How many cals should i eat

Studies have shown that foods that require a person to chew more and are more difficult to digest result in the body burning more calories, sometimes referred to as the thermic effect of food. While the increase in burned calories may be marginal, foods that are more difficult to digest such as vegetables generally tend to be healthier and provide more nutrients for fewer calories than many processed foods.

Consistent with the view that in regards to weight loss, only net calories are important and not their source, there exist cases such as the Twinkie diet, where a person that solely counted calories while eating a variety of cake snacks managed to lose 27 pounds over two months.

As effective as this can be, it is certainly not suggested. While the participant did not seem to suffer any noticeable health detriments in this particular case, there are other less measurable factors that should be considered such as long-term effects of such a diet on potential for developing cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. However, ignoring efficiency and health, sustained, significant reduction of caloric intake or increase of physical activity should result in weight loss, and counting calories can be an effective way to achieve this sole result.

Aside from being one viable method for facilitating weight loss, calorie counting has other somewhat less quantifiable advantages including helping to increase nutritional awareness. Many people are completely unaware of, or grossly underestimate their daily caloric intake. Counting calories can help raise awareness of different types of foods, the number of calories they contain, and how these calories have a different effect on a person's feelings of satiety.

Once a person has a better understanding of how many calories are actually in that bag of chips that they can so easily inhale within minutes, how much of their daily caloric intake it consumes, and how little the chips do to satiate their hunger, portion control and avoidance of foods with empty calories tends to become easier.

Having actual caloric measurements can also assist in weight loss, since tangible calorie goals can be set, rather than simply trying to eat less.

Also, although this is not necessarily directly related to calorie counting, studies have shown that portion control by simply eating from a smaller plate can help reduce calorie intake, since people tend to fill their plates and eat everything on their plates. Many people do not realize that they are overeating, since they have become accustomed to restaurant-sized portions being the norm, when said portions can be up to three or more times larger than necessary for a typical meal.

Once a link is made between the amount of exercise that some snack equates to, many people find abstaining from that bag of chips to be the preferred option rather than performing an equivalent amount of exercise — which can lead to healthier eating habits. In the end, however, what's important is picking a strategy that works for you.

Calorie counting is only one method used to achieve weight loss amongst many, and even within this method, there are many possible approaches a person can take. Finding an approach that fits within your lifestyle that you think you would be able to adhere to is likely going to provide the most sustainable option and desirable result. Zigzag calorie cycling is a weight loss approach that aims to counteract the human body's natural adaptive tendencies.

Counting and restricting calories, as described above, is a viable method to lose weight, but over a period of time, it is possible for the body to adapt to the lower number of calories consumed.

In cases where this happens, a plateau in weight loss that can be difficult to surmount can result. This is where zigzag calorie cycling can help, by not allowing the body to adapt to the lower calorie environment.

Zigzag calorie cycling involves alternating the number of calories consumed on a given day. A person on a zigzag diet should have a combination of high-calorie and low-calorie days to meet the same overall weekly calorie target. For example, if your target calorie intake is 14, calories per week, you could consume 2, calories three days a week, and 1, the other four days of the week, or you could consume 2, calories each day.

In both cases, 14, calories would be consumed over the week, but the body wouldn't adapt and compensate for a 2,calorie diet. This also allows a person more flexibility in their diet, allowing them to plan around occasions, such as work or family gatherings, where a person may consume more calories. Consuming a lower number of calories on other days can allow a person to enjoy these gatherings or even have a "cheat day" where they eat whatever they want without feeling guilty, since they can make up for the excess calories on their low-calorie days.

There is no concrete rule or study that dictates the most effective way to alternate or spread out calorie consumption. How to vary calorie intake is largely up to personal discretion. And activity levels can change over time. So think of your calorie estimate as a starting point and adjust it up or down as you alter your activity level. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.

Around 20 percent of the energy we take in is used for brain metabolism. Most of the rest is used in basal metabolism, the energy we need when in a resting state, for functions such as blood circulation, digestion, and breathing. In a cold environment, we need more energy to maintain a constant body temperature, as our metabolism increases to produce more heat.

In a warm environment, we need less energy. Cellular respiration is the metabolic process by which cells get energy by reacting oxygen with glucose to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy. How efficiently energy from respiration converts into physical—or mechanical— power depends on the type of food eaten, the type of physical energy, and whether muscles are used aerobically or anaerobically.

In other words, we need calories to fuel bodily functions, such as breathing and thinking, to maintain our posture, and to move around.

Here are some tips for burning energy and losing weight more effectively. Eat breakfast : A protein and healthy fat breakfast can keep you full for longer and help prevent snacking during the day. Eat regular meals : This can help you burn calories more effectively and helps prevent mindless snacking. They are high in nutrients and fiber and low in calories and fat. Eat slow-burning calories : High-fiber carbohydrates , such as legumes, and healthy fats, such as avocado, take longer to release energy, so you will not get hungry as quickly.

Exercise : This can help burn off extra calories, and it can make you feel good. A brisk daily walk is easy for most people to do and costs nothing. Challenge yourself with a pedometer. For people who use a wheelchair , there are exercises that can boost heart health and strength.

Drink water : It is healthful, has no calories, and can fill you up. Avoid alcohol and sodas as these can easily provide far too many calories.

If you crave sweet drinks, choose unsweetened fruit juices, or better still, get a juice maker. Eat more fiber : Fiber, found in fruits, vegetables, and wholegrains, can help you feel full and encourage healthy digestion. Check the label : Some items have hidden fats or sugars. If you are counting calories, the label will help you keep track.

Use smaller plates : Research indicates that portion sizes have increased over the last 3 decades, and this may contribute to obesity. Using a smaller plate encourages smaller portions. This is a popular "sweet spot" for healthy, sustainable weight loss. Gaining weight—especially as muscle—sounds easy enough. Train hard, eat big, right?

But you may be surprised at how much more you need to eat to grow! Selecting "gain weight" will put you a few hundred calories above maintenance. If this doesn't make the scale go up after a couple of weeks, you may need to add a few hundred more. Nutritional researchers agree calorie estimates should take more into account than just the amount you exercise. Here's how to figure out what's right for you:. Jeor calculation, which is considered by our nutritionists and dieticians to be the "gold standard" of calorie calculators.

Here's how it works:. Calculate basal metabolic rate BMR , or the calories your body burns simply by being alive. There are plenty of people who can maintain a healthy body composition without ever counting calories , but for many others, it is incredibly valuable.

Wondering if it's right for you? Registered dietician Susan Hewlings, Ph. It's one measurement of many, but one that definitely matters! To learn more about all the fundamental ideas of nutrition and how to match your eating to your goals, dive into Bodybuilding.

You can do this using food labels, as well as by weighing out your food and using one of the many online nutritional databases. Weighing food may seem like a lot of counting and not much fun, but it gets easier over time. Fitness coach Vince Del Monte says in the article, "From Here to Macros: 4 Steps to Better Nutrition" that you quickly learn to "eyeball" quantities of both calories and macronutrients after just a few weeks of practice.

Calorie counts are almost never percent accurate. But they can be pretty close, as long as you have one crucial piece of information dialed in: the serving size. Whenever you look at a nutrition label, look at the serving size first. All the information that follows is based on that. Sometimes serving size reflects an entire box or bottle of the product, but often, it's just a small amount.

Sound scientific? It's not. Serving size is an estimation of the average portion a person eats—and as nutritionist Sara-Jane McShane explains in the article, "5 Sneaky Culprits of Weight Gain," it's not always an accurate one!

If you eat a cup of a product with a serving size of half a cup, you will then double all the nutritional information: calories, protein, carbs, sodium, fat, and everything else. This is essential information if you want your calorie counts to be reliable! Not into doing complicated math?