Calories.
You’ll find them in 99.99% of everything you eat and drink. They can be your greatest friends or your worst enemies. Eat fewer than you need and you lose weight. Eat more than you need and you gain weight. Yes, it is that simple.
Since calories affect everyone everyday, it?s important to understand them: what they are, what they do, and how to make them work for you instead of against you.
Some basic facts about calories:
- They represent the amount of energy in the foods you eat and drink.
- They are not partial to certain types of foods. A calorie from a carrot is the same as a calorie from a doughnut (although the carrot calorie is much healthier, of course!).
- Different types of foods are automatically higher in calories. Take 1 gram each of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. The grams of protein and carbohydrate each contain 4 calories, while the gram of fat has 9. Yes, that?s more than double the calories gram per gram. Yikes!
- One pound of fat = 3500 calories.
So how do you get calories on your side in your weight loss battle? First of all you need to know your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the number of calories your body needs every day just to function properly?to breathe, circulate blood, adjust hormone levels, digest food, grow and repair cells, and so on. While there are several formulas to figure out your BMR, here?s an easy one:
Current body weight x 12 = BMR
150 pounds x 12 = 1,800 calories (BMR)
Simply put, if you eat more than your daily BMR, your body stores those extra calories as fat and you gain weight. If you stay below your BMR, you create a calorie deficit and you lose weight. One caution: women should never eat less than 1,200 calories a day, and men should never go below 1,500. Consuming too few calories sends your body into a protective starvation mode and slows down your metabolism, and a slow metabolism doesn?t burn calories as fast and can cause other problems as well.
There are three basic ways to create a calorie deficit:
- Eat fewer calories than your BMR.
- Exercise, because it burns calories and builds muscle, and bigger muscles burn even more calories!
- A combination of #1 and #2?the best option by far.
Here?s how this works:
- If you create a daily 500-calorie deficit, you?ll lose 1 pound a week.
- If you create a daily 1,000-calorie deficit, you?ll lose 2 pounds a week (remember that cutting too many calories from your diet is not good).
I know, I hear you: ?But Heidi, I don?t like to count calories.? You?re not alone. Counting calories is so not fun. However, it?s really important to know what you?re taking into your body every time you open your mouth. Studies show that most people think they?ve eaten 20% fewer calories than they actually have, so trying to estimate your calorie intake is a recipe for disaster.
Until you have an opportunity to weigh and measure your food to figure what your “correct” portions look like, this simple graphic shows a safe and easy way to choose appropriate portion sizes without measuring cups or a scale. This should also help keep you from creating a calorie surplus:
Some final words of advice:
- It?s important to recalculate your BMR as you lose weight.
- Some calorie tracking apps add the calories you burn from exercise into your daily to-eat total, making it look like you can eat more than you actually can, and if you do eat all those calories, you won?t have a calorie deficit at the end of the day. Instead, eat the number of calories in your daily eating plan, and subtract the calories you burned to see your deficit. Remember: one pound of fat = 3500 calories, so work to eventually create a 3500 calorie deficit.
- You can eat calories much faster than you can burn them, so don?t use those exercise-burned calories as permission to eat more food??I burned 500 calories this morning, so I can eat this cupcake.? So not a good way to do it!
To learn more about our preferred and proven eating and exercise plan?Carb Cycling?check out our book, Choose More, Lose More for Life.
205 Responses
Hi there! I am almost 5 feet tall and about 98 pounds. What would my BMR be? Every single pound that I gain is very observable on my tiny frame, and it’s incredibly hard to lose any weight. How can I reach my goal of 92 lbs without depriving my body of the nutrients I need?
Hi Delaney: Your BRM would be 1,176 calories (98 x 12). As you can imagine, most of the people who write asking for help are in a bit of a different situation than you are. The key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume, so just make sure that this is the case for you. And you might want to chat with your healthcare team about this and have them help you figure out some good numbers for you. 🙂
i just posted on another blog you have yet since I’m starting my 90 days on my own I might need to write on a few ! I used this trick at the store yesterday…….I imagined Chris and Heidi filming me! It worked! I know Chris has secretly watched his “flock” and how embarrassing when caught non compliant. Unfortunately it didn’t work later at home as i ate some chocolate. But hey…..today is a new day and I will start anew. How awful to eat the calories you’ve worked hard to sweat off!! uuggh…..always a struggle. Chin high, smiles and always nice thoughts!
Hi! I’m a little confused about the never eat less than 1200 but for me to lose 2lbs/wk I could only eat 644 cals/day. I am 5’2″ 137lb female. Goal weight 120-125. So what am I not understanding? Ihave begun carb cycling and book is in the mail. Should be here tomorrow! Thx so much!!
Hi Chasnee: Chris and Heidi recommend that women eat 1200 calories on low carb days and 1500 calories on high carb days. Since you’ll also be exercising, your body does need enough calories to simply function properly and for the activity you’ll be doing, so if you eat too few calories, your health can suffer, as well as your weight loss goals. Based on the formula in this post, your BMR is 1644 (the amount of calories your body needs to simply function), so if you eat either 1200 or 1500 calories a day, and work out, you’ll be creating a calorie deficit, which leads to lost pounds. Their program has been proven to work, so give it a try!
I have an oddball question. What do you do with picky eaters? I am picky about the fruits I eat, and get literally nauseated with certain vegetables. Since veggies are a part of your carb plan, is there anything else for a picky eater like me? Like maybe I could eat fruit instead of a veggie and substitute the vegetable nutrition with a supplement? The only green vegetables I have ever eaten have been peas or romaine lettuce. Thanks.
Hi Matthew: Carb cycling can be a bit trickier if you’re a picky eater. You don’t want to substitute fruits for veggies (the non-root/non-starchy type), since fruits fall under the carb category and veggies have their own category and can be eaten with every carb cycling meal. You can skip the veggies for high carb meals if you’re full (so be full! Lol), so that should help. Maybe try preparing veggies a different way, or try new veggies and prepare them different ways, and hopefully you’ll find some you can eat. Veggies are nutritional powerhouses for fewer calories, so they’re an important part of carb cycling. Just do your best, experiment a bit, and you should be good to go!
Hi there… I’m a little confused about calorie intake and deficits. In Choose More, Lose More, you show the Calorie Expenditure Chart (page 53), ostensibly as a way to give people an idea of what their deficit and calorie intake should be because everyone is different and starting out at different ages and weights (and heights, event though the chart is only for people of average height). But, then you go on to say that men should have 1500 calories on LC Days and 2000 calories on HC Days. If this is the case, what difference does it make what our calorie expenditure or BMR numbers are? I’m a Male, 6’6″ and 301 pounds. It seems that even with wanting to lose weight, my calorie expenditure, BMR, deficit, and intake numbers should be different than a male that is 5’8″ and 200 pounds. This is really my only confusion, as I’m about to start with the Carb Cycling plan set out in Choose More, Lose More. Thank you so much for your help!
Hi Patrick: So sorry for your confusion. In the BMR formula in this post, only a person’s weight is needed to figure out BMR. Your height – or in this case the difference between your height and the “average” male in the chart – really doesn’t affect your BMR that much, and this formula is very simple for anyone to use. And your age really doesn’t have much of an effect either. For example, I have a fitness tracker that tracks my calories burned every day based on my heart rate, and it only uses my age and weight to do so. I hope that makes sense. The key to weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. For you, based on the formula in this post, your BMR is 3612 calories (301 x 12). So on a high carb day, if you eat 2000 calories, that’s a 1600 calorie deficit, and then the calories you burn from exercise and your daily activities will add to that deficit. (Keep in mind that one pound = 3500 calories). These calorie recommendations also make sure your body gets the nutrients it needs in the right amounts (not too few or too many). And since you are taller, your ideal weight range/goal weight range will be different than for someone who is 5’8″. Once you reach your goal weight range, you will adjust your daily calories to be able to maintain that weight range based on your daily activities and fitness goals. Does all of this make sense? If not, please ask more questions, and I’ll be happy to answer them.
Patrick, I understand the confusion of carbs. Imagine your body is an engine and food is the fuel. On low carb days, the body like a car burns fuel economically only minimally hitting the gas as needed. If you watched a recent episode of EWL, there were 2 brothers who were working with Chris. One of them got an injury, which impeded his ability to exercise. So, Chris put him on a low carb diet while his brother remained on the normal program. Both lost weight, but the low carb diet was not efficient for the other brother to have energy you need from carbs. On high carb days, the body pushes the gas into overdrive, using the full power of the engine. While it burns out more, it has more power and that is what drives energy to burn. As far as the calculation of BMR, I tend to be less liberal because of my own body’s calculation. I found my calories for BMR were 8.78 when I was 355 pounds.
I was just reading through and I don’t think you really answered his question. I think he was saying why would the above formula say to cut 500-1000 calories from your BMR so that is personalized and then give the numbers 1500 LC and 2000 HC. According to the BMR calculation you would do BMR-1000cal to get your ideal calorie goals. According to the overall recommendation from Chris/Heidi he should just use the numbers provided. Why include the formula if you are just going to recommend the same numbers anyway?
Thanks!
Hi,
I have been successful at losing weight many times. However, my problem is keeping it off. I have lost over 100 pounds and have gained 30 back. I am struggling to lose it again. I ordered the carb-cycling book. I am sure that will help. Can I please get some tips to keep it off, it is so hard.
Thanks
Crystal
Hi Crystal: You’ll find all the tips you need in the book. While you’re waiting for your book to arrive, here’s a blog post that outlines the carb cycling basics: https://heidipowell.net/9060. You can do this!
Hi Crystal, what I found works is weighing yourself once a week to see if you gained or stayed the same. If you gain, then have a goal to eat less the following week, counting calories until you reach a deficit that will give you the maintenance weight. Even if you screw up and eat fast food or a buffet, a single day will not determine failure or ruin all the hard work you did. Just need to balance it with lighter meals as a trade off. You gained 30 pounds back. Okay, so make a goal of losing that 30 pounds in 6 months (26 weeks). Then simply reduce your calories by 500-700 per day (plus exercise will increase this deficit), and you will lose at least a pound a week, which will hit that 30 pound goal without killing yourself in the process. Take what foods you ate that caused the weight gain and substitute it with lower calorie versions. Instead of a hamburger, make a turkey burger and instead of a bun, use a pita pouch. Use almond milk in coffee instead of half and half. Things like that will reduce calories, but still taste awesome.
You guys are wonderful~
My husband and I are in our late fifties, but, we don’t look or feel like it, we are a tiny bit feeling it~ anyway I’m lost on how to lose our weight! Ready to order Medifast. I did it in my forties, and lost, and kept it off for 8 years, until my breast cancer in 2006, I don’t want to do it again, it seems like my energy is zero, I walk the house at night, not sleeping~ I don’t want to feel my age!
Hi Victoria: Check out Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program in their book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” The book contains their complete nutrition and exercise program, and it’s the same one they use on the show. It will teach you everything you need to know and do to achieve your own transformations! Learn all about it here: https://heidipowell.net/9060/how-to-begin-your-transformation-journey-step-by-step/. And please discuss this, or any nutrition and exercise program, with your healthcare team first, and then follow their recommendations. You both can do this!
I have PCOS and have been trying to lose weight for a while, I am currently 185lbs looking to get down to 147lbs. I’ve been successful in the past but am struggling at the moment. I am 46. I am consuming 1500 cals daily and I am doing Wii free step for 2 hrs and 40 mins a day, with a 30 min walk at night, so exercising for over 3hrs a day. I am aiming to lose 1.5 lbs a week. I am finding that at the moment, either my weight is sticking completely, or i’ll lose a few pounds one day…and it sticks the rest of the week. I’ve also found that this is how I will have to be for life as the minute I go over my cals or don’t exercise…the weight piles on very quickly. It’s always been difficult to lose weight with PCOS but this is really getting me down right now as I feel i’m doing everything…and getting very little loss. Going by your formula, I should be losing around 1.5 weekly which is what i’m aiming for. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Lynn: It sounds like you’re on the right track! You might want to look into Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program in their book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” It contains their complete nutrition and exercise program, and it will teach you everything you need to know and do to achieve your own transformation! Learn all about it here: https://heidipowell.net/9060/how-to-begin-your-transformation-journey-step-by-step/. And they have had success with their program and clients with PCOS, so discuss it with your healthcare team and then follow any modifications they recommend. You can do this!
Ya lots of your information is wrong compared to every expert on here. First you have BMR and TDEE mixed up . Your equation is wrong. This really needs to be taken down
Chris and Heidi have studied extensively on this subject and have found this information to be correct. I’m so sorry you disagree with what Heidi has written in this post.
Hola, I am 30 my current weight is 203. I am 5’3. I am on day 3 of Chris Powell stage one beginners workout. I am currently on fitness pal to help me keep track of my calories burned and food intake. I just don’t know how many calories I burn during the excerise video. I also jump rope for as long as I can and use 2, 10lb weights for arm workout I do 1 repHi, I am just looking to see what other are doing for their weight loss. I have been struggling for over a year with being stuck after losing over 60 lbs. I have busy life working 6 days a week 6 kids plus husband lol my biggest problem bothering me right now is my huge flabby arms and my gobble gobble as my kids call it (double chin). In think it would boost my self confidence to work on those areas first. 5 reps of 20.
Hi Tina: It sounds like you’re definitely on the right track! It’s hard to tell sometimes how many calories you’re burning while exercising. If you’re interested in an awesome nutrition and exercise program, check out Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program in their book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life.” The book contains their complete program, and it’s the same one they use on the show. It will teach you everything you need to know and do to achieve your own transformation, including what to eat and daily exercise plans! Learn all about it here: https://heidipowell.net/9060/how-to-begin-your-transformation-journey-step-by-step/. You can do this!