Losing weight seems like a pretty easy concept, when you think about it. You eat less, exercise more and the weight is supposed to come off. The fact is, I’ll bet you already know how to lose weight. If you’re like most of us, you’ve probably lost weight many, many times…so many times, you’re an old pro at it. You may even have your ‘go-to’ diet or exercise program, powering up your old Weight Watcher’s account or starting back to the gym whenever the weight starts to creep up.
But what happens when you go off that diet or stop that workout program? You gain it right back, sometimes with a few extra pounds thrown in.
So what you really want to know isn’t how to lose weight, but how to lose it and then make it stay lost…forever. There’s no real secret to losing weight. The real challenge is making it permanent.
By the Numbers
Weight loss is such a complex process, the only way we can really wrap our heads around it is to drill it down into a bunch of numbers. You already know these numbers, probably as well as any weight loss expert: You know that, to lose one pound of fat, you have to burn about 3500 calories over and above what you already burn each day. You don’t really want to burn 3500 calories in one day, but rather to cut that down into daily calorie deficits, say cutting 500 calories a day with a combination of diet and exercise.
What is BMR?
BMR is the short form of Basal Metabolic Rate. Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the number of calories you burn every day while at rest. These calories are required simply to perform basic functions and don’t include the calories you need for exercise or activities. Knowing your BMR can be useful in determining how many calories you need to burn to lose weight.
, where s is +5 for males and −161 for females. Here P is the BMR, m is weight in Kg, h is height in cm, a is age in years.Calories for Weight Loss
To lose weight, you have to consume fewer calories than you burn. If you’re in the normal weight range and only want to lose 5 to 10 pounds, you need to take 500 to 700 calories from your maintenance level, advises Manuel Villacorta of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. For overweight individuals, this rises to 700 to 1,000 calories daily, while obese persons can go for a 1,000 to 1,500 per day deficit. You don’t want to try for a bigger deficit than this, however, as going too low with your calorie intake can lead to lethargy, reduced immune function, an unhealthy relationship with food and large gains in weight post-diet.
Use BMR as a Base
As useful as BMR is, it is still only a theoretical number — every person works differently and the actual number of calories you burn may be higher or lower than the formula gives. Additionally, to lose weight, knowing your BMR is not enough — you need the activity factor, too. As you lose weight, your BMR will decrease as your body has to do less work to keep you going. Therefore, you may need to recalculate your BMR and reduce your calories further to keep losing weight.
The following table enables calculation of an individual’s recommended daily kilocalorie intake to maintain current weight.
| Little to no exercise | Daily kilocalories needed = BMR x 1.2 |
| Light exercise (1–3 days per week) | Daily kilocalories needed = BMR x 1.375 |
| Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) | Daily kilocalories needed = BMR x 1.55 |
| Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) | Daily kilocalories needed = BMR x 1.725 |
| Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) | Daily kilocalories needed = BMR x 1.9 |
No comments:
Post a Comment