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How many calories do we need a day?
Home » Weight Loss » Counting Calories » How many calories do we need a day?Posted by Your Guide on June 28, 2006 9:47 PM
Whether you’re making good on a New Year’s resolution or you’ve simply decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle, monitoring your caloric intake is an effective way to drop pounds. The amount of calories your body needs in a day is different for each person. The FDA bases Daily Reference Values on a 2,000 calorie diet. It’s important, however, that you know your own calorie needs since the Daily Values for energy-producing nutrients, such as fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, are based on recommended percentages of a total day’s caloric intake. For example, it is recommended that no more than 30 percent of your daily calories comes from fat. Since there are 9 calories per gram of fat, this means you should have no more than 600 calories from fat daily and no more than 65 grams of fat. Not everyone needs 2,000 calories a day, however, and some people may need more than that. The amount of calories you need daily is influenced by your body size, age, height, weight, activity level, and metabolism.
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Category
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Age
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Calories Per Day
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Light Activity
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Moderate Activity |
Heavy Activity
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Children
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4-6
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1800
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7-10
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2000
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Males
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11-14
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2500
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15-18
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3000
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19-24
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2700
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3000
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3600
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25-50
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3000
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3200
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4000
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51+
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2300
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Females
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11-18
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2200
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19-24
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2000
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2100
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2600
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25-50
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2200
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2300
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2800
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51+
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1900
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Pregnant women in their second and third trimesters should add 300 calories to their recommended intake and nursing mothers should add 500 calories.
To determine what your activity level is, consider some of the following activities. Very light activities include driving, typing, painting, laboratory work, ironing, sewing, cooking, playing cards, or other seated or standing activities. Light activities include housecleaning, child care, garage work, electrical trade work, carpentry, restaurant work, golfing, sailing, or walking on a level surface at a rate of 2.5-3 miles per hour. Moderate activities include weeding, hoeing, carrying a load, cycling, skiing, tennis, dancing, or walking at a rate of 3.5-4 miles per hour. Heavy activities include heavy manual digging, tree felling, basketball, climbing, football, soccer, or carrying a load uphill.
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