How many calories should you consume?

If you are on a diet or just trying to maintain your current weight it is a good idea to know how many calories you should consume per day. The 2000 calories a day or 1800 calories a day is a generic number that does not fit all. How many calories you should consume is personal for each person and depends on their age, activity level, and weight. 


How many calories do you need to maintain your current weight 
To calculate how many calories you should consume daily use this easy calculator from Cornell University: http://www-users.med.cornell.edu/~spon/picu/calc/beecalc.htm
for stress factor leave it as "none"
and activity factor put "Ambulating"
You will get 2 results, but pay attention to the "caloric requirement," If you are very physically active this will be higher (multiply caloric requirement by 1.1 if you are very physically active) 

The Cornell University calorie requirement calculator

Weight loss and weight gain

• If you want to lose weight you will need to take the caloric requirement and subtract some calories from it 
• subtract 500 calories per day from the caloric requirement will yield a 1 pound weight loss per week 
• Subtracting 100 calories per day from the caloric requirement will yield a 2 pound weight loss
• Read my previous post "weight loss 101" here to understand where I got those numbers from. 
• It may be hard to cut your calorie intake by that amount, especially if you are aiming for a 2 pound weight loss per week, so include physical activity which can go along with your diet.
• here is a quick table for you to get an idea of how much calories you are burning from your workout:

How you should use this information:

• Knowing this information is to start making your self aware and become better educated about the choices you make, its not about obsessing over each calorie. 
• Now with this frame of reference for the calories you should consume and how much calories you burn in your physical activity you can look at food labels (make sure you take notice of what they consider a serving size) and better understand if you want to choose to eat that food or not. 
• Also, go on the site of the restaurants where you eat (Cheesecake factory, Starbucks, any fast food spot, friday's, ect.) and look at the nutrition information to see how many calories are in the dishes you eat. You would be surprised to find out that the caesar salad you are eating actually has more calories than a cheese burger, and a green salad with dressing on the side and grilled chicken would be a much better option. 
• Being aware of this information helps you realize where your trouble areas are so you can concentrate on fixing them and achieving your goal weight in a healthy and long term way.  

source - Arthlete, prettiest illustrations

Check back for more weight loss and health advice! 

xoxo, 

Danielle