Calories to lose weight

Cutting down calories to lose weight

It’s a familiar question but one asked often by a variety of people. ‘What do I have to cut in calories to lose weight?’
In short there is no unique answer as every individual person burns a unique amount of calories on a daily basis, calories that are vital for the healthy maintenance of the body.
Without calories there would be no energy and without energy vital organs would stop functioning.

Assessing how many calories it takes to maintain this natural cycle is a crucial step towards understanding how many calories we need to cut from our diet so that we can lose weight.
The difficulty in assessing our calorie intake versus our calorie usage often lies in poor education and misconception of the foods we eat in relation to what we need to eat.

A very simple way to understand our current weight versus our ideal weight can be seen in the following chart.


Weight in pounds

This is as simple as it gets. Anyone in the blue zone is classed as being underweight. Anyone in the white zone is at an ideal weight. The red zone depicts people who are overweight according to their height and their weight.


So what is the next step once we are armed with this crucial piece of information?

Once we have assessed our closest related zone and we have come to terms with the weight we are we can now move towards taking some decisive actions to overcome our weight problems.
Even at this stage it is important to remember not to do things too quickly as accelerated weight loss in a very unhealthy process and can lead to complicated health issues.

As a rule of thumb the average man needs 2500 calories per day to function in a healthy way. Women need slightly less and come in at 2000 calories per day. These figures are based on the average lifestyle and do not include any excessive exercise etc.

This isn’t rocket science but the amount of people who don’t get this concept is unbelievable. To lose weight we have to change our ways.
This means one of two things or in some cases both.

Losing weight means less calorie intake or more calorie expenditure.

Cutting your calories to lose weight may be the easier option if you are excessively overweight as you may find it difficult to motivate yourself into doing any exercise whilst you are carrying all that excessive baggage.
You can always start with simple exercises from home that are easy to perform and do not require excessive demand on your body.
We have referenced some of these exercises in previous posts so take your pick and get involved. If you make these exercises part of your daily routine then you’ll soon feel the benefits.

For those of you who feel that you can take on a more active programme for losing weight then you can start a much more excessive exercise programme. This means that you continue with your current calorie intake as the exercise will counterbalance the calories and you will start to use more than the 2500/2000 calories you need in the day.

Lose weight quick

Sneaky Exercises to Help You Lose Weight Quick

If you’re trying to lose weight quick there’s no substitute for a good exercise routine, but let’s face it-in today’s fast paced world, who has time to hit the gym? You’re doing good if you have time to hit the gas station on your way in to work! (And your addiction to their lattes might explain an awful lot…) The question is, if you’re trying to cram 36 hours worth of work and activities into a 24 hour day, can you still manage to lose weight quick?

Absolutely! You’re going to have to work a little harder to do it than your aerobics instructing neighbor down the street, but if you’re willing to put in a little effort there are hundreds of little changes you can make to your daily routine to help you lose weight quick and burn fat fast without forcing you to take an hour out of a day that doesn’t have nearly enough of them. For example, you could:

Take the stairs instead of riding the elevator. Think about the number of times a day you hop on board for a smooth, easy ride that lets you continue reading or talking on your cell phone. If you take these opportunities to hike up and down a flight of stairs you’ll burn more calories and lose weight quick. As an added bonus, there’s no faster way to burn off that annoying leg fat that just won’t go away to give you those trim, fit thighs you’ve been dreaming of.(Do you ever wonder what would have happened if they’d built the Titanic from thigh cellulite instead of steel? It would probably still be sitting in the harbor today!)

Kick on some music and dance while you’re in the shower and kitchen in the mornings! Not only does this help you sneak in some easy exercise while the clock isn’t looking, the blood thumping, heart pumping beat is a great way to jump start your day. Salsa in the shower, twist in front of the stove and rumba on your way out to your car. You’ll get to work with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step, and those extra pounds will just melt away.

Do squats when you’re talking on the phone by standing with your back straight and your legs relaxed and bending at the knees until you can form a straight line from one knee to the other. If done slowly squats are a great tool to tone muscles and lose weight quick, and they won’t leave you too out of breath to explain to yet another clueless person why they should stop thinking and just do things your way. Really.

Walk instead of hopping in the car. Do you really need to take the car to go across the street on your lunch hour? What about all those little errands you run close to home every day, like getting your mail, returning books to the library or picking up a gallon of low calorie, sugar free juice at the store? Tackling these errands at a brisk walk provides you with all the cardiovascular benefits of running, helping you to lose weight quick, and unlike jogging you won’t be disgustingly sweaty when you’re done.

There are hundreds of other changes you can make in a day to burn calories, tone muscles and watch the pounds melt off. These are just a few to get you started! Start looking for ways to get moving and shaking during the day while you do what you were going to do anyway, and couple it with a sensible, healthy diet. You’ll quickly find you don’t have to put your entire schedule on hold in order to lose weight quick.