How to Lose Weight – The Simple Truth
When it comes to goal-oriented diets – weight loss (namely fat loss) is the king of them all. However, navigating our way through all the information out there can leave us confused as to the best path of action. Although an incredible surplus of documentation exists on the issue of weight loss it is often presented in a way which leaves the reader feeling daunted. This article is here to set the record straight: Losing weight is EASY but it does require motivation, determination and willpower – especially if your end goal is to totally transform your body.
Losing a large amount of weight not only transforms our bodies but our lives. Achieving a goal like this and seeing such drastic changes brings upon motivation for other aspects of our life and implants a self-belief in our mind that we can achieve anything we desire if only we are sufficiently determined.
How to Lose Weight
The most basic equation to losing weight is that the body must output more energy than it consumes – It is a simple energy balance. This raises a few questions which are answered directly below –
How much energy does my body output?
The amount of energy your body outputs (that is, your resting energy expenditure (REE)) depends on many factors including your age, size, gender and activity level among other things. There are many online calculators to help you calculate the amount of calories (or kilojoules) you should consume in order to lose weight – a simple google search will return the calculators you are after. Almost all of these calculators are based on simple empirical equations provided by Mifflin M.D et al. 1990:
REE (males) = 10 x (weight (kgs)) + 6.25 x (height (cm)) – 5 x (age (years)) + 5
REE (females) = 10 x (weight (kgs)) + 6.25 x (height (cm)) – 5 x (age (years)) – 161
Note that multiplication factors are added to these values depending on your activity levels and these are provided in the table below.
| Exercise Level | Multiplication Factor |
|---|---|
| Resting Energy Expenditure | 1.000 |
| Sedentary | 1.200 |
| Light Exercise | 1.375 |
| Moderate Exercise | 1.550 |
| High Level of Exercise | 1.725 |
| Extreme Level of Exercise | 1.900 |
Some energy expenditure calculators can be found at http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator and https://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-calories-per-day/ to name a few. Other online calculators may use slightly differing formulae, however, the results are generally in good agreement.
How do I know how many calories I am consuming?
Similar to energy output, energy input (or caloric calculators) can be easily found online or in many mobile phone apps. We can calculate the energy from any source of food by adding the calories provided by the carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the consumable to determine its total caloric value. The amount of calories in each gram of our macro diet are provided below –
| Macro | Calories/Gram |
|---|---|
| Protein | 4 |
| Carbohydrates | 4 |
| Fat | 9 |
Mobile phone applications such as ‘my fitness pal’ are popular for people wishing to track their calories as they have pre-input data for many common and uncommon food types. If you cannot find a food that you regularly consume on a mobile app or program then they can be easily found on internet on sites such as http://nutritiondata.self.com/. If you are so inclined and you could set up your own excel spreadsheet to determine your caloric intake.
In summation it is clear that if your consumption based on caloric intake calculations is less than your energy expenditure derived from the equations provided – you will lose weight.
BE|PRIME notes that this article is addressed toward people who are overweight and are trying to lose in surplus of 5-10kg. For people trying to lose small amounts of weight in order to achieve low percentages of body fat many other factors may apply.
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