How many calories should you eat based on what you want to achieve?
Whether you’re trying to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight, here’s what you need to know about your calories.
A calorie is a unit of energy but in nutrition, this is the energy we get from the foods and drinks we consume. The number we take daily affects our overall health and weight and if you want to achieve something like losing weight, gaining weight, or just maintaining your weight, understanding your calories is essential.
You need based on several factors:
| Gender (at birth) | Age (years) | Sedentary Lifestyle | Moderately Active | Active |
| Child | 2-3 | 1,000 | 1,000 – 1,400 | 1,000 – 1,400 |
| Female | 4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+ | 1,200 – 1,400 1,400 – 1,600 1,800 1,800 – 2,000 1,800 1,600 | 1,400 – 1,600 1,600 – 2,000 2,000 2,000 – 2,200 2,000 1,800 | 1,400 – 1,800 1,800 – 2,200 2,400 2,400 2,200 2,200 – 2,200 |
| Male | 4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+ | 1,200 – 1,400 1,600 – 2,000 2,000 – 2,400 2,400 – 2,600 2,200 – 2,400 2,000 – 2,200 | 1,400 – 1,600 1,800 – 2,200 2,400 – 2,800 2,600 – 2,800 2,400 – 2,600 2,200 – 2,400 | 1,600 – 2,000 2,000 – 2,600 2,800 – 3,200 3,000 2,800 – 3,000 2,400 – 2,800 |
How many should I eat per day to maintain weight?
On average, a woman needs 1,600 to 2,400 while a man needs 2,000 to 3,000 based on age and activity level.
How many should I eat per day to lose weight?
The key is to take in fewer calories than you burn or calorie deficit.
How many should I eat per day to gain weight?
The key is to eat more Kcals than your body burns each day.
Meanwhile, here are the calorie content of some common foods:
Starches or Grains (1/2 cup has 80 per serving)
- Cooked cereal, cooked rice, cooked pasta, cooked or canned beans, cooked or canned corn, sweet potato
Fruits (approximately 50 to 100)
- one small apple, four whole apricots, medium banana, one cup berries, three dates, 12 large cherries, half of medium grapefruit, one large kiwi, one small orange, one cup papaya, 3/4 cup pineapple, two tbsp. raisins, 1 and 3/4 cup watermelon
Vegetable (10 to 50 per 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked)
- asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onion, peppers, radish, spinach, tomato
Fats (45 per serving)
- two tbsp avocado, one tsp margarin, one tbsp of diet margarine, one tbsp salad dressing, eight large black olives, one tbsp seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, whole flaxseed), one slice bacon, one tsp butter, one tsp chicken fat, pork fat, or beef fat, one tbsp of heavy creamer, one tbsp regular cream cheese, two tbsp regular sour cream
Spices and condiments per 100 grams
- Turmeric (280), Black pepper (422), Fenugreek seeds (234), Kalonji (345), Cumin seeds (304), Cloves (186), Red chillies (236), Green cardamom (255), Poppy seeds (422), Asafoetida (331), Mint leaves (37), Ginger (55), Garlic (123), Curry leaves (63), Nutmeg (463), Coriander seeds (269), Green chillies (45), Dry coconut (624)
What can you say about this? Let us know in the comments!