Your Number’s Up!

I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with a number. But you may be surprised to know that it is not the number that stares up at me in digital blue font each morning. No, despite that number being a part of my daily routine, that is not THE number. The number I am obsessed with is a calorie budget. And not just my calorie budget – in fact, my own calorie budget interests me the least. Maybe it’s because I’ve become so acquainted with it over the last 6 years it’s as familiar to me as my ATM pin. Other people’s calorie budgets I dare admit, excite me. I love calculating someone’s daily caloric needs and I handing over the four digit number with as much glee and reverence as if I am handing over the code to the holy grail. Surprisingly enough, the response is generally somewhat lackluster.

At first.

Because, whether or not they chose to humor me or they are just hopeful and willing to try anything, most people give it a try. Why not? They’ve tried eating burgers wrapped in “lettuce buns.” They’ve tried yellow cellophane wrapped bars that offer a delightfully balanced ratio of nutrients. They’ve plugged their nose and gulped down apple cider. They’ve tried all these and more, so why not see what a harmless little number has in store for them? The excitement on their face when using a calorie budget turns out to be not only effective, but not even that hard…. there’s no better reward for this girl. Another fan joins the Calorie Counting Club.

I truly believe that choosing what to eat each day without knowing your daily caloric needs is like taking out a mortgage without knowing your monthly salary. Sure, people do it. But it’s stupid. Can we all agree on that? Each of our bodies is hard-wired to need a certain amount of energy to go about our daily functions. Take it more than those energy needs and your jeans start feeling aweebitsnug *gasp*. Take in less and … voila! It’s not rocket science, but it is basic science. Calories in versus calories out is the foundation of weight management. We can talk another day about where those calories come from as far as you feeling your best (oh, you bet I can talk about that), but for today, let’s suffice it to say that simply knowing what you need is as important to the management of your weight as…. well, as nothing else. It is THE single most important factor. It’s the starting point.

And here’s the beauty of it all. It ain’t that hard to figure out. In fact, you can google your heart out and find plenty of calculators that will even do the math for you. I have now passed out 163 calculators teaching people how to calculate their caloric needs…. while I am not sure everyone gets as excited as their dear, sweet, overzealous coach (c’est moi), I daresay the successful ones are the ones who use it.

One man summed it nicely to me a few months ago. He said “Knowing this calculation is like knowing what goes on under the hood of your car. It’s not information you’re going to use everyday, but it can sure save you a headache when things start breaking down.” And just to toot his horn, he’s holding tight to a 41 pound weight loss.

I teach my clients to calculate budgets so they’re self-sustainable beyond their work with me. Let’s say a few years pass, life gets in the way, and oops, you hit the Rocky Road. (Literally and gastronomically.) Your weight has crept back up and you’re at a loss. You know what to do… eat less than what your body needs. So, do you have to call me up to find out what your body needs?

Nah. You know how. Just call me up to tell me you’re back on track. You’ve got my number, and now you’ve got yours.

Food For Thought: Get to it! Find out what your number is. This is a great calculator here and has a nice little blurb about how to use a calorie budget. But you can find any by googling “daily caloric needs.” Find one that takes into account your age, height, weight and gender. It will give your daily needs and remember, to lose weight you need to eat less than that. (Ideal is to subtract 250-500 calories from your maintenance budget to lose 1 lb-0.5 lb a week. Men will usually be in the 1600-1800 calories for weight loss, women in the 1200-1400 calories. It is recommended that no one consume less than 1100 calories per day.)

Tags: calorie budgets, calorie counting, calories, weight loss, weight loss tools