Understanding The Connection Between Calories and Weight Loss
Just like a car, the human body needs fuel (or food). The car needs gasoline, while the body needs calories for energy. Each individual body requires a certain amount of calories (or fuel) to maintain itself. The rate or amount of fuel needed to maintain your weight at a certain level is called the "Basal Metabolic Rate" (BMR). For example, if your ideal weight is 110 lbs., your body might require 1800 calories in a 24 hour period of time to maintain the 110 lbs. If you exceed the 1800 calories the extra fuel is stored as fat. If you take in less than 1800 calories the body burns stored fat to maintain itself. Using this example, the "BMR" is 1800 calories.
Fact :"It takes 3,500 calories to build a pound"
Another way to look at this fact in connection with weight lose is: When you take in 3,500 calories less than your BMR, you will loose one pound. If the 110 pounder above gained 5 lbs. (115 lbs.) the extra five pounds will only be burnt off by burning 17,500 (5 X 3500) extra calories over a given period of time. If the period of time was 100 days, the person would need to cut back 175 calories per day (which would be 1625, down from 1800, calories total per day) to loose the 5 pounds. The amount of loss and the time frame for the loss is determined by reasonable and managable goals, and possible extra exercise. One "rule of thumb" to use is: Cut back your calorie intake 500 calories per day and in one week you will loose one pound (500 X 7 = 3500). This 500 calorie "cut back" is generally considered safe for weight loss. Loosing too much, too soon ("crash dieting") might be risky to your health.
Finding your BMR is critical to weight loss, weight gain, and maintenance !
So, now we have the numbers and the an explanation of BMR; but, how can we put all this together? One suggestion is to use the "Diet and Exercise" program because it is an ideal way to determine your BMR, set a time frame for loosing weight, and more importantly monitor your goals and outcomes. With everything, some time is required, so figure five minutes per day to record your daily information. Five minutes a day, some fortitude on your part to follow the numbers, and the end result a weight you always wanted to achieve and hold. Not a bad trade !
Remember.....to loose a pound, you must burn 3500 calories !!!!!!
Here's an example of using BMR, calories, and a time frame:
Billy Bob currently weights 216 lbs. We wants to weigh 185 lbs. This means he wants to loose 31 lbs. total. To set a reasonable timeframe for loosing the 31 lbs. he might want to figure on loosing 1 lb. week, which multiplies out as 31 weeks to loose the 31 lbs. Let's assume that Billy Bob's BMR is 2400 calories per day (2400 calories to maintain a no loss, no gain weight). To loose his 31 lbs. in 31 weeks he needs to cut back his daily calorie intake to 1900 calories (500 less calories per day than his BMR). This all might sound confusing, but by using the "Diet and Exercise" program all the hard stuff is calculated automatically. Your job is reduced to posting what you eat each day and the "Diet and Exercise" program does the rest. Back to Billy Bob; at the end of 31 weeks Billy Bob will be at 185 lbs. if he sticks with his 1900 calories per day. Any calorie intake under the 1900 would add to additional weight loss and reduction of timeframe, and any calories taken in over 1900 will delay his weight loss. If Billy Bob is not serious about actual weight loss and he consumes more than 2400 calories per day the predicted outcome would actually be a weight gain after 31 weeks..
Tip........"Exercise will burn calories !".......So, the more you exercise, the more options you have......you can consume more calories as you diet, loose weight faster, or use a combination of both. Plus, exercising "tones" your body as you loose weight.
Depending on your beginning weight, it may be necessary to exercise so that your body can redistribute muscle, and re-attain firmness in weight loss areas, etc. In other words, your body may need to "tone itself" as you loose weight, making exercise (such as walking) the natual way to achieve this.
Walking just 30 minutes a day could burn 300 calories ! That could mean loosing an additional one pound every 12 days while "toning" as you go !
