How Many Calories Should I Eat to Lose WeightSome calorie calculators help you find out how many calories you need to maintain your weight. But what if you want to slim down Then, what you really want to know is how many calories should I eat to lose weightIts an easy process to get the right number of caloriesfor weight loss, for weight gain, or for weight maintenance. Just follow these simple steps. Then, youll know how many calories you need to eat a day to reach your goal. How Does a Calorie Calculator Work To get the best calorie numbers, its best to use a weight loss calculator. Its a simple procedure and can even be fun and interestingeven if youre not trying to change your weight. How does a calorie counter work After you input data, it uses a formula called the Mifflin St. Jeor equation to calculate your resting metabolic rate. Thats the number of calories your body needs to function when it is at rest. Then, based on your personalized lifestyle information, the calculator adds the number of calories you need to fuel your body for daily activity. Finally, it either adds calories to gain weight or subtracts calories to help you lose weight. But what if you want your weight to stay the same The calculator can figure out how many calories you should eat to maintain weight as well. This information is helpful for many healthy eaters. If you are at a healthy weight and want to maintain your body size, you should make sure that you dont eat too much or too little. For some adults, that means consuming a 2. Thats the number that is referenced on the Nutrition Facts label. But many people are larger or smaller than average, or are more or less active than normal and have different calorie needs. Using the Weight Loss Calculator. Are you ready to give the calorie calculator a try Youll need to provide some important information about your age, gender, height, and your current weight to get the right calorie number. The calculator needs this data because these are factors that influence your metabolic rateor the number of calories that your body needs to function. In general, men need more calories than women. Larger bodies need more calories than smaller bodies and younger adults require more calories than older adults. Berbere. Youll also be asked about your activity habits. If your body is more active during the day, it requires more fuel in the form of calories. Try to be as honest as possible about your exercise and daily activity habits. If you fudge the numbers, you wont get an accurate result. If youre not sure how active you are during the day, keep an activity journal for a week or look at data from your fitness tracker to get a smart estimate. Calorie-Vegan-Diet.jpg' alt='How To Eat 1200 Calories A Day' title='How To Eat 1200 Calories A Day' />Next, youll be asked about your goals. Its important to be realistic during this step. Your goal weight may be different than an ideal weight or a perfect weight. For example, you may want to weigh 1. But if you have struggled with your weight for most of your life and have never been lower than 1. Figuring Weight Loss Calories. The supplied calculations help you estimate how many calories you burn daily and how much you can eat to maintain your weight. A 1,200calorie diet is considered a low intake that should prompt weight loss in most people. If youre combining it with regular exercise but not. This 7day meal plan makes it easy to eat your veggies. Incorporating more plantbased foods into your diet is a great way to boost your health. How many calories do your kids need to eat each day Calorie needs are easy to calculate and are based on your childs age, sex, and activity level. Heres How Many Calories You Should Be Eating For Weight Loss. What are carbs What foods have carbs How many carbs should you eat Before you settle on a number or stop eating carbs altogether, educate yourself about the. Could you survive on 1,200 calories per day Thats the potentially dangerous challenge thousands of people are setting themselves in pursuit of the perfect body. Try to set a goal that you believe to be attainable. Once you reach your goal, you can always set a new one. Lastly, youll have the option to select a date when youd like to reach your goal. Keep in mind that if you are trying to lose weight, a healthy rate of weight loss is 0. If you are trying to gain weight, you may be able to put on approximately 1 pound per week. Reaching Your Goal Weight. When you complete the calorie calculator process, youll get a daily calorie goal. This is the number of calories you should eat each day to reach your desired weight in the time frame that you set. If you are trying to gain weight, your daily calorie goal will include a calorie surplus. But if weight loss is your goal, a calorie deficit is factored into your final number. A calorie deficit is simply an energy shortfall. When you create a calorie deficit, you deprive your body of the fuel it needs to function. So, your body burns stored fat excess weight for fuel instead. A calorie deficit occurs when you cut calories by eating less than your body needs or burn extra calories with physical activity. You can also combine diet and exercise to create a calorie deficit. As a general rule, most experts say that a total weekly calorie deficit of 3,5. If you cut more calories, youll lose weight faster. But it is not safe or effective to cut too many calories. Very low calorie diets less than 8. Sound complicated Lets use an example to explain. Lets say that you are a sedentary woman. That means that you dont exercise on a regular basis. The weight loss calculator may say that you need to eat 1,2. But you dont think that you can cut enough food from your diet to reach that number. Thats OK. You can simply add exercise to your weekly routine to account for a few extra calories. Here are a few ways you might make it work In each of these scenarios, youve added calories to your daily food budget, but youve burned more calories with exercise to maintain the proper calorie deficit for weight loss. If you want to lose weight faster, you simply add the exercise to your daily routine without adding calories to your daily diet. FAQs About the Weight Loss Calculator. Still confused about using a calculator for weight loss These are a few common questions that dieters often ask. Can I eat whatever I want and still lose weight This is a tricky question. You can eat whatever you want and lose weight as long as you stay in your calorie range. Theoretically, you could eat candy bars all day and lose weight. But you probably wouldnt want to. Why Because it would be very very hard to stay in your calorie range if you dont eat nutritious foods. Healthy foods help you to feel strong, energized and satiated. Empty calorie foods dont provide your body with the nutrients you need to live an active, well life. And when you eat junk food, youre likely to get hungry more often and overeat as a result. Can I eat more if I exercise every day If you factored exercise into the equation when you used the calculator, then you should not eat more if you exercise. Your daily calorie goal the calculator result has already accounted for the additional physical activity. But if you did not factor in exercise when you used the calculator and you added a workout session to your day, then the calories burned during exercise will increase your calorie deficit. If you dont eat back your exercise calories, the increased deficit will help you to lose weight faster. If you do eat back the same number of calories that you burned then you will lose weight at the same rate as indicated in your calorie calculator result. Be careful however, its very easy to eat more calories than you burn after exercise. This causes weight gain, not weight loss. How should I count my daily caloriesThere are different ways that you can keep track of your daily calorie intake. Many dieters use a smartphone app or website like My. Fitness. Pal or Lose. It. These services allow you to input the food youve eaten along with your portion size and it automatically calculates your daily calories. There are also activity trackers, like Fitbit, that help you count daily food calories and daily exercise calories. If youre not a fan of tech gadgets, use a paper food journal. Simply write your calories in a notebook or on a daily food intake sheet to count your daily numbers. Should I buy or join a diet program to lose weight If so, which weight loss program is best There is no best diet because every dieter is different and has a different lifestyle with different needs. The diet that will work best for you is the diet you can stick to. For some people, a do it yourself program is best. But others benefit from the structured approach of a commercial weight loss program. Ask yourself key questions about your lifestyle do you cook Are all calories the same or are some calories better than others Even though your total calorie intake matters most for weight loss, all calories are not created equal. How Many Carbs Should You Eat a Day According to American Diabetes Association guidelines, most people with type 2 diabetes should start taking a blood glucose lowering medication, typically metformin a generic medication that helps the body better use the insulin you still make, as soon as they are diagnosed. Most people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes have had blood sugar levels in the diabetes range for months if not years before diagnosis. Dont think of taking blood glucose lowering medication as failing. Type 2 diabetes, with prediabetes as its starting point, is a progressive disease during which people slowly lose their insulin making capabilities over time. Its of no health value to severely restrict the amount of carbs you eat to manage your blood sugar levels andor delay medication. The recommended course of action to stay healthy with type 2 diabetes is to get blood glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure numbers under control soon after the time of diagnosisand maintain target goalsadjusting diet and medication as needed. Hope Warshaw, RD, CDE, is a contributing editor for Diabetic Living and the author of numerous books published by the American Diabetes Association, including Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy 2. Guide to Healthy Restaurant Eating 2.