Is calorie count important for weight maintenance

Rigomo Team

Sat, 04 Oct 2025

Whether you are making an attempt to lose weight or you are merely figuring out to remain healthy, it is laborious to work out and lose weight. What percentage of calories you would need to burn to satisfy your goals. And although you recognize that range, it will appear trickier still to work out specifically what quantity of time and energy you will need to place in to urge there.

Let's begin with the foremost simple benchmark: if you are merely attempting to take care of your weight, you do not have to be compelled to worry about the maximum amount regarding your calorie burn. Simply aim to exercise for one hundred fifty minutes per week, or half-hour, 5 days every week.

Calories requirement per day

Most adult females need, 1600–2,200 calories per day, whereas adult males need, 2200–3,000 calories per day. However, the number of calories you would need daily is exclusive to your body and activity levels.

Calories are necessary for basic bodily functions, such as:

o   Breathing

o   Circulating blood

o   Cellular Functions

You also burn extra calories from everyday chores, also as exercise, which may vary significantly from person to person. If you’ve ever questioned what percentage of calories you burn daily, the Mifflin-St Jeor formula will assist you to figure this out.

o   This formula calculates your resting rate (RMR), conjointly called your resting energy expenditure, that is that the range of calories your body must operate at rest.

o   With an added calculation, that considers your activity levels, you'll estimate what percentage of calories you would like daily to take care of your current weight.

Feeding fewer calories than this can doubtless lead to weight loss, whereas feeding a lot of calories than this can doubtless cause weight gain.

This article teaches you ways to calculate the calorie needed to support your health goals.

How many calories ought I burn during a day?

The number of calories you ought to burn during a day mostly depends on your health and fitness goals, also with alternative factors like your age, sex, height, weight, and activity levels.

To lose weight, you need to be in a state of a calorie deficit.

o   This means you’re either feeding fewer calories than your body wants, burning extra calories, or a mix of each.

o   A perfect calorie deficit is around 10–20% fewer calories than your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).

Let’s say that your body wants 2,200 calories per day. A calorie deficit of 10–20% would be 1,760–1,980 calories per day (Equation: 2200 – (2,200 × 0.1) = 1,980 or 2,200 – (2,200 × 0.2) = 1,760).

According to the analysis, weight loss is influenced by a spread of things, like age, genetics, hormones, medical conditions, and medications.

United Nations agency recommendations for maintenance of weight

To maintain weight-

o   If you’re trying to take care of your weight, you’ll need to confirm your calorie intake matches your calorie expenditure.

o   To figure this out, you’ll have to be compelled to calculate your TDEE that is that the range of calories your body must sustain the load you’re presently at.

o   If you notice that you’re gaining weight, this can be doubtless a symptom that you’re either overwhelming a lot of calories or disbursement fewer calories than you plan to.

o   If you’re losing weight, you’re feeling not feeding enough calories or disbursement to several calories.

To gain weight –

o   If you would like to achieve weight, you would like to be during a calorie surplus. This suggests that you’re either feeding a lot of calories than your body wants, disbursement fewer calories, or a mix of each.

o   As within the case of a calorie deficit, you’ll need to try to do this slowly to confirm it’s healthy and properly. A light calorie surplus of around 10 to 20% can allow slow, gradual weight gain.

o   If your calorie wants square measure two,200 calories per day, a calorie surplus of 10 to 20% would be two,420–2,640 calories per day.

Ideally, opt for nutrient-dense foods that square measure higher in calories to support gradual weight gain.

 Examples include:

o   whole milk, yogurt, etc.

o   protein shakes

o   avocados

o   nuts, seeds, and their oils

o   rice and alternative whole grains

o   salmon and alternative oily fish

o   meal replacement drinks as a snack

Eat smaller and frequent meals. You will conjointly need to chop back on your physical activity if you’re extraordinarily active. For instance, you will like to scale back the time, frequency, or intensity of your exercise.

How does one calculate calories burned?

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is straightforward thanks to calculating what percentage of calories you would like to eat per day, and it’s thought-about one among the foremost correct formulas.

It’s adjusted to support your sex, age, height, and weight to convey a customized estimation.

This equation was initially printed in 1990 as an updated formula that predicts a person’s energy expenditure than the antecedently used Harris-Benedict equation.

Once you calculate your resting rate (RMR), you'll multiply this figure by an activity [ by your daily activity level]  starting from inactive to terribly active, to search out the number of calories you would like to consume daily to take care of your weight.