How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight?

How many calories should I eat to start losing weight?

This is a very common question I get asked.


I could give you the typical PT answer of, it depends on your size, starting point, training schedule, hormone status, blah, blah, blah.


But instead, I am going to give you a simple formula to work out a rough starting point so you can get the ball moving.


By November this year I will be a fully Qualified Mac Nutrition Nutritionist. I am 2/3 of the way through the course and one of the main concepts we covered was energy balance and how to coach people to lose weight.


Below is a simple formula we discussed to work out your first calorie starting point. It's not perfect but nothing is when it comes to weight loss.



There are two main steps to this formula.

• Step 1 - Estimate your total daily energy needs to maintain your current weight.
• Step 2 - Calculate your calorie deficit to start losing weight.
  

 
Step One - Calculate your total daily energy needs to maintain your current weight.
 
We do this by:
 

• Estimating your basal metabolic rate (BMR). 
• Multiplying this BMR by a physical activity factor. 

 
Here we go:
 
 
1. Estimate your current BMR by multiplying your current body weight by 22 if you're female or 24 if you're male.
 
Example: 
 
Female: 80kg x 22 = 1760 Cals BMR.
Male: 100kg x 24 = 2400 Cals BMR.
 
 
2. Then you would multiply your BMR by a physical activity factor.
 
A physical activity factor or PAL reflects varying levels of activity throughout a one-week period.
 
There are varying standards for this as you can see below:
 

• TDEE = 1.2 × BMR if you have a sedentary lifestyle (little to no exercise and work a desk job)
• TDEE = 1.375 × BMR if you have a lightly active lifestyle (light exercise 1-3 days per week)
• TDEE = 1.55 × BMR if you have a moderately active lifestyle (moderate exercise 3-5 days per week)
• TDEE = 1.725 × BMR if you have a very active lifestyle (heavy exercise 6-7 days per week)
• TDEE = 1.9 × BMR if you have an extremely active lifestyle (strenuous training 2 times a day)

I tend to go with 1.2 for most of my clients as I prefer to underestimate energy expenditure initially. 


Most people overestimate the energy they burn during a typical week and end up not being in a calorie deficit and therefore don't lose any weight.


For our examples above we would have:

• 1760 x 1.2 = 2112 cals to keep our female client at her current weight of 80kg
• 2400 x 1.2 = 2880 cals to keep our male client at his current weight of 100kg.

 
3. Now you need to estimate your calorie deficit to start losing weight.
 
 
I like to start with roughly 20%, 30%, or 40% deficit for clients.
 
 
It depends how moderate or aggressive they want to go. I would start with 20%.
 
 
So in our examples from above it would be the following if you did a 20% calorie deficit.
 

• Female client
• 20% of 2112 Calories = 422 Cals.
• 2112 - 422 = 1690 Cals per day to start her weight loss journey.
• I like ranges so I would go 1600-1800 as people become neurotic with exact numbers.
  

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• Male client
• 20% of 2880 Calories = 576 Cals
• 2880 - 576 = 2304 Cals per day to start his weight loss journey.
• I like ranges so I would go with 2300-2500 as people become neurotic with exact numbers.

You can work out the 30% or 40% using the same calculations above.
 
 
Some coaching tips.
 
 
Do not try to cut out your favourite foods, try to incorporate them into your plan.
 
 
It doesn't matter what you eat as long as you are in a deficit, but obviously we want to eat as healthy as we can to get vitamins and minerals etc.
 
 
Do not try to white knuckle it, it never lasts.
 
 
Humans are wired to seek pleasure and do not do things for long if they don't like them. People miss this point all the time.
 
 
They give up everything instead of working some of their favourite foods into their plans.
 
 
Next, track your weight daily or at least (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,) after you wake up and after you go to the toilet.
 
 
Track the trends and ignore the daily fluctuations.
 
 
This is just a starting guide.
 
 
Any questions?
 
 
I'd love to hear how you go. Later in the week I'll send some practical tips to put this into action.
 
 
Hope it helps.
 

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