Quick Guide to Calorie Needs
Quick Way to Estimate Your Calorie Requirements When Losing Weight
Calorie Needs Estimate
The total calories (kcal) consumed each day by men varies from 1500-4000 for most males: the total for females varies from 900-2500. In extreme cases, calorie intake can vary wildly, from 0 for someone on a water fast, to over 8000 kcal for a logger who burns them all while working, without gaining an ounce, and as high as 12,000 kcal per day for weight-lifters and bodybuilders.
What Determines Energy Needs
Our calorie needs are typically determined by a number of factors, including:
– Our present weight
– Our height
– Our age
– Our gender
– Our exercise routine
– Our health
– Our body-fat-percentage
– Our environment
– How fast we want to lose weight
To obtain an accurate assessment of our calorie needs, all these factors need to be considered.
Rough Estimate of Calorie Needs to Lose Weight
Here is a very rough guide of how many calories you need per day, if you want to lose weight. It’s a ballpark estimate only.
Teens
Teenagers need about 1500-1800 calories per day
Women (Non-Active)
Sedentary women typically need about 1100-1300 calories per day
Women (Active)
Active women typically need about 1400-1600 calories per day
Men (Non-Active)
Sedentary men typically need about 1600-1800 calories per day
Men (Active)
Active men typically need about 1800-2000 calories per day
Quick Estimate of Calorie Needs
Here is a very rough and ready guide to calculating your calorie needs. Just be careful to maintain your daily calorie intake above 1000 calories, minimum.
Women
To Maintain Weight – Multiply your weight (in pounds) by 12
This is a rough estimate of daily calories needed to maintain weight.
To Lose Weight – Deduct 500 calories from this figure
This gives you a rough estimate of the daily calories needed for you to lose about 1 pound per week.
Men
To Maintain Weight – Multiply your weight (in pounds) by 14
This is a rough estimate of daily calories needed to maintain weight.
To Lose Weight – Deduct 500 calories from this figure
This gives you a rough estimate of the daily calories you need to lose about 1 pound per week.
Further Resources
Calorie Calculator For Women
Calorie Calculator For Men
Calorie-Content of Foods
How to Reduce Calories
How to Cut Calories and Lower Calorie Intake
Reducing Calories
The energy released for body functions when foods are burned in our body is measured in calories (more correctly kilo calories or kcal) which is the energy required to raise the temperature of 1000 grams (2.2 pounds) of water by one degree celsius (1.8 degrees F). Calories come from proteins, carbohydrates, fats and alcohol. Calories in excess of our bodies needs are stored as fat and therefore ALL calories are potential sources of fat.
Motivation to Cut Calories
No matter what I or other nutritionists say, cutting calories is not the most enjoyable exercise on planet earth. The tastiest foods are frequently those that contain the highest amount of calories, and even though most of the “taste” comes from added fat, sugar and/or sodium, it’s not easy to give up these daily treats.
So, if you need to reduce calories to lose weight, do it properly and spare yourself months (or years) of haphazard dieting. The good news is, once you start eating healthier foods with less of these “taste-enhancers”, your tastes will change and you’ll find it much more difficult to revert to eating mouthfuls of fat and sugar.
Ways to Reduce Calories
The best way to lower your calorie intake is to substitute a lower calorie alternative for your normal high-calorie food. Here are 4 examples:
Instead of: 1 cup whole milk (150 calories).
Choose: 1 cup non-fat milk (90 calories).
Calorie Saving: 60 calories
Do this once a day and save: 21,900 calories per year.
This is the equivalent of: 6.25 pounds of weight
Instead of: 2 eggs scrambled with 1 pat butter and whole milk (261)
Choose: 1 egg, 2 egg whites, scrambled with skimmed milk (144)
Calorie Saving: 117 calories
Do this twice a week and save: 12,168 calories per year.
This is the equivalent of: about 3.5 pounds of weight
Instead of: 6 oz cream of chicken soup (245)
Choose: 6 oz chicken noodle soup (80)
Calorie Saving: 165 calories
Do this twice a week and save: 17,160 calories per year.
This is the equivalent of: nearly 5 pounds of weight
Instead of: 3 Cups Microwaved Caramel Popcorn (280)
Choose: 3 Cups Airpopped Popcorn (90)
Calorie Saving: 190 calories
Do this three times a week and save: 29,640 calories per year.
This is the equivalent of: 8.5 pounds of weight
Total Calorie Reduction
Total calorie saving: 80,868
Total body fat: 23 pounds
Food Calorie Facts
For reference, here are energy values for the basic foods.
Fat: 9 calories per gram
Carbohydrate: 4 calories per gram
Protein: 4 calories per gram
Alcohol: 7 calories per gram
Note About Low Fat Foods
If a food is labelled “fat-free” or “low-fat”, this does not necessarily mean that it is low calorie. Many fat-free foods are high in sugar, which can make the food high in calories. And because sugar contains no nutrition, high sugar foods are not ideal for health or weight control.
Further Resources
Calorie Calculator For Women
Calorie Calculator For Men
Calorie-Content of Foods
Calories Burned by Exercise
Guide to Calories Used Up in Various Types of Physical Fitness Activities
Calories Burned
Workouts That Burn About 4 Calories per Minute
The following type of exercise burns about 4 calories per minute: callisthenics, cycling (slow), gardening (light), golf (social), general housework, line dancing, table-tennis, tennis (doubles) and walking (slow).
Workouts That Burn About 7 Calories per Minute
The following type of exercise burns about 7 calories per minute: aerobics, basketball, baseball, cycling (moderate), dancing (active), football, raquetball, skiing, swimming, tennis (singles) and walking (brisk).
Workouts That Burn About 10 Calories per Minute
The following type of exercise burns about 10 calories per minute: basketball (competitive), cycling (fast), dancing (strenuous), football (competitive), jogging, kick-boxing, running, skiing (cross country), skipping (with rope), swimming (vigorous), walking (vigorous), weight training (heavy).
Improves Metabolism and Cardio
Taking regular physical exercise is a great way to burn extra calories. In addition, regular workouts will raise your metabolic rate (how fast you normally burn calories) and cardiovascular efficiency, and are therefore invaluable for maintaining health and a general sense of well-being.
Weight Maintenance Rather Than Weight Loss
Regular physical exercise is a vital element of an effective weight loss program. But not for immediate weight reduction benefits. Typically, it takes a minimum of 10 hours of walking, or 5 hours running, to burn off one pound of fat.
Extra Benefits of Exercise Program
That said, a regular fitness program (or any regular physical activity) is invaluable for medium-term eating and weight control for the following reasons:
– It helps reduce appetite
– It helps reduce food cravings
– It improves mood and lessens the need for comfort-eating
– It increases the calories you can eat without gaining weight
– It improves personal motivation to stay in shape
Further Resources
Calories Burned
Calorie-Content of Foods
Exercise Helps Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Exercise May Help Reduce Cellulite
Information About Exercise
Anne Collins Weight Loss Program Provides Answers to a Range of Fitness Questions
Exercise
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-Popular Exercise Questions
Among the many fitness topics covered, you’ll find answers to the following questions:
– What’s the Best Form of Cardio-Aerobic Training?
– What’s the Best Type of Strength-Training Exercise?
– What’s the Best Type of Exercise for Weight Loss?
– What’s the Best Type of Exercise if You’re Very Overweight?
– What’s the Best Type of Exercise for Fitness Rehabilitation?
– What’s the Best Total-Body Exercise?
– What’s the Best Indoor Exercise Equipment?
– What’s the Best Exercise Routines for Pregnant Women?
– What’s the Best Exercise Workout for Health and Safety?
– When to Exercise?
– How Long to Exercise For?
– How Often to Exercise?
– How Many Calories Should You Burn?
– How Hard to Exercise?
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Calorie-Counting Not Enough
Calorie-Counting AND Healthy Eating Needed to Lose Weight
Limits of Calorie-Counting
Although it is important to be aware of calorie values when following a weight loss diet, we should not rely exclusively on calorie-counting to assess our progress. This is because calorie-counting assumes that all food calories are used by the body in the same way, and at the same rate. This is a false assumption. Here are a few reasons why.
Calorie-Content of Fats is Over-Rated
The caloric value of fats is over-stated because fats, especially in large amounts in the diet, may not be completely burned to carbon dioxide and water. Instead they oxidize partially and produce ketones (like charcoal that remains when wood is not completely burned to ashes). Until our kidneys get rid of them, ketones suppress appetite. This is why fats are used in some weight lossdiets. However, it is possible that the long term presence of ketones from such diets can damage our kidneys and liver, so be cautious in using this type of high fat weight loss plan.
Not All Food Calories Used For Energy Production
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) contain 9 calories per gram, but our body uses them for structural, hormonal and electrical functions rather than for energy. At high levels of intake, EFAs increase metabolic rate and increase fat burn off, resulting in loss of weight. During childhood, calorie containing protein and fat molocules are built into body structures. After injury, proteins and fatty acids are used to rebuild cellular structures and new tissues, rather than being used for energy and the metabolic rate is increased. These examples illustrate that not all calories are used for energy production.
We Burn Calories at Different Rates
Metabolic rate differs from one person to another, from one time to another in the same individual and varies with the total nutrient mix. Genes, hormones, nutrition, exercise and state of health all affect metabolic rate. Some people are born with a high metabolic rate and never gain weight no matter how much they eat. Thyroid activity affects metabolic rate over a wide range. The slower the rate, the less calories are burned and the easier it is to gain weight. EFAs, B-Complex vitamins and minerals including potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium and manganese, increase the efficiency of oxidation and raise metabolic rate, energy and activity level.
Health Status Affects Calorie-Burning
Our state of health alters our metabolic rate. During fevers and infections, much more energy is burned than when a person is healthy. In late stages of cancer, tumors eat most of the body’s stores of energy resulting in loss of weight. Stress increases the body’s fat burning rate. Some people lose 10 pounds in just a few days of serious worry. Other stresses also stimulate the body’s fat burning mechanisms.
Extra Mental Activity Burns Extra Calories
The length of time per day spent awake makes a difference as we burn more calories when we are awake than when we are sleeping. The level of mental activity affects the use of calories. Our brain, although it is only 2 percent of the body’s weight uses 20 percent or more of total calories burned by our body.
Environment Affects Calorie Usage
Environmental conditions effect the rate at which calories are used. Our body responds to changes in temperature, season and climate, raising metabolic rate to keep body temperature constant. Clothing conserves more or less calories, depending on what it is made from, how thick it is and how much of our body we cover with it. Our body loses more heat swimming in cold water than when surrounded by air of the same temperature, because air conducts body heat away less rapidly. Shivering also increases fat burning.
Satiety and Hunger Varies According to Foods Consumed
Hunger and satiation factors also influence whether the foods we eat keep us fit or fat. Different foods are digested, absorbed into our body, and made available for use at different rates and therefore have different hunger-stilling values. Fats may take as long as 5-8 hours to be digested, proteins take about 3-5 hours and complex carbohydrates take about 2-3 hours. Refined sugars take only 30 minutes. Even though fats contain twice as many calories as carbohydrates, they keep hunger satisfied three times as long and may therefore result in less weight gain than lighter diets.
We Absorb More Calories From Refined Foods
Because they lack fiber and bulk, high calorie refined foods also slow down intestinal activity. They take up to five times longer to pass through the intestinal tract than do natural unrefined high fiber foods (75 hours compared to 15) and the body absorbs calories during the entire time of their constipated passage.
Non-Nutritious Refined Foods More Likely to be Stored as Fat
Foods cannot be metabolised properly without minerals and vitamins. The energy that empty calorie foods contain becomes unavailable to our body and is stored as fat until (or in the hope that) we get the necessary minerals and vitamins at some later time. In the meantime we feel hungry and eat more. This too turns into fat unless minerals and vitamins are also provided.
Nowadays, it is easy to get the perfect number of calories every day and at the same time to suffer from malnutrition that causes degeneration of cells and tissues. According to some experts, the level of 21st Century malnutrition in the West, when all essential nutrients are considered, may exceed 90 percent of the entire population.
Conclusion
Don’t rely exclusively on calorie-counting when dieting. In addition, make an effort to choose nutritious foods, take regular exercise, avoid stress and stay mentally active. And if you still fall off the diet wagon – don’t worry. There’s more to life than being thin!
Further Resources
Calorie Calculator For Women
Calorie Calculator For Men
Calorie-Content of Foods
