What is the best formula for weight loss?

Magic formula for weight loss

The key to shedding pounds is not jumping on any currently popular diet. No, the most sensible game plan for those in the know doesn't involve eating large amounts of one type of food (we're looking at you, grapefruit diet) or eating only liquids for days on end (seriously, why would you want that?). It's easy to pull out a calculator and use some basic math to remove all that unwanted fat.

Getting to a comfortable weight for you means reminding yourself how many calories your body needs each day to function optimally. Once you know that number, losing weight and feeling great will be easy-just cut back on a reasonable number of calories and burn a few more through exercise. Grab your pencils:

Step 1:

Find out how many calories your body needs each day to maintain your current weight. Simply take your current weight and multiply it by 13 (if you don't exercise at all), 15 (if you exercise several times a week) or 18 (if you exercise five or more days a week). The resulting number is a rough idea of how many calories you are likely to be consuming at any given time.

For example, if you weigh 165 pounds and exercise three days a week, multiplying 165 by 15 gives you 2,475. That means your daily caloric intake - and the way you're stuck at your current weight - is about 2,475 calories.

Step 2:

Reduce your daily calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories. This calorie deficit can be created in one of three ways:

1. You can eat 500 to 1,000 fewer calories each day.
2. You can burn 500 to 1,000 calories daily with exercise.
3. You can combine the two, such as eating 250-500 fewer calories while burning 250-500 calories each day.

Why not more? Most experts agree that losing 1 to 2 pounds weekly is a safer and more reliable approach to weight loss. Since 1 pound of fat equals about 3,500 calories, by reducing your calorie intake by 3,500 to 7,000 calories per week, you can safely lose 1 to 2 pounds each week.

Keep in mind: Your daily calorie intake - the calories you eat - should never go below 1,200 (for women) or 1,800 (for men). If you consume less than this number of calories, it can deprive your body of the nutrients it needs to be healthy. To make sure you're reaching your ideal calorie intake, use a free tracking tool like MyFitnessPal. With the site or app, you can easily record exactly what you eat each day. And because you can search for and add specific foods and portion sizes (like a cup of low-fat Greek yogurt), all the work of counting will be done for you, making tracking very easy.

Step 3:

Remember that exercise can be anything. If you don't like running or strength training, there are many other options to help melt fat. Here are just a few ways to burn 100 calories (based on a 150-pound person).

• Swimming or cardio-dancing for 15 minutes (moderate intensity)
• Walking (at 3.5 miles per hour), archery, mowing the lawn, or painting a room for 20 minutes
• Accidental cycling or playing with children for 23 minutes

Step 4:

Repeat step 1 each week to determine a new daily calorie allowance. This may seem obvious, but many people tend to follow the same meal plan for months or even years and then wonder why they never lost weight. They forget that after their body becomes 1-2 pounds lighter, it doesn't need as many calories to maintain the new weight. But by using the formula every week, you'll always know exactly how much you need to eat to reach your goal and never hit a plateau.