How Many Calories Should You Eat to Lose Weight

How Many Calories Should You Eat to Lose Weight?

Calories, those little units of energy you consume, are arguably the most talked-about part of healthy eating and weight loss. If you take in more calories than you use, you'll gain weight, if you take in fewer calories than you use, you'll lose weight, and if those numbers are pretty much the same, you'll maintain your current weight. In reality, it's a little more complicated than that. Here, experts explain how to figure out how many calories you should eat to lose weight, and why that number isn't necessarily the most important (or healthy) thing to focus on.

What are Calories?

A calorie is a unit that measures energy. People most commonly see the term calorie when discuss the energy content of the food and drink that we ingest. From a nutritional aspect, all types of food, whether they are fats, proteins, carbohydrates or sugars are important sources of calories, which people need to live and function.

It starts back in 1863 when scientists first defined a calorie as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water from 0 to 1 degree Celsius. Then in 1925, calories became scientifically defined in terms of joules, units typically used by physicists to describe the amount of work needed to force one newton through one meter. That’s why here in Australia and in Europe, we utilise the term ‘kilojoules’.

Are All Calories the Same?

Even though your total calorie intake matters most for weight loss, all calories are not created equal. Calories from nutritious food sources will help you to feel full longer, provide fuel for your daily activity, and improve your well-being. So what are healthy foods?

Colorful vegetables like leafy salad greens, bright peppers, crunchy carrots or radishes. Experiment to find flavors that you enjoy.

Lean meats like chicken and fish. You may also enjoy red meat in moderation.

Whole fruits rather than fruit juices or fruit-flavored snacks.

Whole grains that provide fiber such as oatmeal, whole grain bread or crackers.

Water instead of sports drinks, sweetened tea, or sodas.

Nuts, seeds, and other sources of healthy fats in small servings.

Empty calories, on the other hand, can leave you feeling hungry, increase your cravings for food, and even increase fatigue. What are empty calories? You'll find them in processed foods that contain added sugars, trans fat, excess fat, and calories. Empty calories provide you energy but not the fiber, vitamins, and minerals you need.

Creating a Calorie Deficit

If the amount of calories you eat is equal to the number of calories you burn, you will maintain your current weight. If you eat less, you will use more reserve fuels for energy and lose fat and muscle weight. And if you eat more, you store more reserve fuel and gain muscle and/or fat. This is the calorie balance equation for weight management: calories in versus calories out.

There is no special diet, pill, or food that is able to hack your metabolism and change this basic formula. No matter how much fat or how many calories you burn for fuel, you cannot lose weight or lose fat unless you eat less than what you burn through a consistent calorie deficit.

How many calories should you be eating?

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends the following daily calorie intake:

Person Calories per day

Women, 19-51 years old 1,800-2,400

Men, 19-51 years old 2,200-3,000

Children and adolescents, 2-18 years old 1,000-3,200

The number of USDA-recommended calories varies depending on gender, age, and activity level. People who lead more active lifestyles or those who want to gain weight will need to consume more calories.

Guidance on choosing healthy foods that fulfill your daily calorie needs can be found at the USDA website ChooseMyPlate.gov.

How to reduce calorie intake without starving yourself

Calories are simply a measure of energy. It’s a known fact that to gain weight, more calories need to be entering your body than leaving it. Conversely, you lose weight if more calories leave your body than enter it. That said, cutting calories without taking the foods you eat into account is usually not a sustainable way to lose weight.

Though it works for some people, most end up hungry and eventually give up on their diet.

It’s highly recommended to make a few other permanent changes to help you maintain a calorie deficit in the long term, without feeling starved.

Here are several evidence-based diet and lifestyle changes that have been shown to help people lose weight.

Reduce your carb intake

Cutting carbs is a very effective way to lose weight, as it reduces appetite and makes you eat fewer calories automatically.

Eating a low carb diet until fullness can make you lose about two to three times more weight than a calorie-restricted, low fat diet.

Not only that, but low carb diets also have many other benefits for health, especially for people with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome. But you don’t have to go low-carb. Simply ensure that you eat quality, fiber-rich carb sources, focusing on whole, single-ingredient foods.

If you stick to whole foods, the exact composition of your diet becomes less important

Avoid sugary soft drinks and fruit juices

Another relatively easy change you can make is to eliminate liquid sugar calories from your diet.

This includes sodas, fruit juices, chocolate milk, and other beverages with added sugar.

These products are among the most fattening aspects of the modern diet, as your brain doesn’t register liquid calories in the same way as it registers solid calories.

For this reason, drinking sugary soda doesn't make your brain automatically compensate by having you eat smaller amounts of other things instead.

Sugary drinks are strongly linked to an increased risk of obesity, with one study in children showing a 60% increased risk for each daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage.

The harmful effects of sugar go beyond weight gain. It can have disastrous effects on metabolic health and raise your risk of many diseases.

Though small amounts of natural sugars from foods like fruit are fine, large amounts from added sugar and sugary drinks can harm your health in a variety of ways.

There is no physiological need for these beverages, and the long-term benefits of avoiding them can be enormous.

It’s important to avoid sugary soft drinks and fruit juices, as liquid sugar is the single most fattening aspect of the Western diet.

Eat more protein

When it comes to losing weight, protein is the king of nutrients. Adding protein to your diet is the simplest, most effective, and most delicious way to lose weight with minimal effort.

Protein both increases your metabolic rate and helps curb your appetite.

Because protein requires energy to metabolize, a high protein diet can increase calories burned by 80–100 calories per day.

Protein is also by far the most filling nutrient. You can easily increase calories out and reduce calories in just by adding protein to your diet.

Protein can also help fight cravings, which are a dieter's worst enemy.

In one study, consuming 25% of daily calories from protein reduced obsessive thoughts about food by 60% and cut the desire for late-night snacking by 50%.

If you want to lose weight sustainably and with minimal effort, consider making a permanent increase in your protein intake.

It will not only help you lose weight but also prevent ⁠— or at least significantly reduce ⁠— weight regain.

Increasing your protein intake can boost metabolism, fight cravings, and significantly reduce appetite. This can lead to automatic weight loss.

Exercise and lift weights

When you eat fewer calories, your body compensates by saving energy, making you burn less.

This is why long-term calorie restriction can significantly reduce metabolism.

Plus, it can lead to loss of muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active, so this can reduce metabolism even further.

The only proven strategy to prevent this effect is to exert your muscles by lifting weights.

This has been repeatedly shown to prevent muscle loss and stop your metabolism from slowing during long-term calorie restriction.

If you’re trying to lose weight, you don't want to just lose fat, you also want to make sure that you take care of your muscles.

If you can't get to a gym, consider doing bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups, squats, and sit-ups, at home.

Doing some cardio, including walking, or jogging, can also be important, not necessarily for weight loss but for optimal health and general well-being.

What’s more, exercise has a variety of other benefits that go beyond weight loss, such as longevity, lower risk of disease, more energy, and feeling better every day.

Lifting weights is important, as it reduces muscle loss and prevents your metabolic rate from slowing.

How to lose weight

If you want to lose weight, the answer is simple, at least in theory. You must eat fewer calories than you use each day.

Once you find your suggested calorie level, subtract about 500 calories, which will allow for about a pound per week weight loss. But be careful; diets that promote very low-calorie intakes, usually under 800 to 1,000 calories per day, can have major negative side effects, such as:

fatigue

nausea

constipation

diarrhea

Rapid weight loss can also cause gallstones. The risk is especially high for women.

To help you determine how many calories you are eating, keep track of what you eat each day. Make a list in a notebook or use one of the many free calorie counters available online, such as this one provided by the USDA.

Remember to eat a healthy balance of:

protein

vegetables

fruits

grains

healthy fats

dairy

Limit the amount of added sugar you eat each day.

Can You Eat Whatever You Want and Still Lose Weight?

You can eat whatever you want and lose weight as long as you stay in your calorie range. Theoretically, you could eat candy bars all day and lose weight. But you probably wouldn't want to. Why? Because it would be very hard to stay in your calorie range if you don't eat nutritious foods.

Healthy foods help you to feel strong, energized, and satiated. Empty calorie foods don't provide your body with the nutrients you need to live an active, well life. And when you eat junk food, you're likely to get hungry more often and overeat as a result.