How to Stay In A Optimum Fat Percentage

How Many Calories Should I Eat Per Day?

I am going to be honest with you. I never count my calories and I am at 11% body fat and have been in there since I remember. My wife also does not count her calories and she is at 18% body fat and has been there for at least two years now. Also, I don’t teach our members at Custom Body Fitness to count calories to lose weight and here is why:

According to research you need between 1,500 and 2,000 calories a day for you to survive and stay healthy. 

However, this is not applicable to everyone. Even if you use the calculator to enter your weight and the calories you need, there is no accuracy in such an equation. There are many reasons that you should take into consideration before thinking about counting your calories and I am going to talk about three of them here. 

How to Stay In A Optimum Fat Percentage.All calories are not the same.

For example, eating 200 calories of broccoli is not the same as drinking 200 calories of beer. First thing to take into consideration is that your body has a hard time digesting alcohol calories and they are empty meaning that they do not have nutrients. On the other hand, broccoli has all types of minerals, vitamins and fiber that help with digestion. 

So if you eat 2,000 calories of junk food it is not going to be the same as eating 2,000 calories of healthy food. You will need less calories and be full eating healthy foods than junk food. So it is not only about the calories but also the quality of calories you are eating to be healthy and lose weight. 

Are you 180 pounds of muscle or fat?

Here is where weight is not important but how your body is built. If you are in shape and have a high percentage of muscle, you are going to need more calories than a person who weighs the same and has more fat instead of muscle. To continue growing muscle and to maintain the muscle you need more calories compared to someone who wants to get rid of fat. But it is not about eating any calories, but to eat healthy calories once again.

Have a good relationship with food and keep your mental sanity.

Your body knows how much food you should eat, but many times we don’t listen to our body and eat emotionally or for pleasure. Or many times we eat junk food that instead of making us full and it gives us the sensation of not being full. For example, high fructose corn syrup represses the chemical that sends the signal to our brain that we are full and consequently we continue eating. Plus, these products don’t have nutrients and our body continues craving the nutrients needed by it. Keep in mind that  this is the real reason why we eat, because our body needs nutrients. 

In reality when you know how to eat healthy, you won’t eat more calories than you need and that is better than just counting random calories, eating the wrong foods and stressing yourself by continuing to be hungry because you are restricting calories. Once again, when you eat healthy there is no need to count calories.

So instead of relying on counting random calories, the best way to stay healthy and lose weight is by listening to your body and starting eating healthy foods and getting rid of all the processed products and drinks. There is no need to stress about the amount of food you are eating. And to maximize your results, remember to exercise specially resistant training. Optimum Fat Percentage

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Custom Body Fitness is located in Glenwood Springs CO, Carbondale CO and Basalt - Willits CO