How many calories do you need?

List of healthy weight loss foods and a breakdown of the calories in a easy to follow table, plus calculate your daily calorie requirements.

For healthy fat loss it's important to keep track of the calories you consume and the foods you eat, ideally the foods you consume should be packed full of nutrients, foods full of nutrients will give your body what it requires, If you provide your body with everything it needs it will help to prevent you from feeling hungry and you will be far less likely to snack.

Calorie calculator

First you need to find out how many calories your body requires to sustain its weight, you can use a calorie calculator to do this.

Use this formula to calculate your calorie requirements

Male - BMR = 10 * Weight (kg) + 6.25 * Height (cm) - 5 * age + 5

Female - BMR = 10 * Weight (kg) + 6.25 * Height (cm) - 5 * age - 160

Try this automated daily calorie requirement calculator.
 
The below table has a list of many of the most common healthy weight loss foods and the calories they provide.

Food	Calories
Vegetables
Carrot	50
Broccoli - Medium Serving	45
Tomato - Medium Serving	35
Cucumber - Medium Serving	32
Fruit
Apple	90
Banana	100
Orange	72
Grape - Single grape	2
Pear	101
Meats - Fish
Beef - 1 oz	65
Chicken - 1 oz	50
Tuna - 1 oz	45
Egg medium size	60
Pork - 1 oz	65
Other
Weetabix - single serving	134
Cereal bar	160
Vegetable soup	200
Foods to avoid or reduce
Burger	300
Pizza 1 slice	185
White bread 1 slice	70 - 80
Chocolate 1 oz

Core Exercises - Strengthen Your Core

Core exercises to strengthen your core muscles which are very important, your core muscles are the foundation for a strong central core.

Strengthening your core muscles is one of the best ways to prevent lower back problems, this involves working your lower back, abdominals and the pelvic area. Your core muscles are basically all the muscles in your torso, excluding your arms and legs.

Your core muscles are very important, they're the foundation for our bodies movements, they allow us to stand up straight and move effectively.

Benefits of having a strong core

Injury prevention, reduce back pain, improved posture, daily tasks will become easier and require less effort, better sporting performance as a strong core will allow for the better shifting of your body and allow for smoother more powerful movements.

Core Muscles

Abdominals - Often mistaken for being the only core muscles.

Oblique's - They run along the side of your abdominals.

Erector Spinae - Run from your neck, down to your lower back.

Hip Flexors - These muscles are at the front of your pelvis.

Transverse Abdominis - They're beneath your oblique's and they go around to your back and help to stabilise your spine and waist.

Hip adductors - located in the upper thigh and hip area.

Gluteus Maximus - enables you to stand up straight.

Effective core exercises

• Various plank exercises

• Ab crunches, sit ups, leg raises

• Deadlift

• Stiff legged deadlift

• Good mornings

• Hyperextensions

• Body twists

• Squats

• Press ups

• Hip rotations

Various balancing exercises, (example) exercise balance ball exercises.

Below are three core exercises with details on how to perform them.

Front Plank

Technique

Get into a press up position, however rest your bodies weight on your forearms and elbows instead of your hands.

Then simply just hold your body in that position for a period of time.

Hyperextensions

Technique - requires a hyperextension bench

Lie on the bench faced down, your feet need to be placed under the foot pads to keep your feet in a fixed position.

Now keeping your back straight, slowly start to lower yourself at the waist as far as you can while keeping your back straight.

Now in a slow and controlled fashion raise yourself back up to the starting position.

Alternating Ab Crunches

Technique

Get in a crunch position with your back flat on the ground, knees up and elbows pointed towards your feet with your fingers on your temples.

Now try and touch your left knee with your right elbow, you should feel your abdominals and obliques being worked as you perform this, then repeat with the other side.

For added benefit you can extend and straighten your other leg keeping it suspended a few inches off the ground.

Body Weight Workout

Have a complete body workout without weights, this workout uses body weight exercises only.

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Press Ups

Performing the exercise

Legs and back straight, and elbows slightly bent, then bend your elbows and lower yourself so your chest is only a few inches off the ground, push yourself back up.

10 Repetitions, 3 sets

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Tricep Dips

Performing the exercise

Develops your triceps and chest muscles, narrow grip will focus on your triceps wide grip will focus on your chest.

Place your hands behind your body holding onto the chair, knuckles facing forward, keep your arms and legs straight, keep your feet together in front of you, slowly lower your body bending your elbows to about a 90 degree angle, then push yourself up to the start position.

10 Repetitions, 3 sets

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Lunges

Performing the exercise

Stand with your feet together, Lunge forward with the first leg, your forward leg should be bent at about a 90 Degree angle and your back knee should be nearly touching the ground, use your front knee to push you back up into the start position then repeat with other leg.

20 Repetitions, 3 sets.

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Pull ups

Performing the exercise

Grab the bar palms facing forward grip slightly wider than shoulder width, pull yourself up, tuck your feet up behind you, slowly lift yourself up so your chin is inline with the bar, hold for 1 - 2 seconds then lower your body and repeat.

6 - 10 Repetitions for 2 - 3 sets