Successful diets are those that are strategic and have carefully planed goals. Once you have determined how many pounds you wish to lose and how fast you wish to lose them, you then need to formulate a plan for how you will achieve that goal. Doing this requires knowing how many calories to burn a pound.
1 pound (or .45 kilograms) of fat contains 3,500 calories. This means that to lose 1 pound a week, you will need to burn 500 calories more than you consume each day. The math beaks down like this:
500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories or 1 pound lost over 1 week
But this itself raises many other questions. How many calories are you consuming? How many are you burning? How many calories do you need to survive? Many of these questions can be answered and tracked by following some generally accepted principals and formulas of calculation. One of these formulas determine what is called the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the number of calories your body requires to sustain vital functions; your breathing, heart rate, kidney and liver function, etc. Basically, it is the amount of calories required when you are at rest, not exerting any physical activity.
Here’s how to determine it:
Take the number of pounds in your desired weight
Multiply that number by 11 (multiply by 12 if you’re a man)
Subtract 2% of that number for every 10 years after the age of 20
add 10% (this will be the number of calories you need to survive day to day)The resulting number is the minimum caloric intake per day.
Let’s take an example of a 50 year old man who would like to maintain a weight of 140 pounds. What would his BMR be and how many calories should he be consuming?
Weight goal = 140
140 × 12 = 1680
1680 – 3(1680 × .02) = 157 9
1579 + 158 = 1737 calories per day
So to maintain that 140 pound weight, 1737 calories should be consumed each day. But really, this number only represent how much he would need if he was in a comma. If this man walked to work, took part in any sports or physical labor, he would need to add more calories to make up for those burned in these activities.
What is your current BMR and how many calories to burn a pound?
You can calculate your current daily calorie need by using the following formula:
(weight and measures are in pounds and inches)
Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight) + (4.7 x height) – (4.7 x age)
Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight) + (12.9 x height) – (6.8 x age)
We now need to account for any physical activity in your life:
-If you are mostly sedentary, multiply your BMR x 20 percent
-If you are slightly active, multiply your BMR x 30 percent
-If you exercise almost every day, multiply your BMR x 40 percent
-If you participate in intense exercise, multiply your BMR x 50 percent
The number you get from following the formula above is the number of calories that you can consume each day and maintain your current weight. If you wish to lose weight, you will need to either restrict you calorie intake to less than this number, or increase your amount of physical activity.