Figuring out how many calories you need to eat for fat loss can be confusing AF. There are macro calculations, calculations using weird decimal points depending on if you’re male or female, calculations where you need to know your activity level and could give you a very different number based on what you pick(am I semi active because I work out or sedentary because of my desk job?!), calculations based on how much weight you want to lose per week, and the list goes on. It’s no wonder some people just say ehh screw it, throw in the towel, and let these complicated formulas prevent them from starting their fat loss journey.
Well folks it does NOT need to be that hard. Figuring out what your daily calorie goal should be should never be the hardest part of fat loss. Here’s how to get started with the simplest Fat Loss Calorie calculator of all time:
Determine your ideal weight
Pick a weight you imagine you’ll be most comfortable and feel your absolute best self at. This can change over time and you might realize down the line you’re happier at a slightly heavier weight, totally cool! This is just a baseline to get us started. Keep in mind we’re not setting a goal to get to this weight in X amount of weeks. This is just, ideally, when you’re living your best life, what would your weight be.
Cool got that number? Write it down and then:
Multiply it by 12
And there is your calorie intake goal for the day. Forreal that’s it, that’s all there is to it. For example if your goal weight is 130 pounds, you’re doing 130*12=1,560. So on average, everyday you’re shooting for 1,560 calories.
Now what?
Sweet you’ve got your daily calorie goal to shoot for now what do you do? The cool thing about not putting yourself on a timeline to get to that goal weight is that you have some flexibility with your daily calories. If you have a lot of weight to lose you may want to increase that daily calorie goal by 100 or a couple of hundred and make slower, more sustainable progress. If you prefer to eat a bit more on the weekends(I personally never miss a Pizza Friday) you can eat a few hundred calories less a few days a week so you have some more wiggle room on the weekends. As long as you’re averaging 1,560 per day the daily break up of those calories doesn’t matter quite as much.
The most important thing to remember with fat loss is to find something that you’re able to make sustainable, long term progress with. Calorie goals that have you losing 2 lbs per week may not be sustainable for you and slower progress, with higher daily calorie goals may make more sense. Maybe going back to maintenance calories for a week or 2 after 4 weeks of fat loss calories and then back to fat loss calories may be more sustainable for you. Again, it may take longer to get to your goal weight, but you’re more likely to stay there once you arrive! These calculated fat loss calories are a baseline and a goal. If you allow yourself to be flexible you will find more progress. Good luck and as always let me know if you have any questions about the calculator, daily calorie goals, tracking calories, or anything else!