How to Calculate Your Daily Caloric Needs.

Calculating your daily caloric needs is something you can easily do on your own (see link towards the bottom of this post) or you can go to the doctor and request to meet with a Dietitian. A Dietitian is an individual who has to report to national boards and is held accountable for their actions in the medical profession. They are also individuals who are required to complete at least a Bachelors of Science degree and go through rigorous internships to gain experience prior to guiding the public on healthful nutrition habits, etc. These folks know how your body chemically interacts with the things you eat and what things you can do to achieve various nutrition or fitness goals. This is the kind of person you want to consult with when if you are considering losing weight, weight gain (muscle), or maintaining weight. 

Fads come and go, but the basic formula for losing weight is a matter of doing calculations, managing intake and being active (even just a little more than normal). Fads are easy to follow because of the quick results and hype, but if you commit to a basic nutrition and exercise habit then you will reach your goals with time. Taking the time to create a healthy habit and giving yourself time to lose weight will most often keep the weight off compared to following a fad diet. Not to mention everyone is different. The best plan for you is one you create, or help create with a professional. I feel it is hard for many people because we see ourselves each day and may not notice the little changes, but there will be changes if you stick to a healthy plan.

If you are trying to reduce intake to lose weight then your personal Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) is an important thing to know. Everyone is different in this regard. A person’s height, weight and age all need to be taken into consideration when calculating your BMR. This calculation will result in the amount of calories your individual body needs each day to keep you kicking. Even if you were to stay in bed all day long you would still need calories for your body to function. Your body’s job is to keep you alive and calories are the fuel that helps it do its job. Our heart beating, neurons communicating and internal systems running properly don't just happen without outside input. The food we eat directly contributes to our internal systems doing what they need to. 

BMR calculator:

• http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

I downloaded the 'myfitnesspal' app onto my phone and used it when I lost weight earlier this year. The app does the BMR calculations for you and also helps you track your activity and food intake. You can even input your goal weight and it will tell you how long it will take you to achieve that goal given you eat X amount of calories per day and maintain some kind of activity level. I really like this tool.

If you want more information on healthy weight loss/management the CDC has information:

• http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/index.html

If you want more information on good food choices and food planning 'myplate' is a good tool: 

• http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories.html

I decided to share a little of my story to further bring the message home that if you really assess yourself and commit to making changes you can achieve your health goals with time. 

I have lost about 27 pounds in the last six months. I had to kick my butt into high gear at the gym because I ate really healthy 80-90% of the time, but I often over ate and didn't exercise very much. For me it wasn't fast food or greasy food, it was simply eating too much healthy food. Yea, that is a thing. Crazy, huh? I had slowly been gaining weight for years. Of course I didn't notice much or care until I thought about it in terms of lifelong health. I didn't want to just slowly gain more and more weight my whole life and be limited due to weight as I got older. 

My Grandma was a very large woman and that was because she slowly gained weight over the span of her life. Unfortunately it was weight related complications that lead to her leaving us much too soon. That was a big wake up call for me. I wasn't overweight and I was still at a healthy range on the body mass index (BMI), but I was high in the healthy range of the BMI. Once I thought about how I was gaining weight slowly, yet constantly I decided to make changes. I wanted to change my habits to lose weight then maintain a more healthy weight. I wasn't fully comfortable at the gym at first, but after trying out different machines, etc, I got more comfortable and it didn't feel like a chore. I found that going to a Pilates class twice a week then doing 1-2 miles of cardio was the perfect combination for me to work my muscles and my cardiovascular system. Plus I didn't get bored. I also started jogging around my block a few days a week with the help of an app called 'Strava Run' which tracked how far I ran.