How to Determine Accurate Intake of Calories to Achieve Weight Loss

One common question that I get all the time is,  "How do I calculate the amount of calories I need to be eating each day, in order to lose weight?" And, "How many calories to I add in when I'm exercising? Do I eat my 'exercise calories?"'

When I started my health and fitness journey, I did not use any type of calorie calculator or tracker.  I simply read the book, Eat Clean Recharged, By Tosca Reno and followed the principles of clean eating.  I did not track calories. Instead, I followed her rules for proper portion sizes and the specific pairing of foods together.  I can honestly say that following that method brought me the greatest amount of success.  Contrary to some people, numbers tend to freak me out and make me a little obsessive. So, I stuck with visual portion sizes--and even the basic food pyramid.

 For some people though, counting calories is a MUST.  Maybe this is you!  Maybe you are a numbers person and you need to see it with the data in order to believe that you are making progress.  If this is you, then I am going to do my best to explain to you my understand BMR, and how it relates to determining proper calorie intake for weight loss

Many people, including myself, use programs like My Fitness Pal in order to keep track of their daily calorie intake, by tracking what they eat--almost like a food diary. If you've never tried one of these tools, you should check it out. 

You see, in order to lose weight---one has to create a calorie deficit of about 3500 calories--that is how many calories create a pound of weight. So, for a person on a 2000 a day diet, taking away 500 calories (through either exercise, diet, or both) will create a weekly deficit that is sufficient enough to lose one pound. Make sense?


Depending on how much you need to lose, it is important to determine what kind of daily deficit you can safely aim for. For people who have more weight to lose, sometimes they can safely take away a FULL 1,000 calorie daily deficit---and hence, will be able to lose more over the course of 1 week, in comparison to someone who has less to lose.

If you are a person who is close to goal weight, creating a deficit becomes more difficult. For instance, you may only NEED 1500 calories a day for weight maintenance…which means that you can only safely create a daily deficit of 200-300 calories a day--as it is never safe to dip below 1200 calories a day. Hence, your weight loss will be slower, over a longer period of time. Are you still with me?

So, what do we need to do? Well, we need to know what our BMR is--the Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the rate in which our body burns calories just to function properly. This is the bottom line, so to speak. Once we know what the most bottom caloric number is--we can adjust it accordingly for exercise, daily activity, etc…and, for how much weight loss we are aiming for.

So if you want to figure it out here is what to do.

Step 1: Figure out your BMR Basal Metabolic Rate - this is your body's calorie requirements for basic functioning. You would burn this if you just stayed in bed all day. There is a BMR calculator on this site under TOOLS. This is going to be your minimum number. You will be aiming to eat at least this much every day, if you workout you get to eat those exercise calories back!!

Step 2: Calculate your activity level. Once you have your BMR, you must then calculate your activity level. If you are sedentary (remaining inactive with little to no exercise for most of the day), multiply your BMR by 20 percent. If you perform light activity, multiply by 30 percent. For active individuals for exercise on most days (3-5 days, 60+ minutes), multiply your BMR by 40 percent. And finally, those who are very active---who not only exercise daily, but also have physical jobs---multiply your BMR by 50 percent. Add this number to your BMR, and you know how many calories you need to MAINTAIN your current weight. Use this tool based on your activity level to determine this number, if you like (its a lot easier!).
  Here is an example, using my info--however, it is fairly simple to do a search online: "how many calories do I need to eat in order to maintain weight?" to find a simple calculator for yourself.

I'll use myself as an example for the calculations: 

Step 1: My BMR =1296
Step 2: BMR (1296) x ACTIVE (40%)= 518
Step 3: Add BMR + Activity Level= 1814 calories a day for MAINTENANCE

NOW: If I want to LOSE weight, I need to create a DEFICIT in calories, either by eating less or exercising more. Ideally, you will do a combination of both. So, If I want to lose 1 lb. per week, I would need a daily deficit of 500 calories. This will bring my DAILY CALORIC ALLOWANCE to: 1314. If I am a numbers person, and I follow this formula--I will see the results that I'm hoping for. 

However…always keep in mind…..it is NEVER SAFE to dip below 1200 calories a day--or below your basic BMR. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to have a beating heart, breathing lungs, thinking brain…you get my point. Be smart. And remember---you cannot outrun your calories. Diet is 80% of this equation. Meaning---I cannot lot 5 hours at the gym to make up for a binge session at a fast food joint---it doesn't work that way. Eat Clean---nourish your body properly--that is 80% of the weight loss journey.

**One more thing - don't forget to readjust your numbers as you lose weight!! :) 

So now the question is this.  Did I completely confuse you or do you feel confident in figuring out your nutritional intake? 

If you want more guidance on clean eating and getting in your calories by consuming the most nutritionally dense foods that are going to enhance your progress and give you energy then consider joining my next challenge group.  In my challenge groups I teach you all the principles of clean eating, keep you accountable by checking in each day, require you to post your progress, give you meal plans, recipes and tips to stay on track.

I will teach you all the principles of clean eating along with some of these awesome calorie calculating tools as well.  It's amazing how MUCH food you can actually eat when you consume whole foods instead of processed pre packaged foods.  The results come in your waistline, energy level and satiety!!!

Ask me about my April Challenge Groups!

Fitness + Support + Nutrition= Success

In the meantime, I highly recommend checking creating a FREE Teambeachbody account HERE. Click on "Eat Smart," and start using simple tools to track your progress without all of the crazy math equations (YUCK!). Further--the system will GENERATE A MENU for you, based on your needs and your preferences!! How can you beat that???