So How Many Calories Should I Eat to Lose Weight?

So how many calories should I eat to lose weight? Lets find out! Well to start with counting calories is not as hard as it might seem. Let me explain. You see when you actually begin on a weight loss journey you naturally think that to lose weight you should be watching all the fat content and carb content in your foods right? Because if you want to lose fat then you need to eliminate fat and carbs from the diet correct?
Actually this is incorrect. Some fats and carbs are actually very good for you so these should not be eliminated from the diet altogether. This is where calorie counting comes in.

Calorie counting is where you document every piece of food and drink you consume during the day and look at the amount of calories it contains. You can find this information generally on the packaging of the food or you may need to invest in a Calorie Counter booklet (which you can get from book stores). The point of this exercise is to actually take a good look at the amount of calories you are consuming every day whether it be in liquid form or solid form.

For example say you are a 140 pound female (or male) and you wanted to lose 10 pounds. You have calculated what calories you are already consuming and it amounts to 2000 each day. Now (this is just a guess) suppose that to lose this 10 pounds you needed your calorie intake to be around 1600 per day. Clearly with your calories currently being 2000 - your not losing weight - so you would reduce this amount - which is where the 1600 comes in.

1600 may sound like a lot of calories to you but did you know that in 1 glass of orange juice alone there can be up to 500 calories? so if you were to have 2 glasses for the day then that's 1000 calories already you have consumed - and you only have 600 left for the rest of the day. Now if you added a large bowl of pasta or a large steak to the mix - well you will have definitely exceeded your daily calorie limit of 1600 calories - therefore if you continued this you would not lose any weight. On the other hand if you had 6 -7 small meals a day that had fish, chicken, eggs, wholegrain breads etc - these foods would be well within that 1600 calorie range (because you checked this before consuming them) - and if you continued this for a few weeks you would definitely have lost weight.

Again - how many calories should I eat to lose weight? Well I would suggest counting calories for around a couple weeks, this is how you are really going to know what your calorie intake should be for good weight loss - just use a small notebook and document all you eat and include the calories - add them up and then you will see exactly where your nutrition can be improved. Calorie counting should be done for the following 3 reasons

1. To provide you with permanent weight loss.

2. To educate yourself on just how many calories are making you overweight

3. To show you how easy it is to maintain a good diet

Trust me on this - calorie counting works - it is simple easy and effective if done honestly

and correctly and coupled with appropriate exercise. You will see big results in little time - and once you get your desired result you will be educated for life on the types of foods to eat and the ones to avoid, and you will know so much about what each food contains you won't even have to count calories anymore - you will be disciplined enough by that stage to make a very educated decision - and this is what will keep your weight loss permanent. You should now hopefully have an answer to your question : How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

My name is Jason Toomey and I am a diet and fitness health professional. I have helped many people overcome their weight loss problems and have also been very successful in losing and maintaining my own weight loss of over 60 pounds for the past 6 years.