“How Many Calories Should I Eat?” Part 1
If there is one question health and fitness coaches hear more than any other it is – “How many calories should I eat?” (Followed closely by “Do I really have to watch what I eat and workout? Can’t I just take this supplement instead?” But that’s an entirely different article!)
It doesn’t matter if you hate shopping in the Big & Tall stores for your clothes, if you’re a mom wanting to lose that post-pregnancy weight, if you are tired of being the super skinny kid, if your doctor told you that you need to lose weight before your heart explodes, or if you woke up and just weren’t happy with what you saw in the mirror.
Whatever the rationale, you want to make a change and you’re not alone! Look, every day thousands of people make the decision to start eating better and changing their weight… there’s a reason the diet industry is a $20 billion per year juggernaut, and there’s a reason why you’re here looking for tips on how to join our team of aspiring real-life superheroes! You see, the average “dieter” makes four attempts a year top lose weight. I will let that sink in… on average, people that want to lose weight make a concerted effort 4 times a year! Now, let’s assume that they all succeed on the 4th attempt (which is most definitely a bad call) that means 9 months of the year was spent doing it wrong! (And a good portion of that time was probably spent wasting time on fad diets)
Why?
Because those thousands of people have absolutely no clue what they’re doing!
Don’t be discouraged, it’s perfectly understandable; there are so many variables to consider:
- Is “low-carb” the way to go?
- What about the food pyramid?
- Is gluten really evil?
- Why do donuts taste so good?
- Do I eat 5 small meals a day or 2 huge ones?
- What is this juice diet everyone is talking about?
- Should I be taking supplements?
- Can I eat before bed or not?
- Do I count all of my calories?
Now we have talked about the basics of eating right in the past, but that is obviously is just the beginning. Today we’re going to dig a little deeper, but in the interest of not biting off more than we can chew (see what I did there?) we are going to limit the conversation to calories and what they mean to you!
Anyone who has been reading this site for any length of time understands the basics of weight loss.