Hello weight loss friend,
This article is in response to a question on how one can calculate his caloric deficit
What do we mean by Caloric deficit?
In simple terms, that is the amount of calories, you would need to take in to allow for a weight loss
Given that weight gain occurs when you have excess calories stored away at different areas of the body.
Kindly see an explanation for the meaning of calories at the footnote of this article
To get the amount of calories you need to take in to make for a weight loss, you must do one thing first; that is calculate your maintenance caloric value

What is your Maintenance Caloric value?
This is the amount of calories you require to maintain your weight at the present value it is now
How to Calculate Your Calorie Maintenance Level

In case it’s not obvious enough, calorie maintenance levels are different for everyone because we all have different daily calorie requirements. It’s not like everyone with a certain goal or body type has the same maintenance level or anything like that.
Instead, your calorie maintenance level is dependent on many factors that are specific to you and your exact situation.
These factors include:
• Gender
• Height
• Weight
• Age
• Activity level
• Metabolic Rate
• Thermic Effect Of Food
• Non-Exercise Activity Thermo genesis (NEAT)
As you can see, your specific calorie maintenance level is tailored to you and you alone. Even if you are the same age, height and weight as someone and have the exact same activity level and goals as they do, you can both still have very different calorie maintenance levels and daily calorie requirements in general.
Luckily though, there are a few quick and easy ways to get an accurate estimate of what your daily calorie maintenance level is.
Here are my favorite methods…
Method #1: Body Weight (lbs) x 14-17 = Estimated Daily Calorie Maintenance Level
Just take your current body weight in pounds and multiply it by 14 and 17. (we calculate in pounds and not in kilograms because the developers of the formula are whites and not Nigerians ; a challenge for us ; smiles; don’t mind me )
(To convert your weight from kilograms to pounds; multiply by 2.2)
Somewhere in between those 2 amounts will usually be your daily calorie maintenance level.

You can equally use this method: multiply your weight (in pounds) by 12 if you have a sedentary lifestyle, 14 if you are moderately active (you work out 3-4 times/week), or 16 if you are very active (5-7 times/week).


For example, a 180lb person would do 180 x 14 and 180 x 17 and get an estimated daily calorie maintenance level of somewhere between 2520-3060 calories.
People who are female, older, and less active or feel they have a “slow metabolism” should probably stick more towards the lower end of their estimate. People who are male, younger, more active, or feel they have a “fast metabolism” should probably stick more towards the higher end of their estimate.( all for the first formula )
If you’re unsure, just pick a number somewhere in the middle.
Crude way of calculating your Caloric Maintenance
1. Basically, eat the same amount of calories each day for a couple of weeks and monitor what your weight does.
2. If it stays the same, you’ve found your exact maintenance level.
3. If it goes up or down, then just adjust your calorie intake in small increments, wait another couple of weeks, and see what your weight does then.
4. When it stays the same, you’ll know for sure that you’ve found your exact daily calorie maintenance level.

How to Calculate your Caloric deficit ?
Now that you know your maintenance calories, it’s time to figure out how much calories you need to consume in order to lose fat.



The Only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit, meaning that you’re expending more calories than you consume.
It’s pretty easy to figure this out. A good starting point would be to subtract 300-500 calories from your daily maintenance.
You can equally calculate thus: (if you love calculations) 20% of your maintenance calorie values… subtract the value you get from the maintenance value.
This gives you the maximum amount of calories you should consume in order for you to lose fat.
Why isn’t it an absolute number?
To be contd tomorrow


Yours in fat loss
Dr Maduako
P.S Calories are an objective measure of the energy content of food substances

OBJ WILL NEED THIS OOO