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
Hello That is great information. I am 5’5 129 and my bodyfat is 17% but I want to get leaner and build more muscle. How many calories would I eat? would I do the Turbo carb cycle? What would my macros be? Grams of protein fat and carbs (starch, veggie) divided by 6 meals
I was thinking I need 150 gm of protein a day, 150 of carbs on a high day and 75-100 on a low day and 20 gm of fat.. thoughts?
Hi Ann: You could certainly do the Turbo Cycle, and your daily calorie recommendation would be 1200 calories on low-carb days and 1500 calories on high-carb days. Since we count portion sizes, we don’t have any macro amounts available. Follow the portion size guides (and count calories if you’d like to), and you’ll be good to go!
Hi ..im 5’5 and i weight 250 and im 46 yrs old. I started 10 day ago eating healthy and walking 5 miles a day my BMR is 1780 . I eat only 1000 to 900 calories a day will nd can i still lose weight witout eating all of my calories deficit of 1780 daily?
Hi Racquel: Chris and Heidi recommend that women don’t go lower than 1200 calories a day. Your body does need a certain amount of calories to function properly, and it can hurt your weight loss to eat too few calories too. If you’re interested, check out their carb cycling program here: https://heidipowell.net/2713. Hope that helps!
I am 5’7, 383 lbs, female, 30 years old. I walk 30 minutes a day, trying to work up to an hour. My bmr is 4596. I tried restricting down to 3000 calories a day recently and ended up gaining weight even though that’s a huge deficit. I saw a nutritionist and she suggested low carb/1200 calories a day. I just want to get healthy. What should I do? : (
Hi Cathy: You might want to try Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program. In their program, women eat 1200 calories on low-carb days and 1500 calories on high-carb days. You can learn more about their complete nutrition and exercise program here: https://heidipowell.net/9060. You can do this! 🙂
Hello! I am currently exclusively breastfeeding a 4.5 month old and I’ve heard conflicting information about how many extra calories this would burn for me in a day. I’m not overly concerned about my weight right now, but am working on motivation to start working out regularly again and would like an idea of how breastfeeding is impacting my caloric usage. Do you have any information about breastfeeding and the calories it burns?
Ps, I was very excited to come across your site in my search, you guys are two of my favourites!
Thanks.
Hi Lisa: The number of calories burned through any activity, breastfeeding included, depends on several factors – body weight, body composition, and others – so there’s not really a one-size-fits-all answer to your question. Here’s a blog post about Heidi’s breastfeeding nutrition program, and it might give you some tips you can use: https://heidipowell.net/2275. And congratulations on your new little one! 🙂
Hi there,
I’m 29 years old I’m 5″7 and I weigh 130 lbs, I know what you’re going to say “You’re not over weight” and I am aware of that, but after the birth of my second daughter 2 years ago I’ve found it increasingly hard to lose the last 10lbs and I’m working so hard!!
I’ve come from a background of anorexia and I just want to find balance for the first time in my life.
Please I really need help in figuring this out.
Laura
Hi Laura: Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program can work no matter how many pounds you want to lose or if you simply want to develop some healthy habits that can benefit you for life. You can learn more about their program here: https://heidipowell.net/9060. You can do this!
Hi there. I was watching extreme Weight loss and one of the people had a calorie counting watch and was exercising and could see the calories burned, I’ve tried looking online but they just seem to be “step counters”, Recommendations? I think that would be very motivating
Hi Tracie: I’m so sorry, but I don’t have that information for that particular watch. There are several on the market – look for one that has a heart rate monitor in it. That feature is usually the one that counts calories for you. 🙂
Getting a bit frustrated and looking on the blog for advice. I have been doing Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program and the exercise outlined in Choose More, Lose More.
In a female, so have been doing 5 meals a day, 1200 low carb, 1500 high carb, and 2500 on cheat days.
For the first 4 weeks, I did the regular plan, but the weight was not budging. For the last 2 weeks, I’ve done the turbo plan.
Weighed in for the week today and still nothing. Gained half a pound.
I weigh 300 pounds and am 5’4″ – how is it possible to eat this amount and not lose weight. 4 out of the 6 weeks I either lost almost nothing or gained.
I really don’t want to quit. I keep telling myself that this week wI’ll be the week the numbers start dropping. But, it’s been disappointing weigh-in after weigh-in.
Any suggestions?
I am carefully weighing measuring all my food, so I know calorie counts are good.
I’ve taken measurements and they haven’t budged, so the answer isn’t “losing inches.”
Drinking lots of water and up to 30 min cardio a day plus the morning missions every weekday.
Please help!
Hi Ryan: It’s so easy to tell how frustrated you are, and I’m so sorry! I’m going to email you at the email address associated with your comment, and we’ll work together to figure this out!
I am having a similar problem……… I am 265 pounds, I exercise twice a day for about an hour, I eat 1400 calories and I have been at 265 for the last 4 weeks, the weight is not coming off. I lost 10 pounds and everything just stopped. I haven’t had a cheat day yet, so I have not eaten anything out of the ordinary . What’s happening I am 5 feet 4 inches as well.
Hi Jamila: In Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program, they incorporate regular reward meals/days (depending on the cycle you’re following), which has been proven to help you lose weight. They also have different calorie consumption recommendations for low- and high-carb days, as well as a slingshot week (one week of all high-carb days) every 4th week. They’ve found that this way of consuming calories really does help with weight loss. If you’re interested in seeing if there’s something in their program you can add to what you’re already doing, here’s a link to the program basics: https://heidipowell.net/9060.
I posted this before, but never got an answer.
I doing the Turbo cycle. I workout 5 days a week. I do cardio circuits on my low carb days and weight circuits with cardio circuits on high carb days.
I am assuming I shoukd eat my exercise calories? I log my food. So if I eat 1200 calories but do a 40 minute cardio circuit I shoukd eat tge extra 250 calories?
Hi Alicia: No, you won’t eat your exercise calories. Those go towards your calorie deficit, which leads to lost pounds. Calories consumed – calories burned = calorie deficit or surplus. Hope that helps!
THANK YOU for asking that question! I’ve been really conflicted about it as my nutritionist said I was in starvation mode because I was turbo carb cycling and after working out I was only coming in at 600 calories (after work out calories burned) – which was starvation mode and I lost NOTHING! So frustrating, but not giving up!
Sooo.. I actually have a question about GAINING weight. I am currently 5’2 and able enough to eat more, but I’m not sure about how many calories I am.. I weigh 80 lbs sith a goal of 100-105 but I don’t want to be fat.. more like a fit body but I still wanna gain weight. Anyway, How would I know how many calories I am if I’m 80 lbs?? I’m starting to eat more but I need to know my RMR/BRM! Please Help Me On This.. ?
Hi Nyla: Based on the formula in this post, your BMR would be 80 x 12 = 960 calories. This is the number of calories your body needs every day to simply function, and doesn’t include any activity at all. To gain a pound a week, you’ll need to consume 500 calories (healthy calories!) over and above your BMR and any calories you burn through activity. Many of the same principles apply to both adding muscle mass/healthy weight and losing weight, so you can utilize some of Chris and Heidi’s weight loss tools found in their book, “Choose More, Lose More for Life,” to help you develop a healthier lifestyle. If you’d like to purchase their book, you can find it here: http://amzn.to/1rhkPaQ. Here’s one helpful hint: When adding muscle mass, you’ll want to consume more healthy lean protein. Get a list of approved foods on their plan – lean proteins, smart carbs, veggies, and healthy fats – in their book, as well as lots of healthy and quick recipes! If you are serious about building muscle mass/healthy weight, your best option would be to find a certified personal trainer who can work with you on a one-on-one basis and better assist you in achieving your goals. You can do this!
Hello Team Powell
I have a question about losing weight. On the show I see client’s losing a pound a day. My RMR is 1934. Does this mean that if I eat 1500 calories a day I need to burn 3066 through exercise to lose a pound a day? 3500 – 1934 = 1566 + 1500 = 3066 Did I just confuse and me?
Hi Rania: On the show, the contestants have a very large amount of weight to lose, and with your RMR/BMR number as it is, it doesn’t appear that you have nearly as much weight that you want to lose, so your rate of weight loss will be slower. Your formula would be like this: 1500 – 1934 – cals burned through exercise = daily calorie deficit (which equals lost pounds). For example, let’s say you burn 500 calories through exercising, then this formula would be 1500 – 1934 – 500 = -934 calories. -934 x 5 days (in Chris and Heidi’s carb cycling program, you exercise Monday-Friday) = -4670 calories or a 1.33 pound/week weight loss (-4670/3500 calories in a pound). Does that make sense? And the more active you are, and the more days you exercise, the higher that calorie deficit number will be, so get in as much movement as you can throughout your day. Park farther away from the store, go on a walk – those calories burned through activity don’t even have to be “cardio,” any movement counts. Hope that helps!
I’m preparing my first week on the Classic plan, but am concerned with the volume of food for intake. The reason is that 13 years ago I had gastric bypass surgery and still have a limited food allowance that can be eaten at a time. I am 5’1″ and pre-surgery was 250lbs. I lost just over 100 to get to 145 (still overweight for my height, but I looked and felt healthy and my doctor was comfortable). I am now back up to 200 lbs, which is a place I promised myself I would never allow me to get back to. I “fell” but am not allowing myself to “fail” because of it. I’m committed to make new changes, including carb cycling. I just need advice. Normally, I would ask my surgeon, but he has retired and I do not have another bariatric physician since it’s been so long. I have not found anything regarding bariatric surgeries on Heidi’s blog or other resources. If something is out there, I would love to check it out. If not, I would be grateful for any suggestions on possible modifications for limited volumes (other than skipping veggies when full – I would never get my veggies in!). Thank you in advance, Team Powell!
Hi Sheri: Welcome to carb cycling! With your previous bypass surgery, it is so important that you find a medical provider to work with who can help you know how to modify the nutrition part of the program to fit your needs. It is so difficult to offer advice in situations like this since each case is unique. We want to keep you safe and doing what’s best for you! You can do this!