How do calories affect body weight?

Losing 1 pound requires that you burn approximately 3,500 more calories than you consume. Your estimated daily calorie budget is the number of calories you should consume in order to create the deficit required to achieve your goal. It is computed using two factors:

  • An estimate of the number of calories you burn each day
  • The number of pounds you are attempting to lose per week

For example, if you are attempting to lose one pound per week and you normally burn 2,500 calories per day, your daily calorie budget would be 2,000. This number is computed as follows:

  • Weekly calorie deficit required to lose one pound = 3,500
  • Daily calorie deficit = 500 (3,500 divided by 7)
  • Daily calorie budget = 2,000 (2,500 minus daily calorie deficit of 500)

The reliability of this method is contingent upon an accurate estimate of your daily calories burned. The estimate may therefore be inaccurate for a variety of reasons (e.g. more or less active metabolism than normal or more or less daily occupational activity than normal).

July 23, 2020 | Comments Off