Getting Started:

When understanding caloric and macro-nutrient intake, the most important number for weight loss, weight gain, or maintaining weight is the amount of calories that your body burns in one day. If you eat more calories than your body burns, excess energy is stored as excess weight on your body. If you eat less calories than your body burns in one day, weight from your body will be converted into energy. Be honest with yourself when tracking calories; a more accurate estimation will produce a more reliable result. Use the calorie calculator in the middle column to find out about how many calories you burn in one day.

Weight Loss:

Once you know how many calories your body burns in a day, you can create a simple plan for yourself. Eat 300-400 calories less than what you burn each day. For example, if I burn 2000 calories each day, I'll eat around 1600-1700 calories each day. Make sure to avoid under-eating! Larger deficits are more likely to cause intense cravings or binge eating. Make sure to track everything you eat. Some foods such as sauces and drinks can contain a large number of calories, so make sure to track them too! Lastly, stepping on a scale daily to check for progress might be your natural inclination, but we recommend you avoid this practice. Your weight fluctuates constantly for a variety of reasons, so weigh yourself weekly for more accurate results.

Weight Gain:

Similar to weight loss, eat 300-400 calories more than what you burn each day. For example, if I burn 2000 calories each day, I'll eat around 2300-2400 calories each day. Make sure to avoid over-eating! Huge binges are more likely to cause stomach pains and a lack of hunger. Lastly, stepping on a scale daily to check for progress might be your natural inclination, but we recommend you avoid this practice. Your weight fluctuates constantly for a variety of reasons, so weigh yourself weekly for more accurate results.

Maintenance:

This is the most simple goal of all. Try your best to eat the same number of calories that you burn. Calorie calculators aren't always accurate, so when you check your weight each week, increase or decrease caloric intake based on the changes you see. Eating within 100-200 calories of your goal is more than ok as long as your weight doesn't change dramatically.