The most frequently asked question by anyone who has been, will be or is currently in the process of trying to lose weight. The big dilemma. Take a breath. Don’t panic. I am here to help. I think it’s best we get straight to it, no need to dwindle our thumbs and contemplate what the best course of action should be.
It’s time to act… I mean you must… your weight literally depends on it….
A bit overzealous here… but you get my drift….
As you may already know or for those who don’t, for you to lose weight, you must be in a calorie deficit (eating less calories over-time). It’s that simple. There is no way around the first law. You don’t have to accept it, but it will always be there.
Broo… you still haven’t told me the number of calories I need to eat to lose weight….
Can you please get to the point…
My apologizes, I often have this urge to ramble, but your right.
Let’s get straight to it.
To first understand the number of calories you need to eat to lose weight, you must first know the number of calories you’re currently eating at to maintain your weight. Here is a complete breakdown:
You first need to estimate your maintenance caloric intake (fancy way of saying, the calories needed to maintain your weight)
Estimated maintenance looks like this:
John at 6’1 weighs 231 pounds (104.8kg) at 30% body fat and wants to lose weight.
Here are the three equations that will guide you in determining John’s maintenance calories.
- Lean Body Mass (LBM) = Bodyweight – Total body fat
- BMR = 370 + (21.6 x Lean Body Mass (KG))
- Maintenance Calories = BMR x Activity Level
Which equation should I use first?
Lean Body Mass (LBM) = Bodyweight – Total body fat
We must first calculate how much lean body mass John has
John’s LBM = 231 pounds x 30% (body fat) = 69.3 total body fat
John’s LBM = 231 pounds – 69.3 total body fat = 161.7
John’s LBM = 161.7 pounds
Step 2
Now, let’s calculate John’s BMR
BMR = 370 + (21.6 x Lean Body Mass (KG))
As you can see, we need to convert John’s lean body mass from pounds to KG
Conversion: John’s LBM = 161.7 pounds > 73.3 KG
BMR = 370 + (21.6 x 73.3 KG)
BMR = 370 + 1583.3
John’s BMR = 1953.3
Step 3
Identify which activity level you fall under. Be honest with yourself.
John is a full time IT software engineer; however, he lifts weights three to four times a week and jogs on the weekends. John will fall under the active scale.
Activity Level
1.1 = Very Inactive
1.2 = Mostly Sedentary
1.3 = Active (John)
1.4 = Intense Training
1.5 = Extremely Active/ Athlete
Once you’ve identified your activity level, you can now calculate your maintenance calories.
Step 4
Calculating maintenance
Maintenance Calories = BMR x Activity Level
John’s BMR: 1953.3
John’s Activity Level: 1.3
Maintenance Calories = 1953.3 x 1.3
John’s Maintenance Calories = 2539.3 (number of calories John needs to eat to maintain his weight)
Step 5
Now that we’ve identified John’s maintenance, we can now set-up a fat loss deficit for him to lose the weight that he so desires.
I recommend a deficit of 20 to 35%. You can play around with it and see what you are most comfortable with. The most important take away is to assure that your progress is sustainable for the long-term.
John’s fat loss deficit will look like this:
John’s maintenance: 2539.3
John’s fat loss deficit: 2539.3 x 25% (0.25)
John’s fat loss deficit: 634.8
John’s fat loss deficit: 2539.3 – 634.8
John’s fat loss deficit = 1904.5 calories (number of calories John needs to eat consistently to lose weight)
Conclusion
Losing weight is already hard to begin with, but not knowing where to start can make it that much more difficult. The intention of this article is to give you a step-by-step process on where to begin. Here’s a quick recap:
To figure out the number of calories you need to lose weight, you first need to know how much you’re currently eating at to maintain your weight.
- Calculate your lean body mass (LBM) from the equation above
- Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) from the equation above
- Find what activity you fall under. Be honest with yourself
- Calculate your maintenance calories from the equation above
- Identify a fat loss deficit you fall under (20 to 35%), plug and play and see what your comfortable with.
- Calculate your fat loss deficit
Once you’ve identified your fat loss deficit calories, be consistent and I guarantee you will make weight loss progress.