How Many Calories Do I Need
No CommentFor people trying to gain, lose or maintain their weight, calorie counting can prove to be quite useful. Calories are units of measurement used to measure energy. Knowing how many calories certain foods or drinks contain, say a chocolate bar containing 100 calories; tells you that you can get 100 units of energy from that chocolate bar.
If you check the back or side of most food labels, you will see the serving size, a listing of the sodium, protein, fat, ingredients and anything else that the product contains. At the bottom you might see something like “percent daily values based on a 2,000 calorie diet”, which is the average that is mostly used when calories are being calculated.
So the average recommended amount of calories for maintaining weight is 2,000 calories. Any less than that and you could lose weight; any more and your weight might start to climb. But these numbers may vary from individual to individual so the best thing to do is calculate the calories you need specifically for your weight rather than just working with the averages.
To estimate the calories that you will need to maintain your weight requires a little calculating using a formula called the Harris-Benedict principle that calculates your basal metabolic rate (BMR). The formula can be a little complex however, so you might want to utilize one of the dozens of BMR and calorie calculators that are available on the web.
Your BMR tells you the amount of energy that your body needs to function and perform everyday activities such as breathing, based on whether you are highly active or sedentary. Your BMR is calculated based on your weight, height, age, and how active you are.
If you are just lightly active and exercise say 1-2 times a week, then you will obviously use less energy than someone that exercises daily; so the calories you will need to maintain your weight will be less than for someone that does strenuous exercise and burns more calories.
The BMR calculator will tell you based on the information you put into it, how many calories you need to maintain your weight. To lose weight you eat fewer calories than it suggests and to gain weight you eat more calories.
As you lose or gain weight, it is a good idea to recalculate the formula every now and then based on your new weight and activities or you will eventually hit a plateau where the calories you take in are equal to the activities you currently do and your weight will remain steady.
So counting calories is actually a pretty good way of keeping your weight in check, note however, that it is not a good idea to cut calories abruptly as your body will simply burn less energy to make up for the sudden reduction and you will see very slow, if any changes at all, you will see far better results if you drop say 200 calories per week rather than 1,000.
For more information on caloric requirements, read How Many Calories Should I Eat? and Daily Calorie Intake. To find the number of calories in common food items, check the Food Calorie Chart. For low-calories snack ideas, visit Low Calorie Snacks and 100 Calorie Snacks.
