I'm male and 17 how many calories should i consume a day to lose weight?

Question

Was told 2000 but i'm not really sure. Ive had bout 500 or so today.

Answer 1

Do not starve yourself - you will lose weight but ANY, and i mean any calories your body gets it will instantly store as fat, thinking it is being starved. Once you return to normal eating (which you will do once the starving gets too much), you will balloon back with a vengeance and will be even bigger than what you are right now. This is a natural "defence" built into the human body - the very same mechanism which stopped neanderthal man from dieing when food got a bit scarce... In other words, your metabolism drops to a snail pace and will not process calories/fat quick enough to burn as efficient energy - so it will store it as fat instead.

For a growing male, 500 calories is DANGEROUSLY low. This IS starving yourself so the above WILL happen. Stop it now before you injure yourself; you could even impede your growth - remember you are still growing.

My advice: Eat healthy foods, and make sure you get a decent amount of food into your system each day.

Also, the safest and most effective way to lose weight is by healthy eating and regular (vigorous) exercise. If anyone tells you you can lose weight simply by changing what you eat, they are lying unless you eat a particularly fatty diet. Only healthy eating WITH exercise will give you quick, assured, sustainable and safe weight loss.

Seriously reduce your consumption of all animal/ trans/ hydrogenated/ saturated fats, salt and sugar.

Eat wholemeal foods, lean meats, fish, fruit and veg.

Exercise. Go Four times a week. Three of those sessions do 45mins of CV work, 40-50 mins of weights. The fourth session, just do another 45-60mins of CV, without any weights work.

The pounds will fall off. More muscle mass = a higher metabolism = even MORE calories burnt off just by sitting on your as$ (when you aren't working out that is!!).

The average human male needs 2500 calories (NOT 2000) per day. You are still growing as well, so your body needs as much energy/nutrients as it can get. It does not need unhealthy food, however! There is 3500 calories in one pound (454g) of human body fat. IF you are overweight (which i am assuming you are), then you should reduce that by 500 calories and burn off a further 1000 calories down the gym around 4 times a week.

If you are exercising, eat properly. NEVER diet, they are as good as starving yourself. Science has proved no diet has ever worked; logic also says if they did, why is there new one every year???? Hmmm....

Also, if you are anorexic/bulemic seek help. If you have very little body fat, and you are asking a question like this, seek help.

Answer 2

It depends more on how much you weigh now, not on your age. Use the calculator from this site to see how many calories your body needs every day to keep you at your current weight. Then you can plan how many calories to cut.

I would suggest you plan to take your total number of calories to cut a day and divide them between the calories cut from diet and calories burned through exercise. Exercise is essential. Also, you can lose up to 2 pounds a week safely. Good luck!

Answer 3

Careful!
Consuming too little calories will simply make your body slow its metabolism and you will start losing muscle mass if you do this - when your body feels starved it starts conserving body fat, it isnt good for you..
a 17 year old male should be consuming ~2500 calories per day, you can reduce it to about 2000 if you want, but don't overdo it.
and more importantly - eat less fatty foods because its hard for your body to use saturated fats(most of which come from fat meats and fried food) for energy, so its harder to lose it.

The exercising part should be obvious.

Answer 4

consuming no more than 2000 calories is a good start 4 u per day.
the daily requirement 4 an adult male is 2550.
but even if ur trying 2 lose weight, 500 is 2 few!
ur a growing lad u need more than that.
hope the links below help.
:)

Answer 5

Do NOT drastically reduce calories to lose weight. Although you might lose a couple pounds at first your body will think you are starving and will reduce your metabolism to compensate. This will stop any further weight loss. You should watch what you eat. ANY sensible diet will do. Try not to eat too much fat and increase your veggies. Do not drink soda. Water, milk and real juice only. Exercise will be your best friend but if you are not motivated stick to your sensible eating plan and within three months you will have healthy weight loss.

Answer 6

you need around 1500-2000 a day.You also need to be burning more calories you're consuming. For energy and vitamins eat as much veggies, fruits, wheat products, and protein that you can.

Just exercise even harder.

Answer 7

500 calories is no where near enough, you'll need calories to keep your metabolism going and therefore lose weight. try 5 meals a day

i.e. breakfast- porridge + 2 piece of fruit.
snack- scrambled eggs + 2 veg
lunch- tuna + sweetcorn
dinner- chicken breast + 2 veg
supper- cottage cheese + milk

make sure youre not kidding yourself and you are getting enough exercise.. having the perfect diet is a waste of time if youre not exercising enough.

Answer 8

I've lost 5 kilos in my first week. It's my 10th day and I have included salad with some protein (eg. egg/ lean chicken) as you suggested. After 4 years of trying, the fat is finally coming off. It truly feels like magic!

Get started today!

Answer 9

firstly, forget calory counting its rubbish.. if you need to lose weight, stop eating the obvious unhealthy stuff, too much crisps, chocs, takeaways etc and fill up on grilled meat, vegetables and fruit. don't completely eliminate the bad things you like, have them as a treat now and then. as you're young you'll burn excess fat far quicker through exercise. so off your computer and go for a jog!!! plus, dont try losing weight, if you dont need to, check your BMI online if in doubt.

Answer 10

Approx. 2000 to maintain current weight. 1600 or less to lose. Takes weeks, though. If you combine this with some exercise, results will come much sooner.