Fastest Way to Lose Weight Naturally

When you have a few extra pounds to lose, most of us want to shed it fast. But it's important to lose weight healthily and naturally. Not doing so will simply provide you with short-term weight loss. Most of the crash and fad diets people turn to may help you drop the pounds quite quickly, but rarely allow them to keep them off. So what is the fastest way to lose weight and lose it naturally? It comes down to a few simple rules.

Start Counting

It may seem rather tedious, but the most natural and effective way to lose weight will be to start counting those calories. People have been doing this for years, and it does work. The idea behind counting calories is essentially keeping tabs on what you're putting into your body. If you don't expend the same amount of calories that you eat, you're going to gain weight. By counting them, you know exactly how much you're eating in a day. From there, you can adjust to either maintain or lose weight.

The Numbers

Though each person is different and will have varying caloric demands based on height, weight, age and activity level, there are a few numbers to keep in mind that are basically "rules of thumb" when it comes to calories. For an average woman to drop weight, she should reduce her calories to around 1,500 to 1,600. For an average man to drop weight, he should reduce his calories to between 1,800 and 2,000. These are rough estimates. As mentioned before, each person is different and will vary on personal factors.

Calculate

If you want to dig deeper into your caloric intake and not use the rough numbers to lose weight, you can start off by calculating your base metabolic rate. This will help you understand how many calories you would expend in a given day. All you'll need to know is your height, weight, age and activity level to do this.

Base Metabolic Rate for Women

For a woman, take your weight (in pounds) and multiply it by 4.3. Take your height (in inches) and multiply it by 4.7. Take your age (in years) and multiply it by 4.7. Now, add the first two numbers (from weight and height) together with 655, and then subtract the last number (from age) to calculate your BMR. The calculation would look something like this for a 40-year-old woman who is 5 feet tall and 140 pounds: (4.3 x 140 pounds) + (4.7 x 60 inches) + 655 -- (4.7 x 40) = 1351.

Base Metabolic Rate for Men

For a man, take your weight (in pounds) and multiply it by 6.23. Take your height (in inches) and multiply it by 12.7. Take your age (in years) and multiply it by 6.8. Now, add the first two numbers (from weight and height) together with 66 and then subtract the last number (from age) to calculate your BMR. The calculation would look something like this for a 40-year-old man who is 6 feet tall and 200 pounds: (6.23 x 200 pounds) + (12.7 x 72 inches) + 66 -- (6.8 x 40) = 1954.

Lifestyle

Now that you've arrived at the base metabolic rate, it's time to apply your activity level. This will give you a better idea of exactly how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. People who are basically sedentary should take their BMR number and multiply it by .2. Those who exercise 1 to 3 times a week will multiply it by .3. Those who exercise 4 to 6 times a week will multiply it by .4. Those who do vigorous exercise each day will multiply it by .5. This number is added back into the BMR. Let's take one of our two people from above to better understand how lifestyle will play a roll. If our 40-year-old woman exercises twice a week, she would need to take in around 1,750 calories to maintain her weight: 1,351 x .3 = 405; 405 + 1,351 = 1,756.

Adjust

Now that you know how many calories you need to maintain your weight, you can adjust in two different ways: reducing calories or increasing exercise. To lose around a pound a week, cut out 500 calories a day (no more than that). The same woman, if she started exercising four times a week, would need around 1,890 calories to maintain her weight. That's already 134 calories right there. This demonstrates how exercise can impact weight loss, just by adding a couple extra days in a week.