To Eat Or Not To Eat? It Depends On What You Gonna Do About It!

The United States Department of Agriculture (more commonly known as the USDA) has determined that there is no “one size fits all” plan when it comes to recommending the appropriate caloric intake requirements for individuals. Calories affect each of us differently. Many factors, including sex, age, physical activity levels, genetics, etc., influence the amount of calories we personally need.

Though it is probably impossible to determine (with 100 percent accuracy) the specific caloric intake needs of every individual person without actual medical testing, caloric intake needs can be estimated using a variety of factors.

Most diet related sites will simply tell you that weight gain occurs when we consume more calories than those we burn off. That’s easy enough to understand. So if this is a true fact, then the opposite is also true. If we consume less calories than those we burn off then we will lose weight. Great start! But how do we determine these figures?

How in the world do we know how much we’ve burned off? Most diet sites will tell you that the average person needs anywhere from 2000 to 3000 calories. That’s a pretty big range. How do you know which side of the caloric scale you need to lean towards? The FDA’s MyPyramid program established a food intake pattern table that will help us accurately estimate caloric needs.

They have divided people into two mayor groups: Males and Females. Both the male and female groups are divided into 3 subcategories:

1. Sedentary People (moderate physical activity of less than 30 minutes a day)

2. Moderately Active People (moderate physical activity ranges from 30 to 60 minutes a day)

3. Active People. (daily physical activity surpasses 60 minutes)

Each of these 3 categories was further divided by ages. The average caloric intake needs for each category was calculated by age. For minors it was calculated yearly starting from age 2 to 18. According to the MyPyramid list, adult caloric needs only change about every 5 years. So you will have the same caloric need from age 21 to 25, from 26 to 30….from 45 to 50, etc.

So according to the USDA, a 32 year old sedentary male needs 2,400 calories for his daily activities. If he were moderately active he would need 2,600 calories and if he was very active he would need around 3,000 calories.

A sedentary woman of the same age would need 1,800 calories. If her physical activity becomes moderately active she would need 2,000 calories. An active 32 year old woman needs 2,200 calories to remain healthy.

Once we know how many calories we actually need we can then begin working on other areas that will allow us to loose weight. We can determine the amount of physical activity that would be appropriate for our goals and the type of diets we should undertake etc., but all of this should be done when appropriate caloric consumption needs have been established.

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