There are different factors to determine the right calorie count you need, such as your height, age, activity level, current weight, and metabolic health, etc. As a general rule, you should eat 500 fewer calories than the actual needs of your body to maintain your weight. This way, you can lose up to 0.45 kg of weight every week.
Average Daily Calorie Needs for Women
If your lifestyle is moderately active, the average daily need is 2000 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight and consume 500 fewer calories per day to lose 0.45 kg (1 pound) weight every week, if you are 26 to 50 years old.
If you walk over 3 miles in a day and you live an active lifestyle, you can eat 2200 calories or above per day to keep a healthy weight, or eat 500 fewer calories (i.e. 1700 calories) to lose about 0.45 kg per week.
If you are in your early 20s, you will need more calories, i.e. around 2200 calories to keep your healthy weight. Your calorie needs will decline with age. On average, if you are above 50, you will need only around 1800 calories to keep your weight and only 1300 calories per day to shed about 1 pound in a week.
However, breastfeeding and pregnant women will need a very high amount of calories per day. So, the estimates would be different for them.
How to Lose Weight with Calories?
1. Increase Protein Intake
Protein is a type of nutrients to lose weight. It can make a lot easier to lose weight without any effort. Protein helps control your appetite and improve your metabolism. Your body uses your energy to digest protein. Hence, a diet rich in protein can increase the rate of burning calories by around 80 to 100 calories in a day. It also keeps you fuller all day long and saves you from snack cravings.
2. Avoid sugary fruit juices and beverages
This change is relatively easy to make. Avoid liquid sugar calories like fruit juices, sodas, chocolate milk, etc., that come with added sugar. It is also strongly connected to increase the risk of obesity. It may lead to adverse effects of metabolic health and can cause a lot of diseases. Instead of drinking sugary fruit juices, eat raw fruits instead.
3. Drink Plenty of Water
It is another easy trick to lose weight. It can help you burn around 96 more calories than you burn through a workout for approximately 90 minutes. Drink around 8 glasses (2 litres) of water every day to get these results. Gulping water down before meals can make you eat fewer calories and control hunger. So, timing is also crucial.
Bottom Line
Just because you want to cut calories off your diet, you don’t have to starve yourself. Some comfortable lifestyle and diet changes like drinking water, exercise, and consuming high protein food can be helpful.
