Managing Your Daily Calories Intake – Figuring What’s Appropriate

The recommended daily caloric intake of most adults is between 1800-2400 calories, on average. Generally, a recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories per day for women and 2,500 calories per day for men. From age 19-25, women’s recommended intake is 2,000 calories a day, but this drops to 1,600 after 51. It differs depending on age and activity level, with male adults typically requiring 2000-3000 calories per day for bodyweight maintenance, while female adults require about 1,600-2,400.

For instance, if an individual has a presumed allowance of 2,500 calories per day to maintain weight, then eating 2,000 calories a day for one week theoretically results in 3500 calories (or 1 pound) lost over that time. Many people find that reducing the daily average of calories consumed by approximately 500 calories each day results in one pound lost each week. Most calorie calculators for weight loss suggest finding out how many calories it takes to maintain your current weight, and then cutting this number by around 500 calories.

If you are trying to figure out what calorie amount to eat to lose weight, first you will want to figure out what calorie amount is appropriate to eat each day. The recommended calorie intake for weight loss can differ significantly depending on a number of factors, including your age, gender, and diet quality. The exact amount of calories you need to cut depends on a few factors, like your age, sex, current weight, current caloric intake, and physical activity levels.

Balance Food Consumption & Calories Used

If your weight has not changed, you are eating the correct number of calories for your level of activity. The number of calories you need to eat and expend every day depends on your weight-management goals. Physical activity (both everyday activities and exercise) helps tip the scales toward balance by increasing the calories expended each day. To stay balanced and maintain bodyweight, calories consumed (from food) need to be balanced with calories used (in regular bodily functions, daily activities, and exercise).

If you must shift your balance scales in the direction of losing weight, remember it takes about 3,500 calories less than the calories needed to lose one pound of body fat. Research suggests that the safest way to lose weight is by pairing a reduced-calorie diet with exercise, with the goal of losing about 1/2 to 2 pounds per week (after your initial weeks at reducing body weight).

People lose weight by combining the reduction in calories consumed with an increase in calories burned by the body through exercise. Studies have shown that individuals who track calories lose more weight and are likely to keep weight off over the long term. For all of the dietary strategies that are available, managing your weight is still about calories you eat, not calories you burn.

Fad diets might promise you avoiding carbohydrates or eating a mountain of grapefruits is the secret to losing weight, but in reality, it comes down to eating fewer calories than your body uses if you want to lose pounds. You can achieve that by eating 500 to 1,000 less calories each day, increasing the calorie burn the same amount, or using a combination of those two strategies for weight loss. Replacing high-calorie foods with lower-calorie alternatives and reducing portion sizes may help you reduce calories and improve your weight control.

Tracking Your Calorie Intake

Calorie counting can be a great way to stay on track with daily calorie consumption and weight loss goals. Find out how many calories your body needs to maintain, lose, or gain weight by clicking here.

The amount that each of these options–sedentary, vigorous daily exercise, etc.–adds to your caloric expenditure depends on factors such as your height, age, and body mass. Tracking how many calories you need, and how much calories you are eating, via the GBs food calories and nutrition calculator, is the most important aspect of managing calories every day.

Weighing Yourself Every Morning

Depending on the persons activities, a general recommendation is for high-calorie days and low-calorie days to differ by about 200-300 calories, with high-calorie days generally being the amount of calories that an individual needs to eat to maintain current weight.

Understand that nobody should ever go below 1200 calories per day; you will stunt your metabolism and set yourself up for regaining all that weight. Recall that 1 lb (0.45 kg) equals about 3,500 calories, and cutting your daily calorie intake relative to estimated BMR by 500 calories a day would theoretically cause 1 lb (0.43 kg) loss each week.

Therefore, in order to lose 1 pound per week, it is recommended to reduce 500 calories from estimated calories needed to maintain weight daily. To lose weight: Previously, it was recommended that to lose one pound per week, you needed to reduce your total calories by 500 a day. Again, try weighing yourself each morning for a week or two, right after waking, to get a good idea of what effect calories are having on weight.

You should always aim for healthy, balanced eating, no matter how many calories you choose to eat. When it comes to maintaining your weight, the number of calories that you need each day should be the same as the number that you expend.