight in pounds) + (4. 2 x Height in inches) - (4. 7 x Age in years) For men: 66 + (6. 3 x Weight in pounds) + (12. 9 x Height in inches) - (5. 8 x Age in years) You’ll come up with a number. What does this number mean? This is a number of calories that you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day and did absolutely nothing.
For no activity, multiply your BMR by 20% (this means BMR x . 20, not 20!) For little or light activity, multiply your BMR by 30% For moderate activity, multiply your BMR by 40% For strong activity, multiply your BMR by 50% For intense activity, multiply your BMR by 60%
For example, say that your BMR is 1,790. Let’s also say that you’re moderately active, meaning you exercise three times a week. 1,790 x . 40 = 716. Add 716 to 1,790 to get 2,506. That’s what you need to stay under in order to lose weight. Any calories consumed above 2,506 means you’re gaining weight.
If your suggested daily calorie intake is about 2,500, then shoot for 2,000. This will help you along with your goal of losing one pound every week.
In the beginning, this exercise will be harder because you won’t be very good at estimating which foods have which calories. After a few weeks of being strict with yourself, you should be a pro at estimating how caloric certain foods are.
Lean, white protein (chicken breast, fish, tofu) instead of dark, fatty meat Colorful, fresh fruits and vegetables instead of dried fruits and vegetables Whole wheat grains (brown rice, whole grain bread) instead of processed grains (white rice, white bread) Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated and trans fats Omega-3 fatty acids, such as flaxseed, cod liver oil, and salmon Nuts, seeds, and grains instead of sweets and candies
If you’re younger, go with your parents when they go grocery shopping. It’ll be a bonding experience, and you’ll get to pick out healthy, nutritional foods for yourself, with dietary information that you can understand. Pay attention to serving sizes. If a nutritional label says the entire package has about 4 servings, then divide the entire contents of the package into 4 even groups. One group is equal to one serving.
One plus of having a food journal is that it will help you remember healthy dishes that you really liked. Put it down in your journal and you’re less likely to forget that grilled asparagus with quinoa is actually pretty darn good.
Alternatively, many smartphones have apps available that will look up caloric values for you, as well as calculate how many calories you should consume per day if you want to lose weight.
