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If we want to lose weight, it is not just about counting the calories that each food has before eating it, but knowing the ones we need daily is a good way to guide us when starting a diet to lose weight. However, the energy needs of each person are not the same and depend on various factors such as age, sex or body composition, as pointed out by the Spanish Nutrition Foundation.

When we talk about calories we refer to the energy that the body requires to function: breathe, make the heart beat, work, perform daily tasks ... Therefore, a minimum amount is needed, which the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates between 1,600 and 2,500 calories per day for a healthy adult individual.

How many calories do you have to eat a day to lose weight?

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When we take calories above the minimum amount that is needed (and that we have already indicated that varies in each person and that usually ranges between 1,600 and 2,500) we begin to accumulate them in the body. "These stored calories will remain in the body as fat, unless you expend them. To do this, you can reduce the amount of calories you consume, so that the body must draw on reserves for energy. Or, you can do more physical activity to burn more calories, "they point out from the Mayo Clinic. In this way you will lose weight.

How many calories should a woman eat a day to lose weight?

"As a general rule, women should take between 1,700 and 2,000 calories," explains nutritionist Cristina Martínez on the YouTube channel Nutrición MedicinaTV, although she insists that it depends on each case. It also affects the importance of physical activity to obtain a balance between intake and caloric expenditure that allows weight loss.

Calorie calculator

There are several calorie calculators. One of the most popular and also accurate is the Harris-Benedict Formula, which allows you to calculate the so-called basal metabolic rate (BMR), the daily amount of calories that the body needs. It is as follows:

  • Women: 655.1 + (9.563 x weight in kilos) + (1.85 x height in centimeters) - (4.676 x age).
  • Men: 66.5 + (13.75 x weight in kilograms) + (5.003 x height in centimeters) - (6.775 x age).

The result of the formula is then multiplied by another value depending on the person's activity level.

  • 1.2 for sedentary people.
  • 1,375 for people with little physical activity (1 to 3 times a week).
  • 1.55 for people who do moderate activity (between 3 and 5 times a week).
  • 1,725 for people who do intense activity (6 to 7 times a week).
  • 1.9 for professional athletes.

As an example, the formula for a 45-year-old woman who does little physical activity, measures 1.68 and weighs 63 kilos would be:

  • 655.1 + (9.56 x 63) + (1.85 x 168) - (4.68 x 45) x 1.375 = 1,866 calories per day.

How many calories should you burn a day?

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"In general, a person with an average weight and a balanced diet will need to burn about 3,500 calories to lose a kilogram of fat," emphasize the experts of the online parapharmacy Mifarma. To lose that kilo by exercising in a week, you would need to eliminate about 600 calories daily.

How many calories should be consumed at each meal to lose weight?

The Ministry of Health establishes a table with the percentage of calories that should be consumed at each meal:

  • Breakfast: 20%.
  • Mid-morning: 5-10%.
  • Food: 30%.
  • Snack: 5-10%.
  • Dinner: 25-30%.

Following this table, a person who needs a diet of 2,000 calories, would have to take 400 for breakfast, between 100 and 200 mid-morning, about 600 to eat, between 100 and 200 for snack and between 500 and 600 for dinner. An energy intake below these amounts would help to lose weight, although as we have pointed out, the ideal is to burn calories through physical exercise.

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How many calories do you have to eat a day to gain weight?

In the same way that to lose weight you have to reduce the consumption of calories or burn them by exercising, to gain weight it is enough to take more than we need and not spend them. As we have already indicated, the leftovers accumulate in the body in the form of fat and make us gain kilos.

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