How many calories to lose weight

In order to lose weight, you need to reduce your caloric intake from baseline. The basal calorie requirements vary based on a person's age, gender, metabolism, and physical activity levels.

Basal calorie checker
Use an online tool such as the W8MD medical weight loss centers of America's basal calorie counter or another BMR calculator online

Calories in 1 pound of body fat
Understand that there are about 3500 calories in each pound of body fat. In order to lose one pound of body weight, you would need to either reduce that much from base line or burn it off through extra physical activity.

For example, if your basal caloric requirements are 2000 calories per day, and you go down to 1000 calories per day, in the course of one week, you would be at a calorie deficit of 7000 calories, equal to about 2 lbs. of weight loss. However, most people underestimate their calorie intake as there are many hidden or empty calories.

Proven measures to lose weight
Most people confuse eating healthy is for weight loss. Unfortunately, eating healthy would help you maintain the weight but not necessarily help you in losing weight unless it is a low calorie diet. Understand the role of Very low calorie diet and low calorie diet in helping you lose weight.

Exercise for losing weight
Although physical activity is important for losing weight, due to the appetite stimulating effect of exercise, and as exercise also builds heavier muscle, recent studies have shown that exercise and physical activity are important for maintenance of the weight, but not as much in losing weight unless you also restrict the calories at the same time.