Today it is fashionable to be slim and fit. Therefore, many are wondering: how many calories you need per day to lose weight. Unfortunately, there is no universal number. It is necessary to determine the calorie rate on an individual basis, in addition, it is worth considering many factors of influence. How to do this without the help of trainers and nutritionists - try to figure it out.

What are calories, how to count to lose weight

Probably for many it will come as a surprise that calories are a unit of measure for heat. For the normal functioning of the body, a person needs to receive energy, which brings into operation all vital systems and mechanisms. In other words, a calorie displays the amount of food needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water per 1˚C.

First of all, it is worth deciding on the purpose of counting. To maintain current weight and physique, an adult needs about 1800-2500 kcal / day. People with excessive physical exertion may need a larger amount, for example, for athletes, the recommended norm is 3500 kcal. If you exceed these indicators, body weight will gradually increase, fat will begin to debug. For weight loss, on the contrary, you need to create a lack of calories.

Calorie intake and calorie balance

Calorie consumption is directly dependent on physical activity.

This factor largely determines the calorie consumption. But, in addition to this, it is important to consider the emotional background. It is not for nothing that people have the opinion that people who are prone to deep emotional feelings quickly lose weight and are exhausted.Considering this phenomenon from a psychological point of view, it can be noted that in apathetic people, appetite worsens and, accordingly, the volume of food consumption decreases. Moreover, the nervous system burns much more energy during restlessness than at rest.

Now we come to another important component that helps in determining the balance of human calories - basal metabolism. This term refers to the minimum amount of energy that the body spends on maintaining its own life.

This includes the work of such systems:

  • circulatory;
  • respiratory
  • nervous
  • filtrational.

In addition, while maintaining a balance of calorie intake and calorie consumption, it is important to maintain good body health, because diseases take a certain part of the energy from a person.

Defining Your Own Needs

Many researchers in this field compose their own weight loss algorithms. The most popular of these are the Mifflin-San Geor and Harris-Benedict formulas. But, despite the small differences in the calculations, they all come down to the same components.

To establish your own calorie intake per day, consider the following points:

  • floor;
  • age (in years) - X;
  • activity is Y;
  • weight (kg) - S;
  • height (cm) - T.

Consider in detail the Harris-Benedict formula. First of all, it is worth determining the level of basic metabolism (1 - for men, 2 - for women):

  1. BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x S) + (4.799 x T) - (5.677 x X);
  2. BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x S) + (3.098 x T) - (4.330 x X).

Now we can specifically determine the daily measure of calories. To do this, multiply BMR by a coefficient corresponding to our physical activity:

  • with low mobility - 1.2;
  • moderate mobility (from 1 to 3 workouts / week) - 1,375;
  • average mobility (from 3 to 5 workouts / week - 1, 55;
  • from 5 to 7 workouts / week - 1.725;
  • from 2 workouts / day - 1.9.

In the end, we get the norm to maintain the current state. To lose weight, you need to create a deficit of 500 calories.

Balanced Nutrition Control

A balanced diet in combination with correctly selected physical exercises ensures the achievement of the goal, namely weight loss. But it is important to remember that it is not worthwhile to sharply increase physical activity and reduce daily calorie content. This is fraught with serious health problems and poor health. It is better to create a diet in which the daily norm will decrease every day. Next to this, it must be remembered that it is impossible to lower the bar below 40% of the daily standard.

Each dish contains proteins (about 4 kcal / gram), carbohydrates (about 4 kcal / gram) and fats (about 8 kcal / gram). By tracking the composition of the products used, it is possible to determine with high accuracy the caloric content of the final dish. To control the result, we recommend maintaining a weight reduction calendar. It is not worth filling it daily; one mark in 7 days will be enough.

Using Mobile Calorie Counting Apps

For convenience, you can calculate calories for weight loss in special applications for mobile phones and tablets. These programs are created in conjunction with leading nutritionists and trainers. Based on user parameters, the system determines all important indicators and, based on this, gives instructions.

Among all, it is worth highlighting:

  • Calorie Counter by FatSacret;
  • YAZIO: Diet & Food Tracker;
  • diet 10 levels.

Some apps include diet recipes and recommended exercises as a nice bonus.

Losing weight on your own is real. The main thing is to responsibly treat the process, not to break under the weight of temptations and remember the ultimate goal - a tight, slender body.

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