Calorie Deficit

Hey guys!! I just wanted to chat about CALORIES for a minute. Ugh!!
I know we are all dutifully logging our food into MyFitness Pal and it tells us how much we can consume but I just read something helpful and wanted to share it. Its a very simple concept but somehow helps me with my Type A mind.

THE SECRET TO WEIGHT LOSS........ wait for it...........

BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU CONSUME. Over and over again. Everyday.

Well we all know that but I wasn't really thinking of calorie consumption the right way.... So let's try this.

Your body is always burning calories. The amount of calories you need in a day to MAINTAIN your weight is called your basal metabolic weight or BMR.


My BMR is 1546. That means my body burns 1,546 calories just for me to get through the day doing nothing. So none of us does nothing. To account for varying levels of activity, the Harris-Benedict equation was developed to show how much calories are consumed by the body in a day at various activity levels.

If you are sendentary, multiply BMR by 1.2

If you are lightly active, multiply BMR by 1.375

If you are moderately active, multiply BMR by 1.55

If you are very active, multiply BMR by 1.725

If you are extra active, multiply BMR by 1.9

Be realistic when picking a category!!!! (So the more active you are, the more calories you can consume without gaining weight. Hmmm)

Ok so my total calorie need is 2,126. This is the number of calories that my body needs to MAINTAIN my current weight. Ok well that's a relief!! I can easily eat less than that everyday.

However, here is where I had my epiphany. As you lose weight. YOUR BMR GOES DOWN!!!!!
So that means as you lose weight, you have to eat even less calories a day to continually lose weight. AH HA!!!! So don't forget to recalculate your BMR with every 10 pounds or so that you lose. :-)

Alright people. Let's do some math!! What's your daily calorie need???

Need a calculator?  www.runnersworld.com/rybo

Food for Thought: 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So about 500 calories under your calorie need for the day for 1 week. Hmmm. Next week's challenge???