How many calories should I eat?

It is very important to determine the amount of calories one should consume per day. Often we make the mistake of associating the number of calories with the quantity of food intake, thus thinking that if we consume less food, our calorie intake also decreases in proportion. However, this is not the case; as certain foodstuffs contain greater calories and certain contain lesser. We must eat to optimize our calorie intake.

  • For women, the optimal amount of calories per day is 1940 and for men, it is 2550. However this figure is not absolute in any sense and a lot of factors can contribute to how many calories we should eat.
  • Our calorie consumption should be governed by how much physical activity we indulge in. The more calories we burn, the more we should consume them. Height, weight, body structure, age, sex, genes and metabolism are other factors which should govern the number of calories we consume per day.
  • Certain physical conditions like obesity, pregnancy, diseases and ailments determine that our calorie count will differ. For example, a pregnant woman needs more calories per day than other women. These factors must also play a part in determining the number of calories we eat per day.