How to calculate your magic weightloss number
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10in30fitness
Posts: 14 Member
Want a magic number to lose weight?
Here you go:
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
Here you go:
- Get your fat percentage by using a fat monitor. For example 25%. (that's pretty high)
- Get your lean weight. Take your body weight and subtract that fat percent (160-40=120)
- Now, get your daily calorie count. Take your lean weight (120) and multiply by the number: 13. 120x13= 1560
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
2
Replies
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No one should be forced into thinking they need to eat the same thing for 7 days straight.
Plus a lot of your post is not only wrong or a myth but over complicated. People easily get their calorie amount here on the website, they are educated on the myth of starvation mode and are encouraged to enjoy a variety of foods to be able to stick to their calorie goal more easily.25 -
I've lost around 100 lbs in a year by simply using MFP calculators, weighing my food, and eating what I want, including so called "bad foods" in moderation. Over complicating things is a recipe for failure.25
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Fascinating!
Apparently I should use a desperately inaccurate device to estimate my BF%, ignore how much or how little weight I can lose sensibly, ignore my activity because clearly a sedentary desk worker and a construction worker have the same calorie needs, I should bore myself silly by eating the same things for a week, I should ignore my roughly 600cals average of exercise a day and start believing fairy tales of fat storage in a substantial calorie deficit.
#facepalm
41 -
So, one such device told me my fat percentage is 40%. Mind you, my BMI is around 22 and I have a fair amount of muscles. But lets stick with these 40%
Thus 136lbs-54lbs = 82
82*13 = 1066kcal per day? Mate, you really should check the sources you quote!20 -
What is a "fat monitor"?
Your formula is way too simplistic. When I calculate it for myself with the assumption that I weigh five pounds more than I do now and I want to lose those pounds, I'd be eating about 1,110 calories a day which is waaaaaaaaaay less than I need to maintain my activity level.
It sounds way more tedious to eat the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner for seven days straight than it is to spend a few minutes each day logging what I plan to eat. Not that repetitive meals can't be a valid strategy for some, but you should choose it because you genuinely prefer to reduce your variety.
I suggest you learn more about how weight loss works before you give further advice. By your logic, very low calories wouldn't result in weight loss. But real life evidence (both from people attempting to lose weight and those who are unfortunately compelled to eat way less than they need). There are many good reasons to avoid very low calorie intake, but you haven't hit on one in your post.15 -
Yeah, no.
So much easier to plug my stats into MFP, picking a realistic weekly loss goal (hint: not 2 lbs per week), and eat whatever I like within my calorie target (which may include brownies or pizza :laugh:).
19 -
Among all the things wrong in your post that have already been pointed out...I'm going to pick out this one...
25% body fat is not "pretty high" for women...it's actually a healthy number.28 -
Wait a minute...I just realized that in your example, you said you were using 25% body fat, but in you equation, you used 40%...which made your whole calculation wrong anyway. Using your "calculator", this fictional person at 160 with 25% body fat would have a "magic number" of 1,755, not 1,560.
160-25=135
135 x 13 = 1,755
Not that it matters, but check your maths.8 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Wait a minute...I just realized that in your example, you said you were using 25% body fat, but in you equation, you used 40%...which made your whole calculation wrong anyway. Using your calculations, this fictional person at 160 with 25% body fat would have a "magic number" of 1,755, not 1,560.
160-25=135
135 x 13 = 1,755
Not that it matters, but check your maths.
I'm not in agreement with his logic for the math, but his math is correct. He's taking 25% of 160 (which is 40lbs) and subtracting that to get LBM.10 -
RelCanonical wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Wait a minute...I just realized that in your example, you said you were using 25% body fat, but in you equation, you used 40%...which made your whole calculation wrong anyway. Using your calculations, this fictional person at 160 with 25% body fat would have a "magic number" of 1,755, not 1,560.
160-25=135
135 x 13 = 1,755
Not that it matters, but check your maths.
I'm not in agreement with his logic for the math, but his math is correct. He's taking 25% of 160 (which is 40lbs) and subtracting that to get LBM.
I see....yet his instructions say "subtract that fat percent", which is confusing at best.3 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Wait a minute...I just realized that in your example, you said you were using 25% body fat, but in you equation, you used 40%...which made your whole calculation wrong anyway. Using your "calculator", this fictional person at 160 with 25% body fat would have a "magic number" of 1,755, not 1,560.
160-25=135
135 x 13 = 1,755
Not that it matters, but check your maths.
I suspect that "subtract the fat percent" is supposed to be done in absolute terms. Hence the lean body mass calculation was:
160 - (25% *160),
which does get 120, end up getting to 1,560 calories under the magic voodoo formula.
Edited to add: I hope no-one interprets this as me defending the voodoo magic thing.
8 -
10in30fitness wrote: »Want a magic number to lose weight?
Here you go:- Get your fat percentage by using a fat monitor. For example 25%. (that's pretty high)
- Get your lean weight. Take your body weight and subtract that fat percent (160-40=120)
- Now, get your daily calorie count. Take your lean weight (120) and multiply by the number: 13. 120x13= 1560
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
Others have addressed some of the other misinformation, I would like to point out that the bolded is also gobbledygoo. Where in the world is your body going to get the extra calories to store fat when you aren't eating enough? It doesn't because it can't.15 -
I guess those extra calories could come from trying to absorb all his misinformation lol
Do we have a calorie count for the alphabet? Are vowels higher in calories?14 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »10in30fitness wrote: »Want a magic number to lose weight?
Here you go:- Get your fat percentage by using a fat monitor. For example 25%. (that's pretty high)
- Get your lean weight. Take your body weight and subtract that fat percent (160-40=120)
- Now, get your daily calorie count. Take your lean weight (120) and multiply by the number: 13. 120x13= 1560
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
Others have addressed some of the other misinformation, I would like to point out that the bolded is also gobbledygoo. Where in the world is your body going to get the extra calories to store fat when you aren't eating enough? It doesn't because it can't.
I feel like there is so much misinformation in this post that nobody can address it all, we're just taking pieces of it. There's too much for any one person to comprehend it all in a single read.13 -
According to my Fitbit (which has served me well these last 4-5 years), I burned an average of 2459 calories per day last week. This equation would have me eating 1211 calories per day. That's a pretty steep deficit for dropping these last 5 vanity pounds.12
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Mouse_Potato wrote: »According to my Fitbit (which has served me well these last 4-5 years), I burned an average of 2459 calories per day last week. This equation would have me eating 1211 calories per day. That's a pretty steep deficit for dropping these last 5 vanity pounds.
But if you aren't suffering and weak from hunger, are you really making progress? /sarcasm14 -
janejellyroll wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »10in30fitness wrote: »Want a magic number to lose weight?
Here you go:- Get your fat percentage by using a fat monitor. For example 25%. (that's pretty high)
- Get your lean weight. Take your body weight and subtract that fat percent (160-40=120)
- Now, get your daily calorie count. Take your lean weight (120) and multiply by the number: 13. 120x13= 1560
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
Others have addressed some of the other misinformation, I would like to point out that the bolded is also gobbledygoo. Where in the world is your body going to get the extra calories to store fat when you aren't eating enough? It doesn't because it can't.
I feel like there is so much misinformation in this post that nobody can address it all, we're just taking pieces of it. There's too much for any one person to comprehend it all in a single read.
I didn't want to take too big of a bit. Too many calories.9 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »10in30fitness wrote: »Want a magic number to lose weight?
Here you go:- Get your fat percentage by using a fat monitor. For example 25%. (that's pretty high)
- Get your lean weight. Take your body weight and subtract that fat percent (160-40=120)
- Now, get your daily calorie count. Take your lean weight (120) and multiply by the number: 13. 120x13= 1560
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
Others have addressed some of the other misinformation, I would like to point out that the bolded is also gobbledygoo. Where in the world is your body going to get the extra calories to store fat when you aren't eating enough? It doesn't because it can't.
I feel like there is so much misinformation in this post that nobody can address it all, we're just taking pieces of it. There's too much for any one person to comprehend it all in a single read.
I didn't want to take too big of a bit. Too many calories.
Hahaha 😆2 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »10in30fitness wrote: »Want a magic number to lose weight?
Here you go:- Get your fat percentage by using a fat monitor. For example 25%. (that's pretty high)
- Get your lean weight. Take your body weight and subtract that fat percent (160-40=120)
- Now, get your daily calorie count. Take your lean weight (120) and multiply by the number: 13. 120x13= 1560
That's your magic number. It is how many calories you should eat to lose weight. For example, 1560 is the number if you weigh 160 and have 25% body fat.
How do you know how much you are eating? That's easy as well. Use MyFitnessPal to keep track of your daily calories. Make it easier by planning exactly what you are going to eat all day, making sure you hit your daily calorie count. Notice I did not say "make sure you don't go over your daily calorie count" I said make sure you hit it. Your daily calorie count is not only a maximum.
It's also a minimum.
Because if you go too low, your body will begin to store body fat in order to survive. Why body fat? Because body fat has 9 calories per gram versus protein and carbs which only have 4. So it hangs on to fat because it thinks you are starving yourself, which you are. And that's not good.
Once you plan out what you are going to eat, I recommend you eat that every day. Too boring? That's ok, change it next Sunday for the next week. That way you don't have to recalculate every day or even worse, every meal. Too tedious!
Doesn't matter if you weigh 160, 200, or more. Using the 3 steps above, you too can get exactly how much to eat per day. Now, that magic number (13) is just the start. It is not too aggressive. It's the beginning of limiting how much you will eat. If you want to lose body fat quick, you should lower your intake SLOWLY each week but not too low.
Others have addressed some of the other misinformation, I would like to point out that the bolded is also gobbledygoo. Where in the world is your body going to get the extra calories to store fat when you aren't eating enough? It doesn't because it can't.
I feel like there is so much misinformation in this post that nobody can address it all, we're just taking pieces of it. There's too much for any one person to comprehend it all in a single read.
I didn't want to take too big of a bit. Too many calories.
And I'm not sure how well you'd digest it. Wouldn't want to risk that kind of indigestion.5 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Mouse_Potato wrote: »According to my Fitbit (which has served me well these last 4-5 years), I burned an average of 2459 calories per day last week. This equation would have me eating 1211 calories per day. That's a pretty steep deficit for dropping these last 5 vanity pounds.
But if you aren't suffering and weak from hunger, are you really making progress? /sarcasm
What can I say? I like being able to stand upright.
5
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