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Calorie Counting: How To Count Calories

If you want to either control your weight or lose weight, calorie counting may be one of the most important skills you’ll need. If you know how to count calories you’ll be able to balance your meals and determine how much physical exercise you need every day.

Regardless of whether you want to maintain weight or lose weight, the first thing to do is to calculate your basal metabolic rate or how much energy in calories you consume in a day while you’re doing basically nothing. Then you can calculate how many more calories you need in a day to either maintain your lifestyle or to lose weight.

Counting Calories Starting From Your Basal Metabolic Rate

The basal metabolic rate isn't actually a rate but a total that determines the calorie intake your body needs in a day just standing still, breathing, and having the heart pumping.

Even if you don't do physical exercise, you burn calories. When you consume less calories than what your body needs to stay alive, it begins to go into self-preservation mode burning not only fat but muscle mass as well.

It is believed that no one should consume less than 1200 calories per day because metabolism slows considerably and organs suffer in order to maintain lungs, heart, and brain.

How to count calories using the two basal metabolic rate equations for men and women.

• Basal metabolic rate for men: 660 + (13.7 X (weight in kg)) + (5 X (height in cm)) - (6.9 X (age in years))
• Basal metabolic rate for women: 655 + (9.6 X (weight in kg)) + (1.8 x (height in cm)) - (4.7 X (age in years))
• Calculate height in centimeters (cm) by multiplying height in inches times 2.54: 1 inch = 2.54 cm
• Calculate weight in kilograms (kg) by dividing weight in pounds by 2.2: 1 kg = 2.2 pounds

Assuming you have an ideal weight, then you want to add just enough calories in a day to match those burned from physical activity. Here's a general guideline to use as to the amount of additional calories you need beyond your basal metabolic rate based upon your lifestyle:

• Sedentary lifestyle, add 20% calories to your basic metabolic rate,
• light activity, add 30%,
• moderately active, add 40%,
• active, add 50%,
• extra active (you do hard labor or are in athletic training), add 60%.

Calorie Counting For Weight Loss and Weight Control

Let's assume now that you want to lose weight. You need to either consume fewer calories than what your body needs (basic metabolic rate plus the calories burned from physical activity) or to do more physical exercise to burn more calories. It's quite that simple.

One of the easiest ways to lose weight of course is Option A, consume less daily calories. The best approach is to begin consuming less calories gradually. Using a crash diet leads to disappointment when the weight comes back later.

A pound of fat is equivalent to three thousand five hundred calories. Cut off one slice of buttered toast a day and over 35 days you have a pound of weight loss. Cutting five hundred calories a day means a pound of weight loss in a week. Limit weight loss to two pounds a week. Doing it faster may create new problems.

Most weight loss programs available today have been refined beyond calorie counting. They use weight loss psychology to make one feel that a planned weight loss program isn't so hard after all. They take calories out of the equation and simplify weight loss to counting points.

Recommended or prepared diets include lots of proteins or even high-fat foods with increased physical activity. There are various choices available. With these programs counting calories has begun to seem old fashioned.

Using The Information From Counting Calories

Counting calories is not as difficult as one may think. It becomes a daily routine. Calorie counting helps you understand the relationship between calories consumed, calories burned, and weight loss. Many men and women have been able to lose weight with just this simple method and to keep it off over the years.

The previous article asks the question Am I Overweight?

Other wiki resources:  weight loss diets; protein and weight loss; being overweight; water retention