Stay Motivated

3 lbs down in 9 days.. Not shabby if I do say so myself.  You have to celebrate the little things when dieting otherwise at some point you'll hit a breaking point.  When serious about losing weight its important to realize that weight loss is a long term process.  A realistic goal of weight loss per week is about 1 lb.  A 2 lbs weight loss in a week is not an unreasonable amount either.  Shows like Biggest Loser have given an unrealistic view of how weight loss happens.  People forget that the contestants on that show live and breathe workouts when they live on the Biggest Loser ranch.  If they don't lose enough weight while living on the ranch, its all comes down to how much food their eating.  They don't have to worry about working or going to school or taking care of their families.  They just workout 7 days a week for the most part.  I'll include my food stats right now so we get that out of the way.

TIP OF THE DAY:  Today we're going to go over how to determine how many calories should be your target for your diet.  First thing everyone must realize is that there is no magic diet that will work for everyone.  You can follow diets that other people have created or do.  But the diet still must be tailored to you specifically.  If the diet contains foods that you won't eat, how will you ever be able to stick to it over the long haul and make it to the finish line?  Fad diets can work up to a point but at some point the diet stops being affective for the person and they go back to their old ways.

So the million dollar question, what's the magic number?  The truth is there is no magic number.  But I can help you find a number that works for you. With all the resources on the internet, there are plenty of tools that can help you calculate the proper calorie number.  A good place to start I would recommend visiting a site that i regularly use which is www.fitday.com.  This site has a tool that helps you calculate approximately how many calories your body burns on a daily basis.  If you have a gym membership to a gym, they usually will help you out if you ask to get your body fat percentage measured.  By putting in your weight, body fat percentage, height, age, and activity level it will calculate how many calories you burn on an average day.  I recommend estimating your activity one level lower than what you actually think you are.  By using a more conservative number, it makes it easier to lose weight assuming that you hit your caloric daily allotment on a regular basis.  I would recommend a caloric allotment that is 500-750 calories less than what the caloric daily burn estimates. If you are very consistent on hitting your caloric goal, you shouldn't have a problem losing at least 1 lb per week.  I'll go over nutritional specifics later on but this is a good place to start.  Changing body fat percentage and the way your body looks has other major details that I will go into further in later posts.  I'll also go over more tips for counting calories later as well.  Hopefully this helps those who are sitting on the fence and wanting to start out on their own weight loss journeys. Until next time, get your sweat on and happy dieting.