HOW TO WORK OUT YOUR MAINTENANCE CALORIE INTAKE

If there’s one thing I’ve had cemented into my daily regime lately it’s that if I’m not eating enough, it’s a really bad thing for my dieting.

Since sitting down with Julian from Titanium Fitness almost 2 months ago now we discussed how me not eating enough actual food and supplementing a lot of my intake was a bad thing.  After increasing my intake I’m now back down to the same weight I was when I started this weight / fat loss process and I’m taking in double the amount of calories.

We achieved this by starting the whole process with finding my maintenance calorie intake.  This means keeping your current (target) weight reasonably constant. This can be achieved when the number of calories (kilojoules) that you eat is equal to the number of calories (kilojoules) your body uses.

Energy In (Food) = Energy Out => body weight remains stable.

However, for many people, weight maintenance means weighing within 1 to 2 kg of their current (target) weight. The weight on the scale can fluctuate even when you have reached your target weight and there are a number of reasons for this:

  • Normal body fluctuations related to eating and elimination
  • Consuming a high salt (sodium) diet
  • Temporary weight gain due to fluid retention for women near the time of menstruation
  • Decrease in physical activity

Once you know your actual maintenance level you then have a stage to start from for either adding weight on or taking it off when you get your diet right.

There are many fantastic calculators available on line including this one: CALORIE CALCULATOR

How’s your diet going so far? What are you looking to achieve at the moment from your diet and exercise?

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