Should you count calories or not count calories? It seems to be the old debate between doctors and dietitians. On the one hand, many experts will say that quality of food means more – focusing on a diet full of nutritious whole foods and complex carbohydrates. While others will say they understand quantity of food is what helps you lose weight – with a focus on counting calories and macronutrients.
However, there are a lot of experts who say that they focus on quality also as the amount of food is important. And while it’s easy to set up a healthy plate and focus on eating nutritious food, what does this mean when it comes to counting calories? How Many Calories Should You Eat To Lose Weight? (Related: 15 underrated weight loss tips that actually work)
First, it is important that Calculate your calories based on your basal metabolism.
“Each person has a unique metabolism, at which rate they burn calories,” he says Trista Best, MPH, RD, LD from Balance One Supplements. “This number equals the number of calories they should consume during the day. For most healthy adults, this is about 2,000 calories a day.”
Although 2000 calories per day is an average number for adults, it may be more than what your specific body needs.
“There are a number of common equations that are commonly used, such as Mifflin St Jeor equation, which calculates the body’s caloric needs based on height, weight, age and gender, says Rachel Paul PhD, RD from CollegeNutritionist.com. “Most [calorie-counting] apps will use one of these equations. These are quite accurate, but they are often used because they are the fastest and easiest way to get a number. But they do not take into account a person’s individual metabolism and genetics. “
So how do you know what works for your body? Recommends Paul Find your specific calorie needs before entering any kind of calorie deficit for weight loss.
“A potentially more accurate way to calculate their calorie needs would be to get them to eat as they normally do without any changes for about seven days. At that time, we would get the average calorie intake for those days,” says Paul.
Tracking a normal food week can help determine what your body needs in terms of calories each day. However, Paul points out that people can change their current food during the week because they track their intake, which can make it difficult to accurately measure. Be honest about the calorie intake you need for a week before creating a calorie deficit.
Once you have found that number, from there you can make a proper calorie deficit. This can be based on your weight loss goals – such as how many pounds you want to lose a week.
“I recommend a small calorie deficit (250 calories, losing about 1/2 pound per week) so that the person creates long-term maladaptation, rather than some drastic, crash diet methods that often contain much larger calorie deficits and are unsustainable, says Paul.
Best says that even a calorie deficit of 300 to 500 calories per day can be helpful for weight loss. However, Paul does not recommend to any of her clients to go below 1,200 calories a day.
“If you know your BMR, you can adjust your calorie intake over a short period of time to create a calorie deficit, which can lead to weight loss,” says Best. “This method should not be a long-term solution to weight loss because it is not sustainable. For weight maintenance, you still need to know what your metabolism is and stick to that number daily.”
Tracking your food may not seem easy to do, which is why many nutritionists recommend that you use an app where it is easy and simple to search for food and track them.
“Using a calorie tracker for food and exercise, like MyNetDiary, is a great way to set your calorie goal and then monitor your calorie intake and your production through activity, says Brenda Braslow, MS, RD. “If you do not lose weight, you can lower your daily calorie intake or train longer or harder to achieve results.”
Paul also recommends using an app like Lose it! to her business customers. Lose it! offers a free version of their calorie-tracking app, while the premium version lets you set other types of goals – such as macronutrient intake and body fat percentage.
Now that you have calculated how many calories you should consume in a day, here is how many calories you should burn each day, experts say.
