We’ve already passed what’s known as the heaviest day of the year— January 3rd is when most people reach their heaviest weight (due to the temptation of finishing off holiday leftovers.) It’s been a couple months, and now it’s game time. It’s weight loss time. It’s your time to get your waistline and overall fitness in check so that you can live your healthiest, most confident life, starting right now—and it all has to do with your daily calories. Let’s learn all about it!
If You’re Looking to Lose Some Pounds…
Doctors, personal trainers and weight loss experts will all tell you the same thing: you should aim to lose 1-2 pounds of weight per week, and no more. There are a few reasons for this. First, when you lose more than two pounds a week, you’re at risk for losing more muscle than fat. Secondly, losing more than two pounds per week can mean that you weren’t getting enough of the essential nutrients in, which means that your body could go into ‘starvation mode’.
When that happens, you’re likely to gain back to weight you lost, plus more. It can become a yo-yo dieting situation, which isn’t healthy or a long term problem you want to go through. If you’re looking to lose weight and keep it off in a consistent, long-term way, don’t look at the overall daily calories you ‘should’ be eating. Instead, begin by limiting your daily calories by 500 calories per day for the next week. If you’re trying to lose a lot of weight, drop 1,000 calories per day from your daily intake.
Focus on the Daily Goal (and You’ll Get to the Finish Line in No Time At All!)
A healthy adult’s daily calorie intake recommendation varies, based on your gender and how active you are. For example, if you are a woman who is moderately active (you take the stairs instead of the elevator at work, you head to the gym or work out three times a week), your daily calorie intake should be 2,000 per day. If you’re not active, and you’re between the ages of 20-50, your calorie intake should be 1,600. If you’re a man and between 30-50 who is moderately active, your daily calorie intake should be between 2,400-2,600 per day.
If you’re sedentary, it should be around 2,200. For both sexes (and no matter what your activity level is), aging slows down your metabolism, Shoot for decreasing your daily calorie intake by 200-300 calories. Maintain your calories by keeping them in check daily.
No matter what your goal is—to lose your love handles, to have killer abs or to look incredible by swimsuit season—you can do this. You’ve got this. Just take it one calorie at a time.
