Living Well

Say Goodbye to Unwanted Heft

Today, you can call me the codger...

Because the advice I'm going to give you is about as common sense as it gets.

Around 40% of American adults are obese – meaning they have a body mass index of 30 or higher.

Studies show that being obese increases your likelihood of developing major health problems, as well as your costs at the doctor by up to 40%. That's because carrying a lot of extra weight can create other problems, like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

So to those of you who would like to shed a few pounds, I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

There's something you can do about it. Longtime readers know I don't like turning to pills to improve your health. And if you're one of the millions of people trying to lose weight, there is one thing you need to know – and it's practically guaranteed to help you shed some serious extra heft.

The way to say goodbye to that unwanted extra weight is to create a calorie deficit.

Every day, our bodies use energy to do things like think and move around. The amount of energy it takes just to get through your day is called your basal metabolic rate ("BMR").

Your BMR accounts for around 70% of your total daily calories burned... so this figure, plus any exercise you're planning on doing, will set the stage for how to create an effective weight-loss strategy.

Rather than guessing how many calories you should eat (guess what, it's not 2,000), knowing how many you burn in a day will give you a great starting point.

All you have to do is eat fewer calories than what you burn during the day. It's really that simple.

While following your calorie-deficit weight-loss plan, make sure to eat at least 1,200 calories each day... Eating 1,200 calories a day will cause you to lose weight at a good, healthy rate of one to two pounds per week. Eating too little will actually put your body in "starvation mode," which makes it harder to lose weight. That's because it pushes your body to try to hold onto calories.

Also, aiming for a calorie deficit of no more than 500 calories per day is a safe and sustainable way to approach this goal.

So, how do you find your BMR?

There's a formula you can calculate by hand...

For men: BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight [in kg]) + (4.799 x height [in cm]) – (5.677 x age [in years])

For women: BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight [in kg]) + (3.098 x height [in cm]) – (4.330 x age [in years])

But I prefer to use a free online calculator that will calculate my BMR for me.

Once you know your BMR, you can figure out the number of calories you burn daily based on your level of activity times your BMR:

  • Sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR x 1.2
  • Slightly active (one to three days of light exercise per week): BMR x 1.375
  • Moderately active (three to five days of moderate exercise per week): BMR x 1.55
  • Active (six to seven days of intense exercise per week): BMR x 1.725
  • Very active (six to seven days of very intense exercise per week): BMR x 1.9

So do what I do and get an idea of your BMR energy expenditure. Once you know this number, you can build your meals around getting the correct number of calories for your weight loss.

Want to lose weight? Intake fewer calories than you use. Like I said, it's all about common sense.

But as I've said before, there are lots of reasons why common sense doesn't work for everyone...

Recently, one of our Stansberry Research employees stepped forward to share his weight-loss story and how a popular weight-loss drug saved his life. If you haven't heard his story, or his take on a new investing opportunity that could blow right past the AI industry, then you're going to want to check it out. Click here to learn more.

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Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,

Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
March 19, 2024