Probably obvious but it helped me

I have been trying and failing with my diet for years. Don't get me wrong, I've lost over 100 pounds (5'9'' 260->150lbs) but have done so in a constant pattern of going on far too few calories, losing a ton of weight and then eating like my life depended on it. I personally find tracking my food to be an invaluable tool in portion control but I always come to the same problem. I have no clue how many calories I need to exist and the bmr calculators are wayyy under for me. After more times than I could count of setting a calorie goal way below my needs them failing before I could dial in the appropriate amount it hit me. Instead hitting my goal calories/macros, I could just track my food...

This may sound obvious but what I am about to explain has eluded me for years.

1. For the next 2 weeks track everything you eat and try to eat only when youre hungry but if you go overboard, thats okay just track it as well.
2. Ideally weigh yourself every day in the mornong and dont worry about the number (this can be really hard but just tell yourself its only for 2 weeks, plus this might help you worry a bit less about that number moving) [if weighing yourself is incomfortable, just do it at the beginning, middle and end]
3. At the end of those 2 weeks take your calories for the 2 weeks, add them up and divide them by 14. This is your daily caloric consumption for the past 2 weeks. (Trust me this is pretty dang accurate, your body is pretty good at using calories as needed)
4. Now take the weight gained or lost from the beginning to the end and multiply it by 3500 (this is roughly the caloric energy of a pound of fat).
5. Take that number and divide it by 14 as well. This should roughly (and i emphasise roughly) be how much over or under you were on your daily caloric need in comparison to that number you got from #3.
6. Add or subtrack that difference from the previous step and you have your daily caloric need (again rough).

With this you can simply make those small hundred calorie increases or decreases and lose/gain weight hopefully a little bit more comfortably.

I would like to say, I know this is pretty obvious and alot of people probably knew it already but I always struggled sticking to a diet long enough to know what was actually appropriate. Realizing I could eat whatever i wanted within reason and figure this out has made a huge difference and helped me eat alot healthier. So if this help someone else, thats cool imo.

submitted by /u/RecommendationAdept3
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/quv7zt/probably_obvious_but_it_helped_me/