Do you know the answer to the question ‘How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight?’ or ‘How many calories should I eat a day to gain weight?’ or ‘How many calories should I eat a day just to be healthy?’.
If you don’t have answers to these questions, then this article is for you.
When it comes to your health and fitness, nothing is before the diet. Either you want to lose weight, build some muscle, or just want to be healthy, your diet should be on point.
You cannot achieve your health and fitness goals with good workout sessions and a poor diet.
People search a lot regarding the daily calorie intake. Here are some of the frequently asked questions on the internet.
- How many calories do I need a day?
- How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight?
- How many calorie should I burn in a day?
- How many calories should I eat a day to gain weight?
This article covers all. Read on to know the answer to the question ‘How many calories should I eat a day?’
Table of Contents
How many calories should I eat a day?
A calorie is a base for any of your health and fitness goals. It is the first thing to know before starting your journey towards health.
Sometimes people randomly suggest eating 1200 calories, some 1500 calories, and some 1800 calories to lose weight and some people suggest consuming 2800 to even 3500 calories to gain weight.
The bitter truth is, these kinds of baseless suggestions are like throwing a stone to a frog in a well with eyes closed (may or may not hit). Hence, these suggestions don’t suit all.
Coming to the topic, the answer to the question “How many calories should I eat a day” depends on several aspects including height, weight, BMI, BMR, Activity level, TDEE, TEF metabolic factors, and some others. Sounds complex?
Let’s know it simply.
The number of calories required for men and women is different because of the small changes in bodily functions.
The number of calories you should eat in a day mostly depends on the BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).
BMR means the total number of calories your body just needs to pump blood from the heart to all parts of the body and for the proper cell functioning (No physical activity included).
And TDEE is the estimate of the number of calories you burn per day by doing any sort of physical activity. Now, How to calculate BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)? And How to calculate TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)?
Let’s find out.
How to calculate BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)
There are many formulas to calculate BMR. In this article, I’m using Mifflin-st jeor’s formula to calculate the number of calories you should eat in a day.
By using this formula you can calculate the number of calories you should eat in a day. Note that, your body needs this amount of calories for proper functioning.
How to calculate TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)
TDEE is a complex term. The actual formula is
TDEE = BMR + TEF + NEAT + TEA (Actual formula)
In general, TDEE is the BMR multiplied by the activity level.
Here is the answer to ‘How many calories should I eat a day?’
| Activity level | How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day to maintain weight(TDEE) |
| Little or No exercise | BMR × 1.2 |
| Exercise (1-3 days/week) | BMR × 1.375 |
| Active (3-5 days/week) | BMR × 1.55 |
| Very Active (Everyday) | BMR × 1.725 |
| Intense (2 times/day) | BMR × 1.9 |
The amount of calories you get here is to maintain your body weight constantly.
To make this simple, you can calculate your daily intake with the calculator below 👇🏻.
TDEE Calculator
Use this TDEE calculator to know, How many calories you should eat in a day.
FAQ’s
What is a calorie?
How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight?
On a general note, A caloric deficit of 300-500 calories helps you lose weight. That means, eating 300-500 calories less than TDEE helps you lose weight in a healthy way. You can use the TDEE calculator mentioned in this post.
How many calories should I eat a day to gain weight?
As you know to follow deficit to lose weight, Here, if you want to gain weight you should go on a caloric surplus of 300-500 calories. That means TDEE + 300-500 calories to gain weight. Here are 10 Foods that helps you gain weight fast.
Is it okay to eat 1500 calories a day?
As a general rule, everyone should eat between 1200-1500 calories to be healthy. Going less than that is not suggested and may also be considered as harmful. Eat according to your TDEE – Use this Calculator to know how many calories you should eat in a day.
How many calories should I burn in a day?
No matter what kind of diet you follow. You must burn more calories than you eat in a day and must go on a deficit to lose weight. An average person burns around 1200-1500 calories a day doing nothing. That is BMR. You will burn even more calories if you do any kind of physical activity.
The Conclusion
Either you want to lose weight or gain muscle or just want to be fit, nothing happens without knowing a calorie concept. Know your BMR, TDEE and plan your goals accordingly.
I hope this article(How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day?) is helpful for you. I’d love to know your opinion and queries about this blog post in the comment section below.
Share this article with your friends with the social share buttons below.
Super information for
Who wants to gain weight r lose weight
Finally the information is good
Thanks… Keep visiting, Keep Sharing and keep supporting