Why Counting Calories is More Effective Than Guessing

To begin, to find the amount of calories that you should eat to lose weight you can simply go to google and type in calorie calculator and follow the steps. Most websites will tell you how many calories you should eat to maintain your weight as well as lose weight. If it only tells you your maintenance, then subtract 500 from your maintenance and eat about that many calories a day to lose about 1 lb a week.

Although this is a good start to see about how many calories you should eat it is not 100% accurate. Therefore, you must experiment by eating around that number of calories for a week and checking how much weight you lost. If you did not lose any weight, drop your calories by 200-300, if you gained weight drop it by 400.  If you lost between .5-2lbs you can keep your calories the same for the time being. 

Keep in mind that the amount of weight you lose also depends highly of water retention due to carbohydrate intake so just because the scale didn’t change does not mean you didn’t lose weight.  You may want to experiment with the same calories for 2 weeks rather than 1 but this is personal preference. You will quickly learn how many calories you should eat to lose weight on a weekly basis. Every time you lose 5-10 lbs redo your numbers in the calculator and go from there so you can continually lose weight. You can also drop your calories to between 500-1000 calories below your maintenance in order to lose weight if you desire. 

I also do not recommend eating the same amount of calories every day so your body doesn't adjust to the change and stop burning fat for energy. To keep your body guessing try eating 700 calories below one day, 400 the next, and then 600, and so on and so forth for the week ( when zig zagging your calories make sure at the end of the week you ate 3500 or more caloriesbelow your maintenance level). As always I suggest eating complex carbs, lean protein, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and water to hit your calorie needs.

Tony's Tip - I think it's important to count calories so you can adjust your calories based on your weight instead of blindly guessing. I believe counting calories can lead to greater success while trying to lose weight.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.