How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day? April 2
By Jessica Dawn
When it comes to losing weight, maintaining your weight, or changing your body composition, understanding calories is crucial to your success.
I know the idea of counting calories is maddening, but the truth is that in order to lose weight (or body fat), you must create a caloric deficit; you must burn more than you consume. Maintaining your weight requires you to burn as much as you consume & if you want to change your body composition (lose fat), you must understand how to retain or build your lean body mass & burn fat (understanding calories is a big part of this).
I am not suggesting you count calories for each meal, each snack, and every single bite of food you have. I could never do that myself so I wouldn’t recommend it for you (unless you want to that is). I simply want you to know that in order for you to reach your goals, no matter what they are, it requires you to gain a basic understanding of how calories work.
The first step you should take is to learn how many calories you require each day. There are a couple of different formulas you can use to calculate your caloric needs. If you would like to learn how many calories you need each day, click here. This calculation will give you a general idea of the calories you need each day. Be aware that this equation does not take into consideration LBM (Lean Body Mass) which plays a major role in the number of calories your require each day (higher % LBM = higher metabolism), but it will give you a general idea to start with.
The second step you should take is to educate yourself on the calories contained in the various foods you eat. Although I personally would never count the calories I eat for each meal, I do have calorie strategies in place. I’ve been paying attention & educating myself about the number of calories contained in various foods for a long time now and it really helps me. For example, I know about how many calories are in a medium apple, my favorite granola bar, & a tablespoon of peanut butter (one of my weaknesses, I’ve been caught eating pb out of the jar numerous times!). Since I remember this information, I can estimate how much food I should eat each day, each snack, each meal. Even though I don’t know the real number of calories and never will!
You can start to become aware of the calories contained in various foods by reading the labels. You’ll begin to see that things like peanut butter, butter, & oils are mostly fat and are very high in calories. It doesn’t mean you should not eat high calorie foods, but once you know this you can begin to adjust what you eat based on your personal needs.
Every step you take towards your goals is a positive step. Educating yourself and understanding the basics of how your body works is a major positive step you can take by learning a few new nutrition facts each day. Calories are an important part of losing weight and reaching your goals so I encourage you to learn something about calories each day (even if it’s just a little fact).
Jessica Dawn is a fitness professional who has been studying health & fitness for over 10 years. In addition to actively participating in fitness, Jessica has a degree in Kinesiology (exercise science) which allows her to understand both the scientific and behavioral aspects of weight loss and fitness.
Jessica Dawn is a leader in teaching health & fitness through the internet. You can also visit her blog @ http://www.visfitness.blogspot.com and learn proven stratgies to make your fitness program effective. To receive a free report, visit: http://www.visfitness.com
In this course, Jessica will show you how to develop a lifestlye of health, vitality, and fitness. She answers the quesions you have about life-long weight control and resolves the roadblocks you may have faced in the past so you can achieve your goals and remain fit for life.
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