Losing Weight is as Simple as 66+(6.3 x lbs)+(12.9 x in)-(6.8 x yrs)

Here is the only way to lose weight, ready? Burn more calories than you eat. That’s it, nothing else. Good luck!

…okay I’ll explain more

Calories are found in almost everything we eat or drink. Our bodies use these calories to survive. Breathing, walking, and sprinting all require calories to happen. When the amount of calories we consume are less than the amount of calories our body uses, we lose weight. If we consume the same amount of calories that we use, our weight stays the same. And, if we consume more calories than we use, we gain weight.

There are only two ways to make the amount of calories we consume less than the amount of calories our body uses. We can eat less, or, we can exercise more. Either one of these ways will work but combining the two of them will maximize our results.

How many calories do we need? This answer is different for everyone and it may take a week or two to get it exact, but here is the formula…

Adult Women: 655+(4.3 x weight in pounds)+(4.7 x height in inches)-(4.7 x age in years)=BMR

Adult Men: 66+(6.3 x weight in pounds)+(12.9 x height in inches)-(6.8 x age in years)=BMR

Your BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate. This is how many calories you need to survive if you did nothing but lay in bed all day. Now take your BMR and multiply it by your activity level.

• Sedentary - (no exercise, sit at a desk most of the day): BMR x 120 percent
• Light Activity - (no exercise, on feet during the day): BMR x 130 percent
• Moderate Activity - (exercise 3 or more days a week for 30 minutes or more): BMR x 140 percent
• Highly Active - (exercise 5 or more days a week for 30 minutes or more): BMR x 150 percent

You now have the amount of calories you can eat to maintain your current weight. Confused? Suppose Joe is a moderately active 30 year old male that is 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. Joe’s formula would look like this: 66+(6.3 x 200lbs)+(12.9 x 72in)-(6.8 x 30yrs)=2050.8
2050.8 x 140%=2871.12 We will round it to 2871 calories.

What does this mean? This means that if Joe eats 2871 calories every day his weight would stay the same. Since our goal is to lose weight we need to lower the amount of calories we bring in. A good rule of thumb is to lower our caloric intake by about 500 calories. Therefore, Joe’s daily caloric intake should be around 2371 calories per day to lose 1-2 pounds a week. 1-2 pounds of weight loss a week is a healthy amount to lose. More on this later…

(Also, if Joe's goal is to gain weight, he would need to add about 500 calories a day to gain about 1-2 pounds a week.)

We will need to evaluate our weight loss regularly to see if we are not losing weight, gaining weight, or losing weight to fast. These numbers are not an exact science and may need to be modified after a week or two.

Does this mean Joe can eat whatever he wants under his 2371 calories and still lose weight? The simple answer is yes. However, we will talk about what to eat and why later. For now try to eliminate sugar, lower fat, increase protein, increase whole grains and increase vegetables.