Calorie norm and how to calculate it
To maintain your weight at a certain level or to lose a few kilos, you need to maintain the ratio of calories consumed and calories burned. We will tell you how to calculate all this today.
Contents
Calorie norm for women
Calorie norm for women depends on age and lifestyle. For example, with a sedentary lifestyle, at the age of up to 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 up to 26 years – up to 2400 kcal, and at the age over 52 years – up to 2000 calories. But these are average figures; if you want to know the exact data, they can be calculated personally for each person. A little later we will provide formulas for such calculations.
Calorie norm for men
The daily calorie intake for the stronger sex differs from the calorie norm for women. Although the main indicators influencing its calculation remain the same: age and physical activity. However, male and female metabolism are different, therefore the formulas for calculating calorie intake are also different.
For example, for a man with a sedentary lifestyle, under the age of 26, the daily calorie content is up to 2400 calories, and over the age of 52, it is already 1800 kcal, but with an active lifestyle, 3000 kcal and 2850 kcal, respectively.
How to calculate calorie intake
To calculate your calorie intake, you can use online calculators, of which there are quite a lot on the Internet now. But you can make calculations yourself. To do this, you need the following parameters:
- gender;
- weight;
- height;
- presence of physical activity;
- age.
There are several formulas that allow you to make the necessary calculations, but the indicators that are needed for this are the same everywhere. For example, the Mifflin-San Jeor calculations are recognized as the most accurate for the stated purposes.
To begin, define:
- weight (O) - kilograms;
- height (D) - centimeters;
- age (Y) – years.
Formula for calculating daily calorie needs 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 calorie needs 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 during the day. But what is the meaning of these calculations, why are they even needed? 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 calories consumed and the ones you spend during the day are approximately the same, then your weight will not change, but if you consume more and spend less, then your weight will begin to grow steadily. Calorie content increases especially quickly when consuming sweets and baked goods. A person does not have time to feel full, and the level of calories received will already begin to go off scale.
So if you decide to keep track of your forms, start with the calculations. Try counting how many calories you have eaten during the day. Just do it honestly, without forgetting a single candy. After all, one chocolate candy is already almost 100 calories; to get this amount of energy from boiled chicken, you need to eat more than 120 g of meat.
To calculate, 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 will be able to do this without even resorting to the help of programs.
Calorie intake for weight loss
When losing weight, daily caloric intake must be reduced. However, you shouldn’t go too far. Indeed, with a sharp deficit, the body can, on the contrary, turn on the reserve function and begin to put aside 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 lower the number of calories for women below 1000, and for men below 1200.
Knowing the number of calories consumed and burned, you can calculate how long and how much weight you can lose. 1 g of fat contains 7.7 calories. Therefore, by creating a daily deficit of 375 calories, you will lose 49 grams of weight every day, in a month you can lose up to 1.5 kg. Moreover, such weight loss will not harm your body. And the result will last for many years. In addition, you simply won’t notice the difference of 375 calories and will tolerate some restrictions quite easily.
There are specialized programs on the Internet that will make all the calculations for you quickly and accurately. You just need to enter your height, weight, age and the period during which you plan to lose weight.
