The number of calories that you will be required to eat per day depends on your activity levels, age, gender, your weight gain or weight loss goal and your general health. If you are attempting to lose weight then you will have to to eat fewer calories. If you are trying to accumulate weight then you will need to consume more calories. Some people prefer to know exactly how many calories they should eat. To find out your daily requirements you may use a calorie calculator. There are multiple calorie calculators that can tell you the exact amount of calories you will need per day.
You will be expected to enter your height, current weight, age, gender and your activity levels. Once you have entered all the required fields the calculator will give you an exact number. For example if you are 5 feet 4 inches, 24 years old, weigh 120 pounds and lead a sedentary lifestyle you will get the results 1537 calories per day. It will also give you additional information about your calorie intake if you would like to lose weight. Some calculators may give you an extra calculation if you wish to gain weight.
If you would like to perform your own calculations then you will need to use a formula to obtain an accurate result. The Harris Benedict equation is perfect for this purpose because it accounts for height, weight, age and gender. The resultant calculation is your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate.
The formula is as follows; the pound or metric standard may be used:
English
BMR Formula Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )
Metric
BMR Formula Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
Therefore if we used the previous example then the calculated amount would be very similar:
655 + (4.35 x 120) + (4.7 x 64) - (4.7 x 24) = 655 + 522 + 300.8 + 112.8 = 1590.6 calories per day.
If you are trying to lose weight be ensure that you do not to eat less than 1200 calories per day. Your body will still require a threshold amount of calories to fulfil your daily requirements. A diet that stipulates less than this amount must be medically supervised. Though losing or gaining weight may be your final goal, you should try to do either healthily. Remember that many of your calories should come from healthy whole grains and wheat. Additionally you should consume adequate amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.
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