Calorie
Needs To Maintain Weight
How Many
Calories Needed to Maintain Weight
When drawing
up a calorie-controlled diet plan to lose weight, you must first calculate
how many calories you need to maintain your present body weight. Your
total daily calorie needs are often referred to as your total daily energy
expenditure (TDEE). Once you know your total daily energy expenditure,
you can determine how many calories you will need to lose weight.
Daily Calorie
Needs
Your daily
calorie needs depend upon a variety of genetic and environmental factors,
including: age, gender, metabolism (metabolic rate), activity level and
body weight/size. Before you calculate your daily calorie needs, please
note:
- Calorie
needs peak during your mid-twenties, then decline at about 2 percent
per decade. So if, at 25, you need 2300 calories per day, by 35 you
need only 2254 calories. This reduction in calorie needs is due partly
to an increase in body fat percentage that comes with age. Fat is less
metabolically active than lean muscle tissue and 'burns' fewer calories.
- Men have
calorie needs 5-10 percent higher than women. Again, this is due to
their higher percentage of lean muscle tissue. The exception is pregnancy,
when a woman's calorie needs rise (on average) by 300 calories per day
when pregnant, and 500 calories per day when breast-feeding.
- Although
weight loss is theoretically determined by calorie intake, it is best
to reduce calories to no more than about 1200 calories per day. Go lower
and your metabolism (metabolic rate) slows down and burns fewer calories.
Why? Because it thinks food is scarce and thus tries to maintain body
weight by making energy (calories) go further.
- The basic
rate at which you burn calories - your metabolic rate - is inherited.
Some people inherit a faster metabolism, some people inherit a slower
metabolism. Fortunately, you can raise your metabolic rate by increasing
your exercise.
How to
Calculate Your Daily Calorie Needs
Follow instructions
below,
[Uses Harris-Benedict Formula]
Here are
four different ways to calculate your daily calorie needs. Because caloric
needs depend on so many factors and because there are so many different
body types, body weights, and physical activity routines, none of these
calorie-calculation methods are foolproof. But they should help you to
move into a healthy calorie zone.
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