Is learning your body's burn rate helpful?

[Ella]

I found out today that my body (according to calculations using those charts online) burns roughly 1,950 calories per day. This means that I need to eat that much to maintain my weight. If I eat over that, I will gain and if I eat less than that, I will lose weight. I am just not sure how accurate this is. Has anyone ever looked into it a bit more? 

[James]

It is so variable depending on the actions you took during the day too. 

I think understanding an average of what your body needs to have is helpful on setting boundaries on yourself. 

I do think the fitness industry likes to keep it complicated though so they can have cool products, calculators, apps, or whatever else they want to sell. 

Eat a healthy diet, get regular cardio (3-5 times a week), stretch daily, mediate daily, strength work (3-5 times a week), and get some yoga in there for some extra flexibility and all those supporter muscle groups. 

Doing the above would enable you to eat whatever healthy diet you wanted. If you are overweight it would help you lose weight. If you are just trying to stay in shape it is a well rounded routine. The above is the dream routine I am trying to work myself towards consistently. I have the cardio part down but slack on the others although I have brought back stretching and I feel so much better. 

Drink lots of water and make sure to get plenty of sleep. Living a healthy life all these things are connected and must be executed consistently. 

[Sophia]

I think it helps if you are overeating. You can actually pinpoint why you are not losing weight. I know someone who was working out an hour every day, 7 days a week for over a month without any results. Turns out, she ended up eating more after she started working out and it canceled it out. I feel like the best approach to weight loss is simply aiming to burn 500 calories daily through exercise or physical activity in general as well as subtracting 500 calories. That will end up being 2 pounds a week you'd be losing. While the science is not exact, it seems to be working for me!

[Mila]

One thing that I always hear is that you can lose weight with dieting alone but you can't do the same with exercise. I think this is fair to say if someone doesn't have the time. I think it is easier for people to cut back than to spend 2+ hours a day working out but if you are an active person, or become one just through general hobbies... I don't think you need to worry so much about what you eat. It is good to know your limits though.

[Scarlett]

I think the science behind it makes sense and while it won't be 100% accurate, it gives you an idea of how many calories your body generally needs to function. I think if you are going to cut calories, the number is useful for sure.