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What should My daily intake calories be?
By NHS Year: 2018 Container: nhs.uk Publisher: NHS URL:
What should My daily intake calories be?
Gunnars, K. (2018). How Many Calories Should You Eat Per Day to Lose Weight? [online] Healthline.
How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day?
The number of calories to eat in a day differs from person to person. There is no hard and fast rule that you have to eat fixed macros each day. However, the gender-specific recommendations for calorie intake by The U.S Department of Health are as under:
- For Men: 2500 Cal/Day (Roughly 2000-3000)
- For Women: 2000 Cal/Day (Roughly 1600-2400)
Your daily calorie requirements depend upon several factors including metabolism, BMI, age, height, physical activity, etc. Considering them, our calorie calculator lets you plan your calorie consumption corresponding to weight goals.
How To Calculate Calories?
To estimate your daily calorie consumption, you need to consider two things i.e.; BMR & Activity Factor.
This Calorie calculator customizes your caloric ingestion plan by considering three basic BMR equations that include:
Mifflin-St Jeor Equation:
For Men:
BMR = 10W + 6.25H - 5A + 5
For Women:
BMR = 10W + 6.25H - 5A - 161
Revised Harris-Benedict Equation:
For Men:
BMR = 13.397W + 4.799H - 5.677A + 88.362
For Women:
BMR = 9.247W + 3.098H - 4.330A + 447.593
Katch-McArdle Formula:
BMR = 370 + 21.6(1 - F)W
where
- W = Body weight in kg
- H = Height in cm
- A = Your accurate Running Age
- F is body fat in percentage
Multiplying these BMR calories with your activity level gives you the calories. The calculator above considers the following MET values against particular physical routines:
| Physical Activity Level | MET Value |
|---|---|
| No Sports/Exercise | 0.2 |
| Light Activity 1-3 Times per Week | 0.375 |
| Moderate Activity 3-5 Times per Week | 0.55 |
| High Activity Everyday Exercise | 0.725 |
| Extreme Activity Professional Athlete | 0.9 |
Understanding Your Caloric Intake:
As per the Dietary Guidelines For Americans 2020-2025, adults between the ages of 19 and 59 need to consume calories in the range 1600-3000. However, our calorie calculator helps you to eat balanced calories to ensure you meet daily dietary allowances as per your health condition.
Main Sources of Calories:
Three factors contribute to your daily diet:
Carbohydrates: (45%-65% Calories)
Let’s say your physical activity is almost nill i.e.; Sedentary! Then, this is how you can estimate your daily carbs need:
Step # 01:
Multiply your caloric needs by 0.45 and 0.65
4:15:10
= (4*60*60 sec)+(15*60 sec)+(10 sec)
= 7200sec+900sec+10sec
= 8110 sec
Step # 02:
As 1 gram carbs = 4 calories, we have:
720/4 = 180g
1040/4 = 260g
Fats: (20%-35% Calories)
To stay healthy, your calories must consist of a 20-35% fat distribution throughout a single day. To estimate your daily fat, follow the method:
Step # 01:
Convert your lbs to kgs
Say if your weight is 160 lbs.
160lbs/2.2 = 72.72kg
= 7200sec+900sec+10sec
= 8110 sec
Step # 02:
Round to the nearest 10th decimal place
72.72kg = 73g fat needed per day
Proteins: (10%-35%)
Step # 01:
If your daily activity is moderately active, your daily protein requirement is 1.4-2.2g/kg/day
Step # 02:
Calculate your protein requirements
To know protein needs/day, multiply your weight in kilograms by the activity level range that best fits your category.
72kg * 1.2 = 86.4g
How Many Calories Should I Eat to Lose Weight?
To lose about 1-2 kgs of weight weekly, you need to cut off 500-1000 calories from your daily diet.
For example:
If you need 2500 calories daily to maintain your weight, then to lose 1-2 pounds/week, you have to reduce calorie intake between 1500-2000, respectively.
Zig Zag Calorie Intake:
“Zig zag diet is a practice of eating between high and low-calorie diets throughout the week.”
When you intake the same number of calories each day, your body gets used to it. In this situation, a time comes when you feel no progress towards fitness goals. Zig zag diet ingestion is very important as it keeps the body in a confusing situation.
The goal behind the zig zag calorie intake is to avoid either plateau in weight loss or weight gain.
Here's a basic overview of how the Zig Zag diet works for your fitness goals:
High-Calorie Days:
You need to consume a large portion of your weekly diet to strengthen your muscles and activate body metabolism.
Low Calorie Days:
Eat fewer calories to create a calorie deficit for you. This practice is often adopted to lose pounds.
Maintenance Calorie Days:
These days involve eating calories to maintain your current body weight i.e.; you neither intake surplus nor deficit diet these days.
People Also Ask:
How Many Calories Should I Burn a Day?
On average, women should aim to burn around 2,000 calories per day, while men should shoot for around 2,500. But to figure out exactly how many you need to burn each day, you'll need to do a little math.
Disclaimer:
We make no claim about the results calculated by calorie calculator! The information provided herein can only be considered for educational purposes. We do not encourage you to consider them as professional medical advice.
By using the tool, you ensure that you have read the terms of service to use it and are responsible for depending upon the results. We disclaim any loss or damage to your health as it totally depends on the way you use it.
Your Calorie Intake Chart:
| Gender | Age (years) | Sedentary | Moderately Active | Active |
| Child | 2-3 | 1,000 | 1,000-1,400 | 1,000-1,400 |
| Female | 4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+ | 1,200-1,400 1,400-1,600 1,800 1,800-2,000 1,800 1,600 | 1,400-1,600 1,600-2,000 2,000 2,000-2,200 2,000 1,800 | 1,400-1,800 1,800-2,200 2,400 2,400 2,200 2,200 |
| Male | 4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+ | 1,200-1,400 1,600-2,000 2,000-2,400 2,400-2,600 2,200-2,400 2,000-2,200 | 1,400-1,600 1,800-2,200 2,400-2,800 2,600-2,800 2,400-2,600 2,200-2,400 | 1,600-2,000 2,000-2,600 2,800-3,200 3,000 2,800-3,000 2,400-2,800 |