Do I Have To Count Calories?

Let's take a look at the first principle of The Small Step Diet.

Counting Calories.
There is one reasons why you need to know your caloric intake for each day.
*So you can know you're eating the right amount of calories.*

Some people make such a big deal out of this, but it's really a simple principle. The less calories you eat, the less weight you'll maintain.

How many calories do I need to eat to lose weight?
There are many places online to figure this out, but let me give you the basic, simple, general rule for figuring out how many calories your body needs to maintain a weight. (I've listed some online calculators and websites that will tweak and give you a more precise figure on the bottom of this post)

Here's the simple formula to generally figure out your daily calorie needs:
*Multiply your desired weight by*
(15 ) for men
(14) for women

Example:
I weighed 205 lbs when I started. My target weight was 170 lbs.

170 (pounds) x 15 = 2550

This formula is general. It's definately not exact, but it will give you a target weight of an average man and woman which is good enough to use if you quickly want to know what to shoot for.

The Small Step Diet is all about taking small comfortable steps towards your goals. The thing to remember is you'll get to your ultimate goal by stepping forward. It doesn't matter how small those steps are, time is not the factor. It's taking those small steps and advancing forward that count. This is what will give you success.

The Small Step Diet concept here is to take this desired weight figure and determine for yourself how much to reduce it by.

If you weigh 200 lbs and want to weigh 170 you need to reduce your calorie intake by 450 calories a day to get down to this desired weight.

200lbs (3000cal) - 170lbs (2550cal) = 30lbs (450cal)

This means you need to eat 2550 calories a day to maintain the weight of 170lbs.

Let's say you want to reduce your weight to 165 lbs in three months. Thats 1 - 2 lbs a week. This is optimal weight loss to perserve muscle and correct body fat. Faster weight loss than this may cause reducions in these two areas. So when you hear or see those advertizements to lose weight faster than this, consider the factors.

Calorie Calculator
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Free Diet & Weigh Loss Journal
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