Calories Needed to Lose Weight

One of the keys to losing weight is to first determine the “calories needed to lose weight” for you by using a calorie calculator.

One person may need 1,500 calories per day for fat loss, but you may need 1,600, 1,700, or 1,800 calories per day depending on certain variables like your sex, height, current weight, how many pounds you wish to lose, your target weight loss date, and how often and how intensely you plan to exercise.

Consequently, once you learn the calories needed to lose weight for your body, you can begin to lose weight naturally by consuming fewer calories and learning how to eat less.

Calories Needed to Lose Weight Using “Calorie Cycling”

If you plan to count calories to lose weight like I did (I successfully lost 15 pounds), “calorie cycling” can be done to help prevent your body and metabolism from hitting a weight loss plateau.

So what exactly is calorie cycling?

Basically, calorie cycling is just varying your intake of daily calories.  That’s it!

After you determine the calories needed to lose weight for your body by using a calorie calculator, simply use calorie cycling by multiply your daily calories by 7 days (i.e. 1,620 calories per day x 7 days = 11,340 weekly calories) and then divide your weekly calories during the week either evenly or unevenly.

For example, say on Sunday you consume 1,620 calories. On Monday you may consume 1,320 calories and then on Tuesday you may want to consume 1,920 calories. However, on Wednesday you would go back down to 1,620 calories.

Get the idea?

By changing up your intake of daily calories, not only are you staying within your calories for the week, but your daily calories don’t have to be so restricted where you can enjoy high calorie foods in moderation and still lose weight.

Does Calorie Cycling Work?

When I figured out the calories needed to lose weight for me, there were days when I would consume fewer calories and on other days I would consume more where I didn’t realize I was doing calorie cycling all along.

While there is no scientific data to prove that calorie cycling works, it makes sense because again, once you determined the calories needed to lose weight for your body, your daily calories don’t necessarily have to be so restricted.

Accordingly, a less restrictive diet gives dieters an opportunity to eat high calorie foods or meals where they can easily make up for it the following day by eating less and naturally, consume fewer calories. Likewise, calorie cycling helps encourage the body to increase its resting metabolic rate and thus, burn more calories.

If you can regularly exercise and incorporate strength training into your workouts too, you can burn even MORE calories where losing weight can be a lot easier.

Keep in mind that in order for calorie cycling to work, the overall goal is to consume fewer calories. However, one should never go below 1,200 calories per day (for both men and women) or your body will start to think it is starving. If this happens, losing weight can become very challenging.

Therefore, once you can figure out the calories needed to lose weight for your body, if you plan to try calorie cycling, ensure that your metabolism stays elevated by eating at least 5-6 meals a day.

Can “Calorie Cycling” Be Used For All Diets Plans?

In theory, calorie cycling can be used for all diet plans, but instead of applying this to some “diet,” why not simply learn how to improve your eating habits by choosing healthy foods to eat?  If staying within your daily or weekly calories is a big concern for you, you can always create a daily meal plan to use with calorie cycling.

Remember, after you determine the calories needed to lose weight for your body, your daily calories don’t have to be so restricted.

As long as you can stick within your weekly calories and be mindful about not consuming too few calories, any dieter can be successful at losing weight through calorie cycling.

Good Luck!

*Photo for the article Calories Needed to Lose Weight courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net