The Number of Calories to Eat For Maximum Fat Loss
Figuring out the number of calories you need to eat for maximum fat loss is one of the most important starting places before going on your diet. No matter how great the diet is, if total calories are not accounted for, the chances you are going to be successful go way down.
In order to effectively lose body fat, you’re going to have to take in fewer calories than your body burns each day. Keep in mind that this includes calories for just functioning. Many people figure they actually have to burn that many calories through exercise, but this is not the case.
You are burning calories all day long with every thing you do – even reading the screen right now you are burning calories. All of these calories get accounted for and compared with your food intake to determine whether or not you will lose body fat.
So, how do you know how many calories to eat for maximum fat loss?
Here’s a guide to help you.
Rate of Weight Loss
The first thing to assess is the obvious, how fast do you want to lose weight? The more calories you cut, the faster you should lose weight. Just keep in mind there is a limit. Adopt an air diet and your metabolism will crash and you won’t be losing weight at all.
Individuals who are already slightly lean should attempt to lose weight slightly slower than those who have higher levels of body fat. The primary reason for this is because the leaner you are, the greater the chance you will lose muscle mass when you go on a low calorie diet.
I would say leaner individuals (say 10% or less for men, 15% or less for females) should aim for 1/2 to 1 pound of weight loss a week. This equates to taking in 250 or 500 fewer calories than you burn, respectively.
Those who have a higher level of body fat can afford a slightly greater calorie deficit so they can lose between 1 and 2 pounds per week (500-1000 calorie deficit per day).
Composition of Calories
Next, you should also consider the composition of the calories you’re eating. While this will make only a small difference, those who are eating higher protein diets can eat slightly more calories and still lose weight. This is due to the increased TEF (thermic effect of food) that goes along with the protein nutrient.
Generally you don’t need to account for this, just know that if you’re choosing higher protein foods more often, you may have a bit more ‘wiggle’ room.
Current Body Fat Levels
Finally, apart from taking your current body fat level into account concerning how many pounds you can lose each week, it also factors into your basal metabolic rate.
Since muscle is more metabolically active than fat mass, a leaner individual at a given weight will burn more calories each day just existing than a person of the same weight who has a higher body fat percentage (which is why doing strength training to increase lean body mass is so important for weight maintenance).
The Guidelines
So, all of this said, how do you figure out how many calories to eat for maximum fat loss?
Generally, most people will do well with an intake of between 10 and 13 calories per pound of body weight.
Those who are very active might be able to get away with a few more calories, but this is a very good range.
If you have a desk job and do very little exercise, 10 calories per pound is probably more accurate than thirteen.
The thing to do is to select a given calorie intake level, eat that for about two weeks or so, and then look at the results. If you aren’t losing weight, this indicates the calories are still too high for you. If you’re losing too much weight, then add a bit more back in to slow it down so you’re not losing muscle mass.
Real life experience will always be the best indicator of how many calories you should be eating, so use the results you get to dictate which direction you go with your fat loss diet.
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