When you are looking forward to losing your weight, you will end up achieving a calorie deficit. A critical essential to losing weight is to consume fewer calories compared to the calorie you are burning. The calories are the units of energy which you consume from beverages and foods every day. But often, we need to understand the perfect ratio of calories to be consumed in order to lose weight faster. For this, knowing how many calories should I eat in a day is crucial.
To lose weight, you must consistently put your body into a calorie deficit. There are three most essential calorie expenditures. Those are, resting energy expenditure, which involves the calories your body uses when you are resting to keep your body functioning and alive. The thermic effect of food is where your body uses calories to digest, absorb and metabolise the food. And activity energy expenditure involves using calories for activities like sports and other activities like household tasks etc.
To lose weight, you will have to provide your body with fewer calories to perform these tasks. Hence, a consistent calorie deficit will help you to lose weight faster effectively, for which knowing how many calories should I eat in a day is essential. In general, a calorie deficit of 500 calories on a regular basis is enough for weight loss. But you will need to be aware of your body’s maintenance calories so that the calorie deficit does not affect your hunger or energy.
Let us learn more about how many calories should I eat in a day to lose weight.
How can you calculate your calorie needs?
To achieve a calorie deficit, it is essential for you to know how to calculate your regular calorie needs. To understand how many calories should I eat in a day, you can use calorie calculators such as Body Weight Planner from the National Institute of Health. These calculators help determine your maintenance calories by assessing your weight, age, sex, physical activity level and height.
With the help of the calorie calculators, you will get an extensive idea about your maintenance calorie requirements. Again, to get a more precise idea, you can track your calorie intake and weight for 10 days straight. You can also use a calorie tracking app as it will help you weigh your calories and weight daily.
To know how many calories should I eat in a day to lose weight, you must find your average daily calorie intake. You will have to divide your 10 day calorie consumption by 10 to get your average daily calorie intake. Further, subtract 500 calories from the total average to get your new target calorie intake for weight loss.
How can you achieve a calorie deficit?
Consuming fewer calories will not alone help you to achieve a calorie deficit. You will have to burn calories through rigorous exercise and follow a diet for more sustainable effects. Engaging in muscle strengthening and aerobic exercises is essential, which also comes with overall health benefits.
To achieve a calorie deficit, you must perform moderate-intensity exercises like light bicycling and walking and vigorous-intensity exercises like fast bicycling and jogging weekly. Muscle-strengthening exercises are a must for adults as they boost body fat loss rather than muscle mass.
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3 Ways you can eat fewer calories
After determining how many calories should I eat in a day, it is essential to know the tips on how to consume fewer calories. Simply cutting calories from your diet will not give you effective results. Following a few strategies will help you reduce your calorie intake efficiently and maintain it for a long time.
1. Look out for the calories in your drinks.
To keep track of how many calories should I eat in a day to lose weight, it is essential to eliminate the calories in your drinks. You will have to cut down on sugary beverages such as fruit drinks, soda, coffee drinks and so on. Alcoholic drinks also come with loads of calories. So, to achieve a calorie deficit, you must cut down the intake of the calories in your drinks.
2. Restrict the consumption of processed foods
Highly processed foods contain alarming quantities of sugar, salt and fat. These processed foods include fast foods, breakfast cereals, sugary beverages, and desserts which boost excess consumption and have high amounts of calories. So when you are concerned about how many calories should I eat in a day, you should first stop consuming these processed foods. A diet rich in minimally processed food is ideal for the calorie deficit as it supplies the body with the required nutrition and prevents overeating.
3. Opt for home-cooked meals
The best way of knowing how many calories should I eat in a day to lose weight is to opt for home-cooked meals. By preparing your own meals at home, you can control the ingredients and maintain the calorie intake. The home-cooked meals boost good health and are known to lower your fat levels and lessen your risk of contracting diabetes and heart diseases. Apart from this, home-cooked meals also help in conserving money.
Thus, knowing how many calories should I eat in a day is the first essential step towards losing weight effectively. Maintaining a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day helps ideally to lose weight effectively with sustainable benefits. For this, it is essential to cut off sugary beverages and processed foods as they will hinder your weight loss process. Instead, you can opt for home-cooked meals as you will be able to reach the calorie deficit without much rigorous calorie counting healthily.
FAQs
1. Which factors influence the calorie intake for breakfast?
When you are concerned about how many calories should I eat in a day for weight loss, it is essential to start with breakfast. The factors such as daily requirements, health goals, overall diet and personal preferences influence your calorie intake for breakfast.
2. How many calories should I eat in a day for weight loss during lunch?
You can opt for a large lunch and small dinner, which includes your preferred food choices and boosts an even calorie intake.
3. How can I get sustainable weight loss results?
You will have to cut down on high-calorie snacks, ultra-processed food, sugary food and beverages and engage in extensive physical activities for sustainable results.
