When implementing a weight loss regimen, the question that everyone wonders is how many calories should you burn a day to be reasonable. This issue not only greatly determines your training plan but also affects the speed at which you lose weight quickly or slowly. Besides, how to burn calories effectively is also something that many people are interested in. Let’s find out the answer right in this article!
How many calories should you burn a day?
In fact, how many calories should you burn a day depends on many factors such as age, gender, diet, exercise, etc.
The amount of calories burned by gender, age, height, etc.
To calculate how many calories you should burn a day, you need to consider some important factors such as age, gender and other body indexes. You can apply the Harris-Benedict formula to calculate the amount of calories you need to burn.
The formula is as follows:
BMR x activity level = calories needed to maintain weight.
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is the minimum amount of calories needed by the body when resting. The formula for calculating the BMR basal metabolic rate is as follows:
• For Women:
BMR = 655 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) – (4.7 × age in years)
• For Men:
BMR = 66 + (13.7 × weight in kg) + (5 × height in cm) – (6.8 × age in years)
The activity levels are as follows:
• 1.2; Sedentary (little or no exercise).
• 1.375: Lightly active (light exercise 1-3 days per week).
• 1.55: Moderately active (moderate exercise 3–5 days per week).
• 1.725: Very active (hard exercise 6–7 days per week).
• 1.9: Active (exercise, physical work).
For example:
A 40-year-old woman, weighing 50kg, 1m60 m tall, with a BMR of 1235 calories, who regularly exercises (is very active) will need to eat 1235 x 1.9 = 2346.5 calories to maintain her weight.
Thus, if she wants to lose weight without fasting, she should combine exercise to burn more than 2346 calories per day. Conversely, she needs to eat more than 2345 calories if she wants to gain weight.
If you want to optimize your weight loss process, the recommended amount of calories burned should be greater than the amount of calories consumed, and if you want to keep your weight stable, the amount of calories consumed and the amount of calories burned should be equal. You need to rely on your goals to calculate more accurately and accurately.
Calories burned by body shape
The current body shape plays a very important role in determining how many calories you should burn a day. First, calculate your BMI, then consider your physical condition to recalculate your diet and exercise regimen based on the amount of calories you need to lose, specifically as follows:
• For overweight men, you need to add 2300 calories and consume about 3000 calories/day
• For overweight women, you should only add about 1500 calories and burn 1800 calories/day
• For underweight men, you need to add 3000 calories/day and only consume below 2000 calories
• For underweight women, you need to add 2000 to 2500 calories and only burn a maximum of 1200 calories/day
How many calories do you need to burn to lose 1kg?
According to research, to lose 1kg of weight, we need to burn 7700 calories. However, according to training experts, this process of burning excess fat and losing weight needs to be long-term and sustainable instead of forcing too much weight, which can affect your health. Therefore, if you only lose about 0.5kg (or about 1% of your body weight) in just 1 week. Instead of trying to force your weight to affect your health, you should build a scientific and reasonable weight loss plan that is long-term to achieve the desired weight without causing negative effects on your health.
The best and most effective way to burn calories
In addition to the issue of how many calories you should burn a day, the factor that greatly affects your weight loss and calorie-burning effectiveness also depends largely on the method you choose. Consider the following effective and safe ways to burn calories, recommended by experts and doctors:
Diet
Diet has a significant impact on the effectiveness of weight loss and fat burning. Therefore, build yourself a scientific and most suitable eating plan: add more green vegetables and fruits; add more protein to meals (chicken, beef, …); replace rice with cereals, whole wheat bread; cut down on starch; abstain from sweets; …
Exercise
The best method to help you burn calories and excess fat effectively is exercise. Form a habit of exercising to feel the changes in your body every day. The exercises you can refer to are: Cardio, Yoga, Aerobic, apply the HIIT high-intensity interval training program or more simply, you can participate in jogging, cycling every day.
Drink plenty of water.
Drinking water not only helps you supplement enough nutrients for your body, but it also helps you relieve hunger and cravings for snacks. Especially by drinking a glass of water before meals, you will be able to minimize the amount of food you consume.
Cut down on food portions
Cutting down on food portions directly affects the amount of calories you consume, thereby helping you lose weight effectively and quickly. A diet high in fiber and protein is very suitable for people who are losing weight because these foods often contain fewer calories than other foods rich in starch and fat. Therefore, calculate the actual amount of calories you need to consume, balance it with the amount of calories you want to consume, and cut down on food portions accordingly to maintain the most stable health.
How many calories does an hour of exercise burn?
How many calories an hour of exercise burns depends largely on the intensity of the exercise and the specific training program you choose. According to calculations, one hour of sports practice will correspond to the following number of calories consumed:
• 1 hour of jogging burns from 300 to 500 calories
• 1 hour of indoor cycling burns from 400-600 calories
• Cycling outdoors at a speed of 20-25 km per hour will burn calories in about 30 minutes, depending on each person’s weight. Specifically: 240 calories for a person weighing about 55kg, 298 calories for a person weighing about 70kg, 355 calories for a person weighing about 85kg,…
• Walking for 1 hour burns 150 – 200 calories
• Swimming for 1 hour burns 500 calories
• Boxing for 1 hour burns from 500 to 1000 calories
• Zumba for 1 hour burns from 400 to 600 calories
• Yoga for 1 hour burns about 350 calories
• Jumping rope for 1 hour burns about 300 calories
• Aerobic exercise for 1 hour burns about 500 to 800 calories
• Soccer for 1 hour burns about 500 calories
The above information has helped you answer the question of how many calories should you burn a day. It can be seen that the amount of calories you need to consume per day depends on various factors such as your constitution, physical condition, age and your desire to lose weight.