Calorie intake and how to calculate it

To maintain your weight at a certain level or to lose a few pounds, you need to observe the ratio of consumed and spent calories. We will tell you how to calculate all this today.

Calories for women

Calorie allowance for women depends on age and lifestyle. For example, with a sedentary lifestyle at the age of 26 years, the daily calorie intake is 2000, and at the age of over 52 years - 1600 kcal, if a woman is actively involved in sports, then the daily calorie intake increases, at the age of 26 to 2400 kcal, and over the age of 52 - up to 2000 calories. But these are average indicators, if you want to know the exact data, then they can be calculated individually for each person. A little later we will give the formulas for such a calculation.

Calorie intake for men

The daily calorie intake for the stronger sex differs from the calorie norm for women. Although the main indicators affecting its calculation remain the same: age and physical activity. However, male and female metabolism are different, therefore, the formulas for calculating the calorie rate are also different.

For example, for a man, with a sedentary lifestyle, under the age of 26, the daily calorie content is up to 2,400 calories, and at the age of over 52, it is already 1,800 kcal, but with an active lifestyle, 3,000 kcal and 2850 kcal, respectively.

How to calculate your calorie intake

To calculate the calorie intake, you can use online calculators, which are now quite common on the Internet. But you can make calculations yourself. This requires the following parameters:

• floor;
• weight;
• height;
• having physical activity;
• age.

Several formulas are known that allow you to make the necessary calculations, but the indicators that are needed for this are the same everywhere. For example, the calculations of Mifflin - San Geor are recognized as the most accurate for the stated purposes.

First, define:

• weight (O) - kilograms;
• height (D) - centimeters;
• age (G) - years.

The formula for calculating the daily calorie requirement for the fairer sex:

10 * O + 6.25 * D-5 * G-161.

To get more accurate indicators, the result must be multiplied by the activity coefficient, which is:

• minimum activity during the day - 1.2;
• with regular training 3 times a week, the coefficient is up to 1.4;
• when training 5 times a week - 1.5;
• with daily training - 1.6.

The formula for calculating the calorie requirement for men differs only in the last value:

10 * O + 6.25 * D-5 * G + 5.

By the way, do not forget to multiply the resulting number by the activity coefficient, its value for the male and female population is the same.

So, you have determined the number of calories you need to consume throughout the day. But what is the meaning of these calculations, what are they for at all? Let's figure it out.

Everyone knows that by eating, a person receives the energy necessary for normal life, which he spends during the day. If the calorie intake and the one that you spend during the day are about the same, then your weight will not change, but if you consume more and spend less, then the weight will begin to grow steadily. Especially quickly, the calorie content is recruited when eating sweets and pastries. A person does not have time to feel the feeling of satiety, and the level of calories received will already start to go off scale.

Therefore, if you decide to keep track of your forms, start with calculations. Try counting how many calories you ate during the day. Just do it honestly, not forgetting any candy. After all, one chocolate candy is already almost 100 calories, in order to get such an amount of energy from boiled chicken, you need to eat more than 120 g of meat.

For counting, you can use Internet resources or special applications that can be purchased in the online store.

Believe me, it is difficult to calculate calories only at the initial stage; later, you can already do this without even resorting to the help of programs.

Calories for weight loss

When losing weight, the daily calorie intake must be reduced. However, you should not go too far. Indeed, with a sharp deficit, the body can, on the contrary, turn on the reserve function, and begin to put off every piece that it receives. It is better to divide all the foods that you plan to eat during the day into several equal portions and eat every 3-4 hours.

Experts recommend not to underestimate the number of calories for women below 1000, and below 1200 for men.

Knowing the number of consumed and spent calories, you can calculate for how long and how much you can lose weight. 1 g of fat contains 7.7 calories. Therefore, creating a daily deficit of 375 calories, you will lose 49 g of weight every day, in a month you can lose up to 1.5 kg. Moreover, such a weight loss will not harm your body. And the result will last for many years. In addition, you simply will not notice the difference in 375 calories and you will rather easily endure some restrictions.

There are specialized programs on the Internet that will make all the calculations for you quickly and accurately. You just need to enter height, weight, age and the period during which you plan to lose weight.