Are You Going “Too Hard” to Lose Weight?

Many of us jump head first into a 1,200 calorie diet, while doing extreme workouts so that we can loose as much weight as quickly as possible. And the fact of the matter is, if you under eat for your body size; yes you will lose weight. However, it will be hard to stick with it before you eventually fall of the wagon, and start to re-gain the weight. The formula for weight loss is this:

  • Your Current weight (x) 11 = how many calories you need to maintain
  • Add the calories you burned during your workout. These are bonus calories for your hard work!
  • Subtract 500 calories to lose 1lb a week, or 1,000 calories to lose 2lbs a week. Never subtract more than 1,000 calories, and never eat less than 1,200 calories a day.

Example: A 200 pound person (x) 11 = 2,220 calories to maintain (+) 400 calories burned walking = 2, 620 bonus calories (-) 1000 to lose 2lbs a week = 1620 calories that one can eat per day, and still lose a lot weight.

*This means a 200 pound person can eat 1,620 calories, if they burn 400 calories a day, and will still lose 2lbs a week without starving or doing extreme workouts. Even if they didn’t exercise, they could still lose 1lb a week by eating 1,700 calories a day. This is totally doable; right?

As far as exercising goes; walking is good enough to get you started. Extreme workouts like Insanity and P90X may be too much for someone who has more than 40lbs to lose. In my experience; it’s better to upgrade into these workouts, rather than jump head first into them.

So for everyone out there going “super hard” to lose weight…relax! Going hard is ok, but going super hard can burn you out before the party even begins. This is a lifestyle, not a race. It’s all about consistency and establishing better habits to improve our lifestyle.

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