Most people overestimate calorie needs: With 5 tricks you can fire up your metabolism – and lose weight without starving
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How many calories we need each day varies from person to person – and is usually much less than we think. So that we don’t gain weight, the only thing that helps is to increase consumption. We reveal the best tricks for speeding up your metabolism. If you want to know exactly what calories are all about, you will receive a detailed explanation beforehand.
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You can meticulously count every calorie and come up with exactly as many as your slim neighbor consumes every day – you will still gain weight and he will remain at his ideal weight. Gaining weight, losing weight or maintaining your weight depends not only on the amount of calories you consume every day, but also on your basal metabolic rate and calorie requirements, and these vary from person to person. If your daily calorie intake exceeds your personal calorie needs, you will inevitably gain weight. Only when both amounts of energy are equal will your weight stagnate.
However, what we call a calorie (cal.) is, strictly speaking, kilocalories (kcal.) A kcal. corresponds to 1,000 cal. However, because “calorie” is shorter than “kilocalorie”, we use the simplified form colloquially (unlike in the specialist literature) and by 100 calories we actually mean 100 kcal.
The basal metabolic rate determines the calorie requirement
Calorie requirements are crucial when it comes to successful weight control. But how high is it really? The calorie requirement can be roughly calculated using a single equation:
Calorie requirement = basal metabolic rate plus performance metabolic rate
But what is the basal metabolic rate? This is the energy that the body needs to maintain all basic functions. These include: breathing, heartbeat, oxygen supply to all cells, structure and breakdown of cells and digestion.
The basic metabolic rate varies greatly from person to person. Metabolism plays a significant role. Its activity is genetically determined, i.e. whether it works quickly and you lose weight quickly or rather slowly and you therefore tend to be overweight. In addition, the basal metabolic rate depends on other factors such as
Age (with increasing years, metabolic activities decrease) Gender (men have a higher basal metabolic rate than women) Muscle mass (more muscles mean more energy requirements) Climate (in warm countries the organism needs less energy, the basal metabolic rate drops)
Rule of thumb for your basal metabolic rate
You can calculate your basal metabolic rate using a simple formula:
For women: body weight in kg times 24 times 0.9 = basal metabolic rate
For men: body weight in kg times 24 times 1.0 = basal metabolic rate
This is the average The basal metabolic rate of men is around 1,700 calories and that of women is just under 1,300.
Performance metabolic rate – Activities increase calorie requirements
To determine your calorie requirement, you must also add the energy you expend for your daily activities to your basal metabolic rate. This is the so-called performance turnover. Anyone who moves a lot and does strenuous sports increases their power output and thus their calorie requirements. Most people think of fat burner sports such as jogging, where you burn up to 500 calories per hour.
But all other activities also use energy and thus increase the output – reading, sex, showering, ultimately every step. Trackers and fitness bracelets help to count the calories burned and thus measure your personal performance.
Calculate individual performance expenditure without counting calories
However, this calorie counting is tedious – every day not only the calories consumed from food and drinks, but also those from the metabolic rate are added to the basal metabolic rate. That’s why nutritionists developed a clear, somewhat simplified classification for determining the performance turnover, the so-called PAL factor. The abbreviation stands for physical activity level and means the measure of physical activity. The level of activity is internationally divided into five different groups, from inactive to extremely active:
predominantly lying or sitting lifestyle (frail seniors): PAL value 1.2 mostly sedentary activity, no or little leisure activities (screen work, office workers): PAL value 1.3 to 1.5 often sitting, additional energy expenditure for occasional walking/standing Activities (teachers, students): PAL value 1.6-1.7 mostly walking/standing activities (salespeople, housewives, employees in the catering industry, amateur athletes): PAL value 1.8-1.9 physically demanding professional work ( Competitive athlete, forest worker, farmer): PAL value 2.0-2.4
Calculate calorie requirements
The PAL factor can be used to easily determine the average calorie requirement. The formula applies:
Calorie requirement = basal metabolic rate times PAL factor
Two examples: A teacher has a daily calorie requirement of a good 2,000 calories (1,300 calories times 1.6 PAL), her colleague needs 2,700 (1,700 calories times 1.6 PAL). These two measurements – 2,000 calories for women, 2,700 for men – are, by the way, internationally considered average values for the daily calorie needs of men and women.
There are also simple examples for calculating calorie requirements here at the German Nutrition Society; not only the PAL values are taken into account, but also age and gender.
Lose weight without starving
Our guide shows you 12 facts about losing weight, how you can achieve your desired weight without a diet and how you can stick to the diet.
For most people, the calorie requirement is lower than expected
Many who have determined their calorie requirement in this way are then faced with the sobering realization: it is quite low and they would actually have to fast more or less throughout their lives in order not to gain one or two kilograms every year.
Because even a relatively frugal meal plan exceeds the actual calorie requirement. Cereal in the morning, chicken with potatoes for lunch, a few biscuits in the afternoon, cheese toasties and one or two beers or wine in the evening, a small chocolate bar in between – that’s 500 calories more than you should be.
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Lose weight smartly – fire up your metabolism with these five tips
It works easier if you focus on your metabolism and thus increase your basal metabolic rate. This means that the body burns more energy even when resting. The following measures are optimal for this:
Drink lukewarm water every now and then; according to a study by the Charité, this should stimulate your metabolism. Treat yourself to a cup of coffee every now and then. If you are healthy, you can drink up to five cups a day and thus activate your metabolism. Eat according to your metabolism – carbohydrates in the morning (cereals, whole grain bread), fruit and vegetables at lunch, protein in the evening (fish, lean meat, light egg dishes). This division optimizes your metabolism. Take at least a five-hour break between each meal – and between dinner and Breakfast is best served more than 12. Build muscle mass. This not only burns calories during exercise and activates the metabolism. A combination of endurance and strength training is best. The larger the muscle mass, the more energy is used when sleeping.
In this way, you can easily lose weight slowly but permanently without counting calories. If you stick to the rules meticulously, you can lose one pound per week and weigh two kilos less in a month.