How Many Calories Should You Consume in a Day?
Adequate Calorie Intake for a Healthy Body
Your body needs a specific amount of calories in order to function optimally. If you consume more calories than your body needs on a daily basis, you can typically expect to gain weight unless you are burning them off, such as through exercise. On the other hand, if you consume too few calories, you may lose weight. If you are trying to lose weight, it is important to remember that your body does need enough fuel to keep you healthy. As such, it's best to avoid cutting calories too far below what your body needs.
Figure Your Basal Metabolic Rate
Figuring out how many calories you need requires you to calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This rate is simply the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight and ensure that your body processes can proceed as normal. Finding your basal metabolic rate requires a simple calculation. Take your current weight and multiply it by 10. This means if you weigh 150 lbs., 1500 calories a day is your basal metabolic rate.
Other Factors Affect Caloric Needs
You may be tempted to just stop at figuring out your basal metabolic rate. However, it's important to realize that your BMR doesn't consider your physical activity. If you exercise regularly or are more physically active, your caloric needs may be somewhat higher. Also, such factors as family history, age and the amount of body fat you have versus muscle will also be important considerations.
Keep a Food and Activity Journal
Your basal metabolic rate is a good place to start in considering how many calories you need, but a personal evaluation may be more helpful. Keep a food journal for a couple weeks, creating a detailed record of everything you eat and drink during that time. Also, record your physical activity each day. At the end of each week, weigh yourself and record your weight in your journal. If after 2 weeks your weight is the same as it was when you began your journal and you are consuming the number of calories specified by your BMR, you have indeed figured out the correct basal metabolic rate. If you have gained weight, you may actually need fewer calories than you calculated.
Men vs. Women
Men and women often have very different caloric needs. For example, if a man and woman weigh the same amount, it is likely that the man will need more calories on a daily basis than the woman does. This is due to the fact that men are often more physically active than women. They also have more muscle, which helps to burn calories. On the other hand, if a very active woman is compared to a sedentary man of the same weight, she may very well need more calories than he does for good body function.
Tags: basal metabolic rate, metabolic rate, basal metabolic, basal metabolic, body needs, calories need