Your Daily Calorie Requirement

Calorie requirements vary with each person and activity.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council has suggested an intake of 2,700 calories a day for adults performing light workmen between the ages of 23 and 50 and 2,000 calories a day for women between these ages.

A commonly asked question by those interested in weight control is, "How many calories do I need every day."

The number of calories or the amount of food energy you need depends on many different factors such as your age, health, body type and size and your activity. Some very active persons are able to eat large amount of food and not gain weight while those who are less active do gain weight. People who have rounded, soft body types called endomorphsseem to gain weight more easily than those who have slender, wiry body types called ectomorphs.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council has suggested an intake of 2,700 calories a day for men between the ages of 23 and 50 and 2,000 calories a day for women between these ages. These caloric allowances are suggested averages for adults performing light work. Your individual calorie need may vary.

How many calories do you need

One way to find out how many calories you need to maintain your present weight is to multiply the amount of energy you use times your weight. If you are inactive, use 14 to 16 calories to multiply if you're moderately active, use 16 to 18 calories and if you're very active, multiply your weight by 18 to 20 calories. For example, an inactive woman weighing 120 pounds would multiply 120 by 14, which would equal 1,680the amount of calories she would need each day to maintain her present weight.

To lose weight

If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in. One pound of body fat represents 3,500 calories. In order to gain one pound, you must eat 3,500 calories more than your body needs.

Therefore, in order to lose a pound of body fat, you must eat 3,500 calories less than your body needs. If you reduce your caloric intake 500 calories a day for a week, the projected loss in body fat would be one pound. Remember that you are looking at pounds of actual body fat loss, not just changes in body weight.

Weight loss may vary for several reasons. On some types of weight control diets, more fluid is lost at first, resulting in sharper weight drops initially. As weight loss continues, the body requires fewer calories for its functions so the rate of weight loss may be slow. Daily changes in body fluid also affect your weight. Just because you weigh one pound more in the evening than you weighed that morning doesn't mean that you've gained one pound of body fat.

The best combination for losing weight and maintaining it is eating a variety of well-balanced, nutritious foods from the basic food groups and following a program of regular exercise.

For more information on diet and weight control, contact your local county Extension office.