How many kilocalories do I have to eat daily?

The fuel of our body is energy. Without it we cannot function properly. The energy equilibrium is the one that helps us keep our weight. Also the stability of out body’s functions depend on the energetic intake.

Every one of us has nutritional needs. The body needs food. And also the body consumes energy. It is an ongoing process that solicits and consumes energy. But unfortunately between what the body needs and what we offer to it there are too often disproportions. This lack of correlation can influence our health, our wellness and for sure it influences the daily activities that we do. It is a fine balancing act that we must keep between the consumption and the intake of energy.

The energy deposits

Our body utilizes energy to keep the body in function. Because of energy we can keep a constant body temperature and we can engage in different physical activities. We consume all the time energy but we receive the additional energy to replace the one used up in sessions, when we eat. So over the day and the night , when we are not eating, our body utilizes his energy reserves. When we eat the body gets energy form food thru digestion, energy that is stored for later use. The energy is stored in the form of triglycerides and glycogen. Between the meals the body consumes what he has received in the previous meal and utilizes the energy resources stored, the stocked lipids and glucide. When a person maintains the same energy deposits day in day out that person is keeping her weight.

When a person eats more then the energy that it consumes then that person will become fat sooner or later. Especially is you are a couch potato and you avoid physical exercise like a vampire avoids sunlight. If you eat less then you use then the body will need to feed on it’s own reserves thus making you loose weight. If you also exercise frequently then more energy will get used up. A fat person has in her fat deposits enough energy stored to last for 12 months. A whole year of energy is stocked in the fat. By comparison a slender person has in her fat deposits enough energy to last for 60 days.

The energy sources and their location

The main sources of energy for our body are: -the triglycerides: they are found in the liver, the fat deposits, in the muscles and in the blood; -glycogen: that is found in the liver and the muscles; -glucose: found in the blood; -free fatty acids: found in the blood. The majority of energy sources can be found in the fat deposits and in the muscles.

Calories and kilocalories

The energy we take from foods is quantified in calories and kilocalories. One kilocalorie means 1000 calories.

How much do I need to eat daily?

The energetic consume can be established thru simple arithmetic using the Schofield calculation. Pay attention because at the result that you get form the calculation you need to add some kilocalories depending on how intense is your daily physical workout. Also when we sleep we use up calories. For a easy physical activity add 20% more and for a medium one 25% more. If you are an athlete or work in a physical straining environment you can add more. Even a person that can’t get out of bed need to add 10% more at the final number.

A woman with the age between 18 and 30 years will use the following formula: 6,72 x the number of pounds she has + 485. That means that a 154 pounds person needs to consume around 1500 kilocalories plus the percentage depending the physical activity. If she is an active woman but not athletic, 25% from 1500 is 375, making it a total of 1875 kilocalories that she can consume. If you use kilograms replace 6.72 with 14.8 in the fromula.

A woman with the age between 30 and 60 years will use the following formula: 3.68 x the number of pounds + 842. A woman with 154 pounds will have to consume around 1400 kilocalories per day. Of course you have to add the percentage depending of physical activity. If you use kilograms replace 3.68 with 8.1 in the formula.

Young girls with the age between 15 and 18 years have to use this formula: 6.04 x the number of pounds + 690. A young woman of 154 pounds has to consume a little over 1600 kilocalories. For kilograms replace 6.04 with 13.3

A man with the age between 18 and 30 years must use the following formula: 6.81 x the number of pounds plus 690. So a 154 pound man has to consume 1750 kilocalories without adding the physical activity percentage. For kilograms use 15 instead of 6.81.

Be careful at the number of kilocalories

You have to take into consideration the fact that just one gram of alcohol has 7 kilocalories. Glucides (glucose- everything that is sweet) have 4 kilocalories per gram. Proteins have 4 kilocalories per gram. And fats have 9 kilocalories per gram.