How Many Calories in a Day for Weight Loss

How Many Calories You Need in a Day

An average woman needs about 2000 calories per day to maintain weight and 1500 calories per day to lose weight in a healthy manner. An average man needs 2500 calories to maintain and 2000 calories to lose weight in a healthy manner. Sounds simple, however, your calorie requirement depends on a number of other factors which include age, height, weight, activity levels and the basic metalolic rate of the body. Calorie is a unit used to measure energy, they are used to measure the energy content of food and beverages. It’s a simple fact, to gain weight you need more calories entering your body than leaving it. To lose weight, more calories should leave the body.

Sustainable way to lose weight

Cutting the calorie intake drastically is not a healthy or sustainable way to lose weight. Any diet which doesn’t include food from all food groups isn’t healthy. You can do the following to lose weight in a healthy manner

• Eat more protein
• Avoid soft drinks and packaged fruit juices
• Drink more water
• Exercise and lift weights
• Moderate your carbs intake

Calculate your daily calorie intake : 1st method

The calorie intake in your body comes from carbs, protein and fat. The 1st method to calculate calorie intake is by using the following formula

• Female : 22 x body weight (in kgs) x activity level (1.2 to 1.7)
  Activity level depends on how your daily regime is and the intensity of workout. If you workout for 30 minutes daily for 3-4 days in a week your activity level is between 1.3 and 1.4. Professional athletes have activity levels upto 1.7
• Male:22 x body weight (in kgs) x activity level (1.2 to 1.7)

2nd method

The 2nd method uses the formula given by WHO

Female (18 – 29 yrs):14.7 x body weight in kgs + 496
Female (30 – 60 yrs):8.7 x body weight in kgs + 829
Male (18 – 29 yrs):15.3 x body weight in kgs + 679
Male (30 – 60 yrs):11.6 x body weight in kgs + 879

The height and weight table

Height in feet	Men (weight in kgs)	Women (weight in kgs)
5′-0″	50.8-54.4	50.8-54.4
5′-1″	51.7-55.3	51.7-55.3
5′-2″	56.3-60.3	53.1-56.7
5′-3″	57.6-61.7	54.4-58.1
5′-4″	58.9-63.5	56.3-59.9
5′-5″	60.8-65.3	57.6-61.2
5′-6″	62.2-66.7	58.9-63.5
5′-7″	64.0-68.5	60.8-65.3
5′-8″	65.8-70.8	62.2-66.7
5′-9″	67.6-72.6	64.0-68.5
5′-10″	69.4-74.4	65.8-70.3
5′-11″	71.2-76.2	67.1-71.7
6′-0″	73.0-78.5	68.5-73.9
6′-1″	73.3-80.7	73.3-80.7
6′-2″	77.6-83.5	77.6-83.5
6′-3″	79.8-85.9	79.8-85.9

3rd method

The 3rd method uses the harris-benedict formula to calculate your calorie requirement. This formula also factors in your age to calculate your daily calorie need

Female:665 + (9.6 x body weight) + (1.7 x height in cms) – (4.7 x age)
Male:66 + (13.7 x body weight) + (5 x height in cms) – (6.8 x age)

When you are looking to lose weight don’t follow any diet plan blindly. Your body getting lesser calories than requirement is not healthy. Rather, increase your activity levels. Given below is a list of food which contain nutrients that increase the body’s metabolism. Include these in your diet to increase your thermogenesis which leads to increased metabolism

• Spices and herbs
• Cumin
• Black pepper
• Fennel seeds
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Garlic
• High protein food
• Eggs
• Soy
• Nuts and seeds (flax seeds, chia seeds)
• Vegetables
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes
• Mushrooms and green leafy vegetables
• Fruits
• Apricots and berries
• Increased water intake