Ideal Calorie Intake to Lose Weight

The ideal number of calories needed to lose weight depends upon many things. These things include age, sex, weight and lifestyle. One of the most important things involved with losing weight is awareness of calorie values, because many foods and drinks are deceiving when it comes to this matter.

Know Your Numbers

There are several numbers you need to know for successful weight loss. These include your ideal weight, your age, your basal metabolic rate (BMR), calories burned during a certain activity and the caloric content of foods. This may seem like a lot, but some of these numbers you will only need to calculate once. The formula for men to determine their BMR is 66 + 6.23 x weight (in pounds) + 1.27 x height (in inches) -- 6.76 x age. For women, this formula is 655 + 4.35 x weight (in pounds) + 4.7 x height (in inches) - 4.7 x age. For example, a woman weighing 130 pounds would have a daily BMR of 1308.

Count Your Numbers

Once you have an ideal weight in mind and you've calculated your BMR, you're ready to start adjusting your daily caloric intake and output to meet your weight-loss goal. This may be one of the most frustrating aspects of any weight-loss program, but it is worth it and, in time, you will learn some of these numbers. Most packaged foods have nutrition labels so this is easy. With the previous example, a sample healthy caloric intake would include 400 calories at breakfast, a 100-calorie snack, 300 calories for lunch, 400 calories for dinner and another 100-calorie snack. Remember 45 to 65 percent of calories should come from carbohydrates,10 to 35 percent of calories need to be from protein, and 20 to 35 percent should be from fat (with only 7 percent of those calories from saturated fat).

Work With Your Numbers

Losing weight is a matter of burning more calories than you consume. In short, you shouldn't consume more than you need (your BMR). Your body needs energy to perform bodily functions, which is why most health associations recommend not dropping below 1,200 calories per day. One pound is 3,500 calories, so to lose one pound per week you would need to cut 500 calories a day from your diet. An alternative would be to cut 250 calories and perform an activity that burns 250 calories. To lose two pounds per week, this number doubles. While this sounds like a lot, remember that a bagel has approximately 200 calories. Dropping certain items you won't miss from your diet makes a huge difference over time.