Home Nutrition How many calories a day does a woman need to lose weight. How many calories a person needs per day: the correct calculation

Nutrition

How many calories a day does a woman need to lose weight. How many calories a person needs per day: the correct calculation

We all know that a person should consume a certain number of calories per day. How much depends on a number of factors: gender, weight, physical activity, and even profession. In this article, we will look at how many calories a woman needs per day to lose weight, stay in her weight, or get better without harm to her health.

Why is it important how many calories a day a woman needs

For health, both excess and lack of caloric content of the diet are equally harmful. And excessive fullness and excessive thinness do not paint a woman, photographs of anorexic patients or monstrously full people evoke approximately the same feelings in us. In everything, it is important to observe the measure, including limiting the nutritional value of the diet. Often, women in the pursuit of harmony forget: excessive restriction of the calorie content of the food system can lead to processes much worse than a few extra pounds.

There is a boundary, the passage beyond which threatens with abnormal functioning of organs, incorrect flow of the most important processes in the body. This is not to mention the fact that a sharp decrease in the calorie content of food will lead to the accumulation of energy received from food by the body for the future. And a return to the previous, albeit normal (not increased) caloric content, will return the lost kilograms, taking with it a few new ones. That is why it is important to comply with the calorie content and, if you want to lose weight, and if you want to get better, and if you are satisfied with your own weight.

Average calorie intake for women

At the time of assimilation of food, a lot of energy is released, which will be required throughout the day. How energy is spent depends on lifestyle. With a sedentary lifestyle and at the same time an increased calorie intake, energy begins to accumulate in the body, turning into fat. On the contrary, an active lifestyle, and a low-calorie diet: weight loss will begin. It is generally accepted that for the normal functioning of the body, the calorie content should be at least 1200 kilocalories.

General formula

Calories are the first thing you need to keep your body working. There is such a thing as a "basic level of energy consumption." It means the consumption of calories per day for the functioning of the body, provided that a person does nothing all day. A person consumes more calories: he gets fat. This base level is calculated according to the formula:

655 + (9.6 x body weight) + (1.8 x height) - (4.7 x age) =?

When calculating weight is taken in kilograms, and height in centimeters. We substitute our own parameters instead of X

Based on the data according to the formula, we calculate our base level. Adding to the base level the energy expenditure for various activities (work, sports, travel, household chores), we get the answer to the question "how many calories a woman should consume per day."

As you can see, calorie consumption also depends on age, in the early years a person needs more energy. Once and for all, you cannot calculate your calorie intake, otherwise, if at 45 you adhere to the norm that you calculated for 33 years, extra pounds will accumulate. And you - to be lost in conjectures: how does it turn out that I do not eat more, but get better? ..

To make it easier to calculate how many calories a woman needs per day, nutritionists have also developed another formula. You no longer have to independently calculate how much energy is spent on various activities. In the formula below, the averaged parameters will show not the basic level of energy consumption, but the general one.

How many calories does a woman need per day

To calculate the consumption of calories at each age, there is a formula.

18-30 years: (0.062 * M + 2.036) * 240

31-60 years: (0.034 * M + 3.54) * 240

61 years: (0.04 * M + 2.75) * 240

By 1.1 with low physical activity
By 1.3 with moderate
At 1.5 with a fairly active lifestyle.

Get the calorie content of the diet, which must be observed to maintain your weight. If you want to reduce or decrease the weight, put the desired weight in M. Don't forget before. An active lifestyle means not only regular exercise, but also professional activity. So, how many calories a day a woman needs depends on the profession. It is clear that if the profession involves frequent movement, long standing or active physical work, the lifestyle is considered active.

If you want to lose weight, don't drastically reduce your calorie intake. This should be done gradually, at 200 kilocalories per day. But do not lower the daily intake of calories less than 1300. Let it be better to lose weight more slowly, but safer for health. In addition, an excessive reduction in the caloric content of the diet will lead to a breakdown, a deterioration in mood, and problems with appearance. The main rule of successful weight loss is that a woman should eat less calories per day than she consumes.

We make a diet in accordance with the norm of calories

It is imperative when forming a diet for weight loss to make a menu in such a way that it is balanced. And during cooling down, the body must receive the necessary amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It is better to focus on protein foods, not completely exclude fats and carbohydrates from the nutrition system.

We make a balanced menu for the time of relaxation: we include fruits, dried fruits, cottage cheese with sour cream, cereals for breakfast in the diet, we make a fairly satisfying lunch, consisting of the first and second courses, we choose lung variant dinner: seafood, baked fish, lean meat.

You can calculate the need for calories in different ways: if there is a little excess weight, then immediately count on your ideal weight, if there is a lot, then count on an intermediate goal. You can also count on the current weight, taking into account the calorie deficit. These methods are used in dietetics and are good in their own way. Knowing your ideal weight, it is easier to control your own volumes and get rid of extra pounds, but it is easier to adjust for your current weight. Choose a more convenient option for calculating your daily calorie requirement.

So, in order to get the ideal weight for you, you need to stick to the number of calories daily that is necessary to maintain exactly the ideal weight.

What is your goal? _______ kg

Multiply this weight by:

27 - If you do not play sports at all and your work is not related to physical labor;
29 - If you occasionally play sports (maybe play tennis or swim in the pool on weekends);
34 - If you exercise regularly (swim, run or walk for half an hour to an hour at least 3-4 times a week);
37 - If you go in for sports almost every day and quite intensively;
42 - If you play sports every day and very intensively or at work are engaged in heavy physical labor.

For instance:

I want to weigh 70 kg. However, I don't play sports. Then:

That is, in order to weigh 70 kg, I need to consume no more than 1890 kcal per day, while preferably moving or doing fitness every day.

If you have a lot of excess weight, do not set yourself a final goal right away, set intermediate ones. If you weigh 80 kg, then use a target weight of 75 kg when calculating your daily caloric intake, even if your final goal is 50 kg. Accordingly, consider the daily calorie intake for an intermediate weight. Why do it this way? And so that there is where to reduce calories further. Imagine you reduced your calorie content immediately to your ideal weight. For the body - this is a lot of stress, starvation. Of course, at first he will give well, but very soon he will decide that he himself needs fat, and not only will he stop losing weight, but will also enter saving mode. Therefore, you need to consume a daily calorie intake at an ideal intermediate weight.

Calorie calculation for actual weight

There is also the option of consuming the caloric content of the diet for your current weight with a calorie deficit of 10-15%. That is, you calculate the caloric content of the diet for your current weight:

How much do you weigh now? _______ kg

Multiply this weight by:

30 - If you lead a sedentary lifestyle (home, office work, home again);
31-37 - If you train 3 to 5 times a week (training in gym, group lessons). The more often and more intensely you train, the higher the number you choose;
38-40 - If you lead an active lifestyle (exercise daily or your work is related to physical activity);
41-50 - If you play sports 15-20 hours a week or your work is associated with heavy physical labor.

The resulting figure must be adjusted according to the goal. If the goal is to lose weight, then subtract 10-15% from it.

For instance:

I weigh 70 kg and go to group classes three times a week. Then:

2170 - 10% = 1953

That is, if I now weigh 70 kg, then I need to reduce my calorie intake by 10%, which will be no more than 1953 kcal per day.

Nutritionists advise to first focus on 10%, but go to proper nutrition, excluding sweet, fatty and starchy foods from the diet. As mentioned above, at the beginning of losing weight, the body willingly gives up weight, but then the process slows down. By starting to lose weight with a 10% deficit, you will leave yourself room for maneuver in case weight loss slows down.

Which way is better?

Each method has its supporters. The calculation of the target weight allows you to always stay in focus on losing weight and not overeat. And the caloric content calculated for the actual weight is easier to adjust - you can not reach the target weight when the actual one allows you to more accurately determine the current needs of the body.

How to correct results

If you do not lose weight with the calculated number of calories, reduce your daily diet by 100 calories and add the same amount of physical activity. Watch the weight in this mode for a week. If you have at least 100-200 grams of “plumb”, stay another week in this mode and so on until the weight is 2 weeks in a row. Why two weeks and not one? Yes, because in the first week, maybe they just ate something extra and didn’t notice, or some other physiological factor influenced, etc.

Be honest with yourself, lead, track the calorie content of your diet and try to be more mobile than you are now. Read more carefully. As a rule, information is given for 1 serving or 100 grams. Compare with how much you actually consumed, possibly 2 or more servings.

After two weeks, you can again apply the scheme "reduce the daily diet by 100 calories and add the same amount of physical activity."

Why can't you lose weight quickly?

Remember that, especially for those who have a strong. Why? Yes, because with obesity often our internal organs are also lined with fat, it supports them. If you lose weight slowly - 2-4 kg per month, then the organs will quietly get rid of fat and nothing terrible will happen, they will feel better. If you lose weight drastically, then the fatty support of the organs will disappear abruptly and you may have organ prolapse. It's very scary. Don't allow it.

We all know that the concept of “calories” refers to the energy that we get from food and which we can then spend on maintaining life, but what exactly does this concept mean? At school, we used Joules to represent energy. Calories can also be expressed in joules - 1 calorie is equal to 4.184 joules, and it is enough to heat 1 g of water by 1 degree.

Calories are consumed in our body for all processes - this is the energy that ensures the continuous operation of the body and the performance of all its functions. We spend energy even when we do not feel it - when we sleep, eat, digest food, freeze, yawn. In order for energy to be produced from, our body needs fuel - food. When processing and splitting the substances contained in food, energy is released - these are the calories that we spend. The energy value of food, expressed in calories, shows how much energy will be released when processing this food. In fact, what we call "calories" are kilocalories, but in relation to food it is more convenient and more familiar to say "calories".

For example, the calorie content of 1% kefir is 36 kcal per 100 g, which means that a glass of kefir (about 300 g) contains 108 kcal - this is enough for an hour of work at the computer, 25 minutes of walking or 15 minutes of disco dancing.

Daily rate calories - this is the calorie intake per day that we need in order to replenish the body's energy costs for life and activity (that is, for the work of the heart, and for the digestion of food, and for driving a car, and disco dancing).

How many calories should a person consume per day

Men and women, children and adults, students and soldiers, athletes and housewives - their energy consumption is completely different, and if you set yourself the goal of calculating the daily calorie intake, you need to take into account many factors - gender, age, lifestyle, presence of diseases, own body weight and speed metabolism, climate in the place of residence, etc. The older a person is, the slower his metabolism becomes and the less energy consumption, respectively, the calorie intake per day that he needs will be less. To answer the question of how many calories a person needs per day, several formulas were derived for calculating the daily calorie intake, taking into account gender, age, weight of a person and the degree of his activity during the day. We will use the Muffin-Jeor formula to calculate calories per day.

Calculation of daily calories using the Muffin-Jeor formula

One of the most accurate formulas for calculating how many calories you need per day was developed in 1990 and is called the Muffin-Jeor formula for determining the daily calorie intake. The calculation of daily calories using this formula takes into account factors such as a person's gender, age, weight, and physical activity.

The calculation of calories per day according to the Muffin-Jeor formula is carried out in 2 stages. First you need to calculate the basic exchange (let's denote it O / o).

The basal metabolism shows how many calories you need per day to maintain all the life-support functions of the body in a state of complete rest (that is, if you just lie down and do not think about anything, but at this time you breathe, sweat, your hair grows, blood flows, internal enzymes are produced, etc.).

The formulas for calculating the daily calorie intake for basal metabolism for men and women are different.

The formula for calculating the basic exchange for women:

O / o \u003d 9.99 x weight (in kg) + 6.25 x height (in cm) - 4.92 x age - 161

The formula for calculating the basic exchange for men:

O / o \u003d 9.99 x weight (in kg) + 6.25 x height (in cm) - 4.92 x age + 5

Now you need, knowing the basal metabolic rate, to calculate how many calories you need per day for a particular person, taking into account his physical activity.

The calculation of the total calorie intake per day, taking into account physical activity, is calculated using multiplying factors. Depending on the degree of your physical activity per day, multiply the number of calories in your basal metabolic rate by the multiplier that corresponds to your degree of physical activity:

sedentary lifestyle, lack of additional physical activity - O/o x 1.2;
little physical activity (sedentary work, sports 1-3 times a week) - O / o x 1.375;
average physical activity (sports 3-5 days a week) - O / o x 1.55;
high physical activity (doing sports every day) - O/o x 1.725;
very high physical activity (very active workouts every day, physical work or two workouts a day, competitions) - O / O x 1.9.

For example, let's try to calculate how many calories a day is needed for a 30-year-old woman weighing 55 kg and 170 cm tall, who works as an accountant and goes to the gym twice a week for fitness.

O / o \u003d 9.99x55 + 6.25x170-4.92x30-161 \u003d 1303.35

Now we multiply the resulting figure by a factor of 1.375. We get:

1303.35x1.375=1792.106

Thus, the average calorie intake per day in our example was 1792 kcal. Such a daily calorie intake will be needed by our woman in order to maintain weight at the same level of 55 kg. If she decides to lose weight, she will need to create a small calorie deficit, that is, consume 300-400 kcal less per day (about 1400-1450 kcal per day). So she will lose 2-3 kg in a month without harm to her health.

What happens when the body does not have enough calories

Despite the advice of nutritionists, girls in an attempt to lose weight often limit the energy value of their daily diet to a very low number of calories - 800, 500 and even 300 kcal per day. Such haste can have very serious consequences.

Doctors do not advise reducing the daily calorie intake to less than 1200 kcal (this calorie intake per day is approved by the World Health Organization as the basal metabolic rate). If there are too few calories entering the body, the following happens.

1. The body reduces its basal metabolism and enters a state of energy saving - and it saves it on your well-being and activity (including sexual activity).

2. The process of catabolism starts - the body begins to process its own muscle tissues into energy.

3. The level of metabolism decreases so much that the metabolism worsens, the body stops digesting food normally, beriberi and lack of nutrients begin.

4. When you decide to end the diet and start eating as before, the body works for a few more days with a reduced basal metabolism, spends energy very economically, and everything that remains tends to be stored for the future - therefore, after extreme diets, as a rule, lost kilograms returned again in full or even more.

So if you are going to lose weight, you should limit your calorie intake per day to no more than 300-400 kcal.

What is a calorie and how are they counted?

In order to learn how to correctly determine the number of calories you need, you must first learn what calories are and why they should be counted. We are used to counting calories energy value food, but in fact it is a unit that shows the amount of heat required to heat 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius at a pressure of 1 atmosphere.

Different products during combustion give a different amount of heat, so the calorie content of the products is different. It is difficult to comment on how much the processes occurring in the human body are similar to combustion, but it is believed that this is the amount of energy we extract from products.

Those who decide to count calories need to understand that a calorie is a very small unit. Usually in everyday life, how many calories a person needs, we count in kilocalories or thousands of calories. In kilocalories, the energy value of food is also considered. If you daily exceed the required calorie content of food by only 100 kcal, then in a year you can gain as much as 5 kilograms. This is how you can imperceptibly spoil not only your figure, but also your health, and your whole life.

Many nutritionists are convinced that determining how many calories a person needs per day and strictly adhering to this amount is the most correct and effective diet.

How to determine the required number of calories per day for a person using the Marfin-Jeor formula

This formula was developed more than 20 years ago and is still considered one of the most accurate. To determine the required number of calories using this formula, you must first calculate the basic metabolism, namely the number of calories that is necessary to ensure human life at rest.

The main exchange is calculated using a special formula:

OO (for women) \u003d 9.99 * weight (in kg) + 6.25 * height (in cm) - 4.92 * age (years) - 161

GS (for men) \u003d 9.99 * weight (in kg) + 6.25 * height (in cm) - 4.92 * age (years) + 5

Having obtained the value of the basal metabolism using this formula, we will use special coefficients to find out how many calories a person needs per day, taking into account his activity. To do this, the value of OO must be multiplied by the coefficient:

sedentary lifestyle -1.2;
low activity (sport 1-3 times a week) - 1.375;
average level of activity (sport 3-5 times a week) - 1.55;
high level of activity (sport daily) - 1.725;
extremely high level of activity (hard work or constant intense loads in the gym) - 1.725.

Having studied this formula, we can conclude that the calorie content of our diet should depend on the type of occupation and age. There is an opinion that women need to consume no more than 200 kcal, but, in fact, an inactive thirty-year-old woman needs no more than 1700 kcal. At the same time, teenage girls often limit their caloric intake to 1000-1200 kcal, and they need much more.

A simple formula to calculate how many calories a person needs per day

Often fitness trainers have to quickly determine how many calories a person needs. To do this, they use a simple formula - they multiply the weight of a person by 28. For example, a girl weighing 55 kilograms needs 1540 kcal. If you do not exceed this amount, then our girl will maintain her weight. But this formula is suitable for inactive people.

If you want to lose weight, then you need to multiply the desired weight by 28, and consume that number of calories. For example, we have a girl weighing 65 kilograms who wants to weigh 55 kg. If this girl consumes 1820 kcal per day, then her weight will be stable, but if she starts consuming 1540 kcal, then her weight will gradually decrease to 55 and remain so.

How many calories does a person need to lose weight

It is clear that in order to lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than you expend. If you calculated how many calories a person needs daily, then you just need to eat less. But how much less, not many people know. Typically, nutrition experts recommend reducing calorie intake by 20%. This will allow you to lose weight without suffering and without harming your health. To find out the number of calories needed for comfortable weight loss, you need to multiply the optimal number of calories for yourself by 0.8.

A balanced diet allows you to maintain a figure in shape and normalizes internal metabolism. If it is necessary to reduce or gain weight, it is necessary to make a daily diet taking into account the number of calories consumed and lifestyle characteristics, since during physical exertion the body spends more energy.

Energy balance of the body

Eating food, a person not only satisfies his appetite, but also receives the strength necessary for his life. The energy balance is determined by the ratio of the amount of energy received with food and the energy that the body spends on actions.

When calculating, it must be taken into account that not all nutrients are absorbed: as a result of metabolism, some elements are excreted from the body.

If the calorie content of the food consumed does not fully cover the energy expenditure of the body, then a negative energy balance appears. It can lead to dystrophy, insanity and other serious diseases.

Excess food or lack of exercise also negatively affects the body. A positive energy balance can result in obesity, atherosclerosis and hypertension.

How many calories does a person need

Calorie counting involves almost all diets, so now you can easily find the calorie content of not only individual ingredients, but even the most complex dishes. Each person has their own minimum calories that should be consumed daily.

Diets based on calorie counting do not have strict restrictions on food choices: you can consume a wide variety of foods. An interesting fact is that, overeating his norm by only 100 kcal daily, a person will gain about 5 kg in weight in a year.

How many calories should you consume

Table 1 - Daily kcal intake for men and women

How many calories to burn

Energy consumption by the body occurs constantly: a person spends kilocalories when walking, cleaning, watching TV. Even washing windows for an hour, you can use up to 100 kcal. Nutritionists have found that in order to lose 1 kg, a person must spend 7,700 kcal in 2 weeks. How many calories does a person need?

Many mistakenly cut their daily diet in half to lose weight. To lose weight, you need to gradually increase your daily energy expenditure through exercise.

How many calories does an athlete need

Athletes expend more energy than people leading a passive lifestyle, so the calorie content of their diet should be increased up to 1.5 times. The daily rate also depends on the sport: athletics requires endurance, so the need for these athletes in kilocalories reaches up to 44 units per 1 kg of weight.

Before competitions and tournaments, the loads increase, the number of training sessions increases, which implies an increase in the diet consumed.

Formula for calculating calories

The most popular and accurate is the Marfin-Jeor calorie counting formula. It is based on a preliminary calculation of the required minimum calorie intake for normal life. This energy is used for circulation, respiration and maintaining body temperature.

Basic metabolism in women \u003d 9.99 x weight (kg) + 6.25 * height (cm) - 4.92 * age - 161

Basic metabolism in men \u003d 9.99 x weight (kg) + 6.25 * height (cm) - 4.92 * age + 5

Let's calculate this indicator for a twenty-six-year-old housewife woman who has a weight of 61 kg and a height of 170 cm:
OO \u003d 9.9 x 61 + 6.25 x 170 - 4.92 x 26 - 161 \u003d 603.9 + 1062.5 - 127.92 - 161 \u003d 1337.48

The result is not final: the caloric minimum also depends on the degree of human activity.

Table 2 - Coefficient expressing the activity of a person's lifestyle

Housekeeping involves cleaning the room, ironing clothes, cooking, so the most suitable coefficient in our calculation is 1.375, which corresponds to little activity. Multiplying the number by the result obtained in the previous formula, we get - 1,839.035 kcal.

There is a simple way to calculate: it directly depends on the weight of a person. So, for 0.45 kg, you need to consume 10 kcal daily for women, and 11 kcal for men. If we calculate the OO indicator using this formula, it turns out that a woman weighing 61 kg needs 1355 kilocalories per day.

How many calories does a woman need

The calorie content of the diet is compiled individually, what you need to remember when asking yourself the question of how to count calories: on average, women should consume 1800-2000 kcal daily. With a pronounced negative energy balance, girls may experience problems associated with hair loss, thinning and brittle nails.

How many calories do you need to lose weight

To calculate calories for weight loss, you need to remember that when losing weight, the calorie intake decreases: for slow and more correct weight loss, it is recommended to multiply the result calculated in the Calorie Calculation Formula section by 0.8. The danger is caused by diets that require a reduction in the daily ration to 1,000 kcal.

After reducing your daily calorie intake, you need to increase your diet once a week. Such a zigzag prevents the process of slowing down the internal metabolism of the body.

How many calories should a pregnant woman eat

The basal metabolism in pregnant women increases by an average of 25%, therefore, during the bearing of a child, it is necessary to increase the caloric content of the diet consumed. When calculating, the trimester of pregnancy is also taken into account: the first 4-5 months, the need for calories is about 2600 kcal, in the second half of the term - up to 3000-3500 kcal.

It is important for pregnant women not to increase the amount of food, but to introduce a variety of foods into the diet. Excess weight can negatively affect the well-being of the woman and the fetus, so you should monitor your body weight regularly. On average, an increase of 8-10 kg in 9 months is considered successful.

How many calories does a breastfeeding mother need

The calorie intake for women of nursing mothers of the diet should vary between 3000 - 3200 kcal, since her body spends about 500 kcal every day when breastfeeding.

At the same time, the physical activity of the body associated with the care of the newborn and cleaning the premises increases. If a nursing mother wants to lose weight, her caloric minimum should not fall below 2000 kcal.

The need for a balanced diet

The body receives calories from various substances: it is important to balance the intake of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Protein food should be 1/5 of the daily diet. Proteins are found in meat products, fish and legumes.

A slightly larger percentage (25-30) should be fats, and at least 2/3 of them are unsaturated fats. These include olive oil, nuts, dairy products. The rest of the daily diet is made up of carbohydrates, which are found in vegetables, fruits and other foods that are not in vain called "useful for a healthy lifestyle."

We make the power supply system correctly

It is easy to create the right nutrition system, knowing a few elementary rules:

An accurate calculation of calories consumed will allow you to smoothly reduce weight and eliminate errors in excess of the daily allowance;
Eat small meals 5 times a day;
Limit the amount of sugar and salt you consume;
Do not abuse alcohol: it causes appetite and has a high calorie content.

So, by determining the amount of energy your body spends daily, counting the caloric content of the diet consumed and following the rules of a balanced diet, you can easily and sharply reduce or increase your body weight and improve your well-being.