How many calories a day should you eat to lose weight? And how do you deal with the hunger?

One of the biggest struggles of losing weight is dealing with the hunger that comes after a good work out (because you burned a ton of calories, oh yeah!) and the hunger that sneaks up on you late at night.  While doing Jillian Michaels Body Revolution (each work out is said to boost metabolism for 16 hours!), I've noticed that my usually small appetite has grown, and finding the balance between too little and not enough is very tough.  (If you can follow her meal plan, I suggest doing it, because it'll make things a lot easier on you!)

The first step is to figure out how many calories your body needs in order for you to lose weight, and you start by finding your basal metabolic rate or BMR (this calculator will make it easier), in order to determine how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current body weight.  (Mine is 1,432 calories/day.)

Next, multiply your BMR by your daily activity:
     BMR x 1.2 if you do little to no exercise
     BMR x 1.375 if you do light activity 1-3 days a week
     BMR x 1.55 if you do moderate activity 3-5 days a week
     BMR x1.725 if you are very active
     BMR x 1.9 if you do more than the above mentioned, such playing intense sports, having a physical job, training twice a day, or just going above and beyond normal exercise

Now, take the number you get from multiplying your BMR by your activity (mine is about 2,350) and subtract 500 and that's how many calories you need to eat to lose about 1-2 pounds a week.

With Jillian, she suggests eating a 400 calorie breakfast, a 400 calorie lunch, a 400 calorie snack and 300 calorie dinner, which is only 1,500 calories a day for anyone who does her program, however, her program is to meant to push your body to lose extreme weight and get in extreme shape in just 90 days.  So you can push yourself to follow a 1,500 calorie a day diet, or you can just do the basics.

So how do you cut back on the calories?  Well, weight loss is a slow process, so don't be discouraged if you can't cut back that many calories with the snap of your fingers.

Tip 1: Drink at least 8 oz. of water before each meal. I suggest a full 16 oz. if you can, but not only does this help you get your daily water intake, but water makes you feel fuller which will help you eat less.

Tip 2: Take 20 minutes to eat the food on your plate.  It takes you brain 20 minutes to tell your stomach you're full, so the slower you eat, the less you'll eat.

Tip 3: Keep a journal.  I am the WORST at doing this, but keeping a journal of what you eat and now many calories you consume honestly helps more than anything else.  You can find an app on your phone to use, or do it the old fashioned way on pen and paper, whatever is easiest.

Tip 4: Go to bed earlier.  Whenever you start feeling hungry at night, drink a bottle of water while getting ready for bed, then go to bed early so you won't eat.  (This works double for helping you get the sleep your body needs.  A good night sleep is essential to losing weight.)

Tip 5: Get up and move. If you feel like you want to start snacking, instead, focus your mind on jogging in place, doing mountain climbers or a running man move.  You can do cross-punches in a half squat, or march in place, etc...just do SOMETHING PHYSICAL to get your heart rate up and make you not think about food.  This will also help put some more activity into your day to day life.  (I do one of these exercises about 4 times a day...but the more, the better!)