It is the unit to measure energy in the body and also the energy present in the food. We need energy to survive and to do our daily routines. Overeating results in extra energy which unfortunately gets stored in the body as fat and slowly this develops into obesity. So to look slim and beautiful one has to maintain a balance between energy consumed to the energy absorbed (weight loss).
The need of calories is different by different people, which depends on the height, weight, age, sex, and working profile.
Calorie Intake Quantity
If one consumes, 700 K calorie more than its requirement then the weight increase by 100gm
- A lazy man consumes 1 Kcalorie per hour.
- A normal man consumes 3 K calories per hour.
- A very active man consumes 6 Kcalories per hour.
Age K Calories requirement
Children
- Up to six months 120 per kg weight
- 7 to 12 months 100 per kg of weight
- 1 to 3 years 1250
- 4 to 6 years 1700
- 7 to 9 years 1950
Boys
- 10 to 12 years 2200
- 13 to 15 years 2500
- 16 to 18 years 3000
Girls
- 10 to 12 years 2000
- 13 to 15 years 2200
- 16 to 18 years 2200
Men
- Doing light work 2200
- Doing medium work 2800
- Doing heavy work 3400
Women
- Doing light work 1900
- Doing medium work 2250
- Doing heavy work 2950
How Much One Has To Lose Fat?
According to Matthews, weight loss and fitness expert, women should have a total body fat percentage of about 21 percent for flat belly, and men need to have about 16 percent body fat.
The average body fat, according to, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) is 25 to 31 percent in females and 18 to 24 percent in males. Depending on one’s own body physique, one has to shed between 2 to 10 % of current body fat.
ACE tried to explain with an example – a 120-pound woman who has a current body-fat 25 percent but would like to have 20 percent, then needs to cut down 7 pounds of body fat. So, it is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that losing about 1 to 2 pounds a week is a “safe” and will be a sustainable rate of weight loss, then one can certainly reach the goal in a month.
If, however, one has weight on higher side one might take another few weeks — or a few months. But what makes a sense is to set own goals and then focus on taking steps to achieve it, rather than possessing for the specific timelines. But a system in sure has to be managed.
Create a Calorie Deficit
The Mayo Clinic expressed that 3,500 calories is equivalent to 1 pound of fat. Theoretically, if one cuts down a daily calorie deficit of 1,000 then one could lose 8 pounds of fat in one month. The easy way to cut down would be to reduce 500 calories from the diet and burn 500 through exercises, or reduce 750 calories from the diet and burn 250 with exercise on regular basis to get the prompt result.
Here are a few ways one can make it work:
Eat 1,300 (100 extra) calories each day and go for a short evening walk to your daily routine to burn the extra 700 calories each week.
Eat 1,400 (200 extra) calories each day and undergo a HIIT (High-intensity interval training) workout to the schedule two times per week and three times 30-minute walks during one week to cut the extra 1,400 calories each week.
Eat 1,500 (300 extra) calories each day and perform 45 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise to your daily schedule to burn the extra 2100 calories each week.
In each of these scenarios, one had added calories to the daily food budget but has burned more calories with exercise to maintain the proper calorie deficit for weight loss. If one wants to lose weight faster, just add the exercise to a daily routine without adding calories to the daily diet.
Calories one should take in order to weight loss
At first one should know self basal metabolic rate (BMR). “The basal metabolic rate is the minimum number of calories one’s body burns at rest said by Anna Z. Feldman, M.D., an endocrinologist at Joslin Diabetes Center. These many calories are essential for involuntary functions such as breathing, regulating body temperature, digesting food, and for the circulation going. Think of this as the minimum number of calories required to keep the body alive.
There are slightly different equations given by different experts for using it to figure out BMR. Feldman’s equation is as follows:
655 + (4.35 x your weight in pounds) + (4.7 x your height in inches) – (4.7 x your age in years)
So, if one is 135-pound, 25-year-old, 5-foot-6 woman, BMR calculation would look like this: 655 + (4.35 x 135) + (4.7 x 66) – (4.7 x 25) = 1,435 KCal.
But few other experts use a calculator called the Mifflin St. Jeor equation. This is by the courtesy of Brigitte Zeitlin, R.D., M.P.H., C.D.N., founder of the New York-based BZ Nutrition:
(10 x your weight in kilograms) + (6.25 x your height in centimeters) – (5 x your age in years) – 161
Using the same stats as above, BMR calculation would look like this: (10 x 61) + (6.25 x 168) – (5 x 25) – 161 = 1,374 KCal.
There is not much of difference, but follow the same formula throughout, one is using it initially.
BMR is the root of the main hard-and-fast rule for safe weight loss: one’s calories should never dip below 1,200, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. When one eats less than 1,200 calories per day, the metabolism can be majorly affected, muscle mass can start decreasing, and one won’t get the vitamins needed to sustain daily activities as said by Jim White, R.D. and spokesman for the Academy. The gist of the whole discussion is that eating is great for one and shouldn’t cut out too much of it even if one is trying to lose weight or not.
Required to Eat for weight loss
After the BMR calculation one needs to take into account everything else one does that burns calories including morning walks and regular yoga classes. To do this one can try the interactive calculator from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which gives the exact account of calories (BMR + activity level).
If one wants to lose weight, he needs to cut calories from maintenance mode to see results. One pound of fat is around 3,500 calories, and safe fat loss is one to two pounds per week said by White. To lose one pound of fat per week, one would need a 500-calorie deficit each day. Instead of cutting fat only by eating less White recommends mixing in exercise as well. This will be good for health as well as one will be away from additional pressure.
“Healthy Living Counts a Lot, So Be Aware Of the Calories to Take and also Calories to Burn Out”
