How Much Should I Eat to Lose Weight

by | Dec 29, 2011 | Health Habits, Nutrition Support, Uncategorized

“How much should I eat to lose weight” is really a very good question. Assuming you are obese and want to reduce your body weight, you need to know that food is calculated in terms of calories and an average human requires roughly 2,000 calories per day. This takes into account energy for walking around the house, working in the office, etc. but not any additional energy requirement for (say) playing baseball or some other physical activity.

So to answer your question –

you have to begin by eating no more than 2,000 calories worth of food.

How do you find out how much food is 2000 calories? There are many country-specific websites online that will help you calculate the calorific value of the food you eat. You need to register at the site (free of cost), and then select the food and the quantity you eat. The online calculator will display the calories consumed.

Now, if you eat 2,000 calories worth of food daily, you will neither lose nor gain weight. 2,000 calories per day establishes a no-gain, no-loss equilibrium. To gain weight you have eat more than 2,000 calories per day. Conversely, to lose weight you have to eat less than 2,000 calories per day.

So the correct answer to your question “how much should I eat to lose weight” would be “less than 2,000 calories worth of food per day.”

I imagine the next question would be “how much less should I eat to lose weight?” The answer is 300 calories. Anything less than 300 calories would be dangerous. When the amount of food you eat generates less than 2,000 calories per day, the body makes up the deficit by burning fat. However, it can safely and quickly burn no more than 300 calories worth of body fat per day. If the food you eat generates less than 1,700 calories per day, the body instead of using fat to make up for the deficit, will use protein meaning it will break down and convert your muscles into energy. Now this would be bad for your health so never allow daily calorie deficit to fall below 300 per day.

My professional answer to the question “how much should I eat to lose weight” would be,

eat food worth 2,000 calories and then do some exercises that would burn about 300 calories.

This would be a win-win situation for you. The exercise would tone up your body, make you feel good, and also create a calorie deficit that will induce your body to burn fat. 300 calories would be burnt if you walk 4 miles (5 km) per day.

The same website that helps you calculate the calories consumed from the food will also have calculators to help you calculate the amount of calories utilized through exercise.