A woman’s weight can fluctuate from day to day, depending on various factors. In order to lose weight, many women want feel a need to know how many calories they should eat in one day. The answer is actually not as straightforward as it might seem at first glance. This blog post will discuss the best way for a woman to lose weight with or without counting calories!
What Role does Calorie Plays in Weight?
A calorie is a unit of energy. When we eat food, our bodies break the food down into its parts and use that energy to perform various tasks like walking, breathing, or thinking. An individual’s basal metabolic rate (BMR) determines the number of calories necessary to sustain these activities is determined by an individual’s basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is the amount of energy our bodies need to perform basic functions such as keeping our heart beating and lungs functioning, even when we are at rest.
BMR is unique to each individual and is influenced by age, sex, muscle mass, and genetics. Now, if we eat more than our BMR requires, it’s like putting gasoline in a car that has no engine – the excess energy will be stored as fat for future use. If we eat less than our BMR requires, our bodies will begin to break down fat and muscle tissue to use as energy. Thus there are various reasons why weight loss is harder for women than men. For instance, women are generally smaller than men, which means that their BMRs are lower.
Why not calculate your calories?
Calculating your calories does not equal a straight path to weight loss. Most diet plans and other weight loss programs fail to understand that quality equally important to quantity. For some women, the quality of food is even more important. Weight loss is NOT calories in minus calories out. And often, calorie restriction leads to weight gain or stagnation due to the inflammatory process of adipose (also known as fat) tissue.
For every woman struggling with weight, knowing what food are inflammatory and how your current amount of fat tissue opposes your best efforts is more helpful than counting calories. For example, many women who have weight issues are missed diagnosis of polycystic ovarian disorder syndrome (PCOS). Although this diagnosis is becoming more well know, many women have missed diagnosis and this plays a major role in glucose management of your body. Hormonal imbalances create a wide array of weight management issues for women. The more hormonal or endocrine imbalances you have in your body, the more adipose tissue increases this dysfunction. This adjunctive effect of the fat tissue on a baseline metabolic disorder, makes you keep or gain weight. So eating foods that decrease your inflammation are going to be much more beneficial than any calorie counting you can do.
Examples of non-inflammatory foods:
Great! Now I know not to eat inflammatory foods, but what are some general rules to help me decrease my inflammation.
- Anything dark and leafy green
- Foods with a low carbohydrate to sugar ratio
So basically, any fruit or vegetable is considered a good carb to eat. Carbs that increase inflammation moderately is anything brown, like oatmeal, whole wheats, and honey. These foots should be limited to once a day. And those foods that increase inflammation dramatically? Anything white – bread, pasta, sugar, rice. Also, anything that is processed and manufactured, mostly because you don’t really know how it’s made or what is really in it. In the united states if any food item is less tan 2% of your recipe, it does not have to be put on the label. In addition, comfort foods can be highly inflammatory. I know, I know…you don’t have to give up the mac and cheese or pizza. Just limit this to once a week.
Calculating Your Calories Per Day
If you really want to calculate the number of how many calories does a woman need to lose weight, you must first determine your BMR. That’s the number that tells you how much energy you need to keep your body running at its current state. To calculate your BMR you can use the following equation:
BMR = 655 + (13.55 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.76 x age in years)
For example, if a woman is 30 years old and weighs 150 pounds (68kg), her BMR would be:
BMR = 655 + 286 + 302 – 141 = 1347 kcal/day
I recommend a woman decrease their caloric intake by 100-200 calories per day to lose weight safely, rather than the typical 500 calorie deficit you may have typically been told. If you go above this amount and you have undiagnosed metabolic dysfunction, like PCOS or prediabetes, you will NOT LOSE WEIGHT. If you decrease your calories by 500 or more per day, this can actually activate your fight and flight response. This increases cortisol, which in turn tells your body to do the opposite of what you are looking for –keep the ideal body weight just in case you need it to fight that imaginary battle. Eating foods that decrease inflammation are much more important than your calorie intake.
Wrapping Up
If you are trying to lose weight by calorie counting, consider instead looking at your diet for the types of foods you are eating. Rather than restricting, try adding in a vegetable or swapping out your white rice for brown. Even just 1 small change a week or month ads up to big changes over time. If you do decide to count calories, a woman should aim to eat 100 to 200 fewer calories per day than her BMR requires to lose weight. Better yet, instead of doing all this math, you can use a smart scale to help determine your BMR. In my program, smart scales are FREE through your insurance. If you’re feeling lost and need some help, contact us & make an appointment to help achieve your weight loss for women in Spokane.
Either way, don’t keep listening to the same broken record, listen to your body to know what is best for you!
