Calories

Calories

Recommended calorie in-take per day.

2,000 for the average woman
2,500 for the average man

This is to maintain a healthy weight, of course if you wish to lose weight you will need to reduce the number of calories you consume. You will achieve a healthy weight loss on 500 fewer calories a day so for women try 1500 calories a day and for men 2,000. Gradually decrease your calorie intake if you find you are not losing the amount of weight you require. Make sure you do not go below 1200 calories for women and 1700 for men otherwise you will be losing muscle mass which will eventually impede your weight loss.

The recommended daily intake is for an average adult and will vary with age, size and how much weight you have to lose.

One pound of fat equals approximately 3500 calories so if you wanted to lose 2lbs of fat per week you would need to create a calorie deficit of 7000 calories either through reducing your intake or expending more energy through exercise or both.

Recommended: For an alternative view on whether calorie restriction is an effective means of weight loss read Gary Taubes’ Why we get fat and what to do about it – available at Amazon.