How Many Calories To Lose Weight While Weight Training

– I’ve got you on this one! Based on my experience as a nutrition coach and working with so many women over the years, I’ve come up with an easy way to figure out how many calories you need. This is more straightforward than all the complicated formulas out there and it has worked for all of my ladies – so it will work for you too.

I’ve jam-packed this article with so much information that you can consider it your ultimate guide to how many calories you, as a woman, need. Whether your goal is to lose or maintain weight, or even gain muscle, if you apply the knowledge you’ll gain here – you’ll get great results. How can I be sure? Because so many other women just like you have done the same. This doesn’t have to be difficult so let me help!

The formulas don’t reflect the complexity of your body and lifestyle. And, to be honest, I’ve found that intuitively a lot of women know how much they should be eating and the formulas on apps like MyFitnessPal are often wrong. It means ladies start to question their own experience and I would rather you be in control of your body and results.

How Many Calories Should I Eat?

When I work with my clients we can usually quite quickly figure out where they need to be with their calories. So rather than rely on complicated formulas, let me show you an easier way to estimate your caloric needs.

Over the years I’ve noticed patterns with women and I can now usually accurately estimate how many calories someone needs without running any calculations.

Now don’t get me wrong – if you eat too much you’ll gain weight. But if you don’t eat enough – well, you might gain weight too. Here’s why.

Cardio Vs Weights: Which Is Better For Fat Loss

The truth is you’ll lose weight quickly at first on a very low calorie diet. But the metabolic changes that happen in your body when you dramatically reduce your calories and increase your exercise will make it hard to maintain that weight loss. One of the reasons for this is that your metabolism adapts to these extreme measures by slowing down and consequently your weight loss stalls.

If you have good nutrition, including eating enough protein, and you weight train, you’ll minimize these negative adaptations. However, the more severely you restrict calories, the more severe the adaptations and the harder it becomes to lose weight and keep it off.

Say you lose weight by eating 1200 calories a day, lifting weights 4 or 5 times a week and doing cardio most days. It’s hard to maintain this restrictive approach in the long run. You’ll be more likely to:

How Many Calories Should I Eat To Lose Weight?

. What if you implemented a weight loss plan that was more sustainable? Something you could actually stick with because you didn’t feel so hungry?

Say you lose weight by eating 1600 calories a day, lifting weights 4 to 5 times a week and walking your dog for light cardio most days. Using this more balanced approach, you’re more likely to:

Losing weight on 1600 calories will feel a whole lot better than losing weight on 1200 calories and you’ll be more likely to sustain the changes you’ve made in the long run.

Calorie Intake To Lose Weight: This Is The Number Of Calories You Should Eat To Lose Weight, Maintain Weight And Gain Weight

Eating more to lose weight also gives you wiggle room when you hit a plateau. When your weight loss stalls, you’ve got room to drop your calories or add in some more cardio. And, the interesting thing that I’ve found in my work, is that you are less likely to hit a plateau when you are eating more. Likely because those metabolic adaptations aren’t kicking in so strongly.

So this is usually my starting point and we adjust up or down based on how you are responding. That’s it – very simple! However, there are a few exceptions to this starting point.

If you have a history of dieting and find it hard to lose weight, you may have reduced your caloric needs below 1400 calories because of the metabolic adaptations when you chronically restrict calories and overexercise.

Figure Out Exactly How Many Calories You Need To Eat And Burn In Order To Lose Weight!!!

Some women need more significantly more calories, even when they are losing weight. Sure they can lose weight on 1500 to 1700 but that doesn’t mean they should. These women are usually athletic, active and/or have more muscle mass than most other females. Often ladies don’t realize they fall into this category but if you are someone who is near your ideal weight and quite active, you likely need more calories.

For example, I just worked with a client on a reverse diet. We started her at 1400 calories because her weight had been stuck for so long but we were able to get her maintenance calories up to 2100. She was likely able to eat more because she was following my weight training program and dancing regularly. Even though she had an office job, she needed more calories because of all her activities.

Many ladies using my online training programs can actually eat more than average – likely because they are training weights 4 to 5 times per week.

Protein And Weight Loss: How Much Is Needed?

Below I’ve set out the ranges I use and given you some clues to help you figure out where you fit. These ranges are based on patterns I’ve noticed working closely with women over the years and helping them find their sweet spot for calories. Try to figure out where you fit and then make sure you read the following section where I teach you how to know if you’ve found the right calories.

Once you have figured out how many calories you need, the next step is for you to test it which means you have to consistently track calories at that level and see how your body responds. I recommend giving it 3-4 weeks because as women our weight fluctuates a lot so it’s hard to tell what’s real weight loss and gain without giving it a significant amount of time.

The best way to do that is to use a calorie tracking app like MyFitnessPal, track everyday and also record your weight. Don’t worry about small fluctuations. You are looking for a downward trend over about a month. Little tip: the best time to measure is often just after your period finishes because that’s the lowest weight for most women each month.

How To Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

If you aim for a weight loss of 300-500g or 1 lb per week (excluding certain times of the month you cyclically gain weight link) you’ll be on the right track. Women are often disappointed when I first suggest this amount to them. I can see by the look in their eyes that they want more. Social media has really confused us when it comes to expectations. Trust me on this one – slower is more sustainable.

You may well lose more weight quickly at the start. But I want you to know that it’s not always going to be like that. At some point your weight loss is going to slow down, and when it does, if you are still losing 300-500g per week, or even 200g per week, that’s ok.

Also, if you are leaner you might not get the big drop in weight at the start that someone who has more weight to lose may experience. 300-500g (or 1lb) per week is often recommended for leaner individuals trying to lose weight because slower weight loss preserves muscle mass better.

Why Am I Not Losing Weight In A Calorie Deficit?

If you aren’t losing weight after 2 weeks of starting your calorie tracking, drop your calories by another 200. If you are losing weight too fast (ie. you are too hungry, tired, etc), adjust by eating about 100-200 more calories more per day.

One thing to note is that when you start a muscle building program, especially if you haven’t lifted weights before, you may not see the scale drop as you expected. You could be losing fat and building muscle – especially the more of a newbie you are to lifting weights. If that happens, you can also use measurements (especially your waist, hip and thigh circumferences), how clothes fit, the mirror and other people’s compliments as indicators of your progress.

Also don’t expect your weight to drop during those times of the month when you normally gain weight. Learn how to identify the times of the month you gain weight and what to do about them here.

How To Burn More Calories Than You're Eating

When you are losing weight, you are bound to feel a bit hungry. But if you can’t stop thinking about food, get light-headed or feel shaky between meals then you aren’t eating enough.

You should be starting to feel like you could eat 3-4 hours after your last meal but you shouldn’t feel as though you are starving.

I know counting calories is a real pain but so is staying where you are and never getting results. Rather than viewing it as something “restrictive” I encourage all my ladies to view calorie counting as a tool to learn more about their body. If you want to transform your body you need to understand it. It also puts you in control of your results. Instead of relying on someone else to tell you what to eat, with calorie

Is It Bad To Lose Weight Too Fast?