How many calories do I need per day?

Question: How many calories do I need per day?

I'm having a problem finding out how many calories I need per day to stay at my current weight. When I read different web sites I get numbers between 1200 to 2000 calories per day. I lost 15 pounds since last year and I find that I'm so afraid of gaining the weight back that I limit myself to 1200 calories a day. It seems to be enough because I don't go hungry but if I go over that I panic.

Julia - About.com User

Answer: One reason you may get different answers for the number of calories you need is because the calculators used to determine that number may be based on different weight tables. Some web sites use the body mass index and some use height/weight tables.

If you want to know how many calories you require each day, you need to consider the following things:

• how active you are
• how much of your weight is lean mass
• how much of your weight is fat

There are scales available that will help you estimate your body fat percentage using bioelectric impedance. Once you know your lean body mass, it will be possible to figure out how many calories you need each day from any of the different websites, just keep in mind that your individual results might not be 100% accurate because the tables used are determined by averages for weights and calories needed taken from large population studies. If your weight is stable at 1500 calories, but the calorie tables say you should eat 1600 calories, then stick with the 1500.

Realize that your weight can fluctuate a couple pounds up or down based on your menstrual cycle, amount of water you have been drinking, allergies, sodium intake and alcohol consumption. Make sure you make healthy choices with the foods that you eat each day.

More Calorie Help:

• Calorie Calculator and Nutrition Guide
• Calculate Your BMI
• Join Calorie-Count.com

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