How many Calories do we need?

Last time we looked at the simple equation for weight loss; energy in vs energy out. So, how much energy do you need to sustain your weight? This is almost an impossible question to answer, as everyone is different. But there are a number of formula’s out there that can give you a very good estimate.

As a rough rule, the GDA recommends women consume 2,000 calories and men 2,500 per day to maintain their weight. Although a much larger male who is very active throughout the day (standing/walking for long periods or manual labour) could need upwards of 3,500 or more; small ladies who are inactive (sitting at desk all day) could need as little as 1,500 per day. You need to adjust this calorie amount based on your own situation (size, weight, age, activity levels etc) and keep re-adjusting until you find out what works for you.

How do you know if you are consuming too many calories? Easy, you gain weight. There are unusual situations where you can lose weight whilst consuming more calories than normal, and also situations where you can gain weight whilst on a calorie deficit. But these situations are rare and temporary – usually associated with water weight and not true fat/weight gain/losses. But over longer periods of time (a week/month) if you are eating more than you burn, you will put on weight.

How many extra calories do you need to create/burn fat?

A pound of fat is 3,600 calories - FACT, therefore 10 pounds is 36,000 calories. Not every extra calorie you consume will be stored as fat – some will become muscle and some will go into glycogen stores, so this is the minimum amount of calories needed to create 10 pounds of fat. If you have ever gained 10 pounds (or close to) in a week, it is unlikely that you consumed an extra 36,000 calories. More than likely, it is water weight re-gained, usually after coming off an extreme diet (like Atkins or any other low carb approach). This can be easily put on over the course of a year through a small 100 calorie a day surplus (100 calories times 365 is 36,500 calories extra).

                                                                                                    3,600 calories in a pound of this stuff

The reverse is also true, it would require a minimum of 36,000 calories less than what you take in to burn 10 pounds of fat. As not all of this energy would come from fat, so it would probably be a higher number than this. But once again, this could potentially mean as little as 100 calories a day less would lead to you being 10 pounds lighter in a year.

Control

Our body has a ‘normally’ very tight regulatory system that avoids overconsumption and under-consumption, although, due to our evolutionary past, it is much more biased towards avoiding under-consumption. Generally, once you feel satiated eating, you should stop. The Japanese have an ‘eat until you are 80% full rule’ and also enjoys the lowest rates of obesity and obesity related illnesses (along with long lifespans). Our problem is that we are cultured into having what we want when we want it – eating well past satiation and into ‘stuffed’. Do this a few times a month and you can easily put on weight. Even over-consuming by 10 calories a day could mean just one pound of fat in a year and 30 pounds in 30 years – that’s exactly how people get overweight. When the weight creeps on that slowly, it goes unnoticed until you suddenly ‘wake up’ 30 pounds overweight. 

Overeat a small amount every single day, and this will be the result after many years

Whilst it is very easy to over-consume small amounts of calories over time, leading to big weight gains, the reverse is not true. Eating less than your body needs was potentially life threatening when we were roaming the plains of Africa, so our body sends out alarm signals. Hormones such as Ghrelin raise, increasing hunger, and Thyroid and leptin drop. This puts us in an uncomfortable state mentally – this is where we start to get our cravings. Done over a couple of days is not normally a problem. But try to do it over a year and we will go mad as these hormones go out of control.

The bad news is, losing weight is not and never will be easy, there are just too many mechanisms in our body set up to avoid weight loss. The good news is, I know certain strategies that will make the journey much easier and still allow you to eat every food you eat now and lose weight in the most comfortable way possible. But for now, try to work out what your maintenance calorie intake would be, and start to become aware of how many calories are in certain foods.

An introduction

I have an insatiable appetite; I can sometimes go through 2,500 calories in a single sitting and 5,000 calories in a day. I also have a sweet tooth. I love cakes, biscuits, sweets (candy, for our American counterparts), chocolate - is your mouth watering yet? The problem with this combination is that you can easily put on weight, and left unchecked I can easily put on 10 pounds in a week or two. Do this over the course of a year and you have serious problems.

Luckily for me, I have managed to maintain my weight consistently over the last 10 years. Sure, there have been some fluctuations, but I have found ways of staying well within the healthy range whilst enjoying foods that I want in quantities that I want. I want to share some of those concepts with you, so that maybe you can be freed of the helplessness you feel regarding controlling your weight.

I hate hearing when others are on a ‘diet’ as it always signifies that they are going to be depriving themselves for the next 2 weeks (or however long their weak willpower lasts). If you have ever seen me on a diet, you will realise that I certainly don’t deprive myself – often people make comments more in the range of “you are so lucky you can eat so much and still stay thin”. What they don’t realise is that I am not lucky at all, but through certain strategies I use, I am able to still indulge in large portions of delicious food whilst dropping weight.

The typical story for a dieter goes like this - realising they have 20 pounds to lose before their next beach holiday, they quickly research the latest fad diet which involves cutting out everything they love. Usually they will have to do something very strange as a ‘hook’, such as drinking a glass of bath water. There will usually be some idiotic scientific explanation for why drinking a glass of bath water will somehow use the lost bodily salts to supercharge your metabolism (please people, don’t try this – it is just a sarcastic example). After a week, they are already craving everything they cut out of their diet and are pretty sick of the bath water, but as they have lost 6 pounds in their first week, they continue on. Second week comes, they step on the scales and nothing, didn’t budge an inch. All that effort and missing out on good foods, only to see the same reading on the scales as last week. Very quickly, the diet is abandoned and a binge fest of epic proportions begins. Within a week, they have put back on most of the weight they lost, within a month they have gained a little more than original. Now, the cycle either begins again with the next fad diet, or the person feels that dieting simply doesn’t work for them.

Is this someone you know – or you? It doesn’t have to be this way. I am going to try and write a few articles in my spare time - different strategies to help you break free of the above destructive cycle. It will allow you to consistently lose weight and still maintain the ability to go out, have drinks and meals without sabotaging it. I will also try and go through some quality foods that can add a nutritious punch to your meals, as well as fill you up better. The foods and strategies suggested will also enable you to maintain as much muscle as possible during your weight loss, so it will leave you much more toned than most other diet plans.

This is a serious passion of mine, I have spent many years researching this stuff and putting it into practice through tinkering and experimenting with variants and extremes to see what works. I hope that this can influence people in a positive way, and make them think a little differently about dieting and have a more healthy relationship with food. Taking care of yourself and being in shape is one of the best things you can do for your health and general wellbeing. And now, it doesn’t have to be a chore either. Bookmark this page,  share it, add it to your favourites or add your email address at the top of the page to keep track of the updates. I hope it helps you.


Enjoy your food :)