The calculator presents two zigzag diet schedules. The first schedule has two higher calorie days and five lower calorie days. The second schedule increases and reduces calories gradually. In either case, the total weekly calorie consumption is the same.

In the end, regardless of what method you choose to use when approaching weight loss, what's important is picking a strategy that works for you.

Calorie counting and zigzag calorie cycling are only two methods that are fairly interrelated used to achieve weight loss among many, and even within these methods, there are many possible approaches a person can take.

Finding an approach that fits within your lifestyle that you think you would be able to adhere to is likely going to provide the most sustainable and desirable result. Many people seek to lose weight, and often the easiest way to do this is to consume fewer calories each day.

But how many calories does the body actually need in order to be healthy? This largely depends on the amount of physical activity a person performs each day, and regardless of this, is different for all people — there are many different factors involved, not all of which are well-understood or known.

Some factors that influence the number of calories a person needs to remain healthy include age, weight, height, sex, levels of physical activity, and overall general health.

For example, a physically active year-old male that is 6 feet in height requires considerably higher calorie intake than a 5-foot-tall, sedentary year-old woman. Though it differs depending on age and activity level, adult males generally require 2, calories per day to maintain weight while adult females need around 1,, according to the U.

S Department of Health. The body does not require many calories to simply survive. However, consuming too few calories results in the body functioning poorly, since it will only use calories for functions essential to survival, and ignore those necessary for general health and well-being.

Harvard Health Publications suggests women get at least 1, calories and men get at least 1, calories a day unless supervised by doctors. As such, it is highly recommended that a person attempting to lose weight monitors their body's caloric necessities and adjusts them as necessary to maintain its nutritional needs.

The main sources of calories in a typical person's diet are carbohydrates, proteins, and fat, with alcohol also being a significant portion of calorie intake for many people though ideally this should be limited since alcohol contains many empty calories.

Some studies have shown that the calories displayed on nutrition labels and the calories actually consumed and retained can vary significantly. This hints at the complex nature of calories and nutrition and is why many conflicting points of view on the "best" methodology for losing weight exist.

For example, how a person chews their food has been shown to affect weight loss to some degree; generally speaking, chewing food more increases the number of calories that the body burns during digestion. People that chew more also tend to eat less, since the longer period of time necessary to chew their food allows more time to reach a state of satiety, which results in eating less.

However, the effects of how food is chewed and digestion of different foods are not completely understood and it is possible that other factors exist, and thus this information should be taken with a grain of salt in moderation if weight loss is the goal.

Generally, foods that take more effort to chew — fruit, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, etc. It also results in the feeling of satiety for longer periods of time. Furthermore, certain foods like coffee, tea, chilies, cinnamon, and ginger have been found to increase the rate of calories burned, due to the ingredients they contain.

The "quality" of calories consumed is also important. There are different classifications of foods in terms of calories. This includes high-calorie foods, low-calorie foods, and empty calories. Consistent with their naming, high-calorie foods are foods that are calorically dense, meaning that there are a high number of calories relative to serving size, while low-calorie foods have fewer calories relative to serving size.

Foods such as fat, oils, fried foods, and sugary foods are examples of high-calorie foods. Being a high-calorie food does not inherently mean that the food is unhealthy however — avocados, quinoa, nuts, and whole grains are all high-calorie foods that are considered healthful in moderation.

Low-calorie foods include vegetables and certain fruits, among other things, while empty calories, such as those in added sugars and solid fats, are calories that contain few to no nutrients. Studies have shown that there is a measurable difference between consuming calories of carrots compared to calories of popcorn.

As previously mentioned, this in part can be attributed to differences in how the foods are consumed and processed. Carrots require far more chewing and can result in more calories burned during digestion. Again, the mechanism for these differences is not fully defined, but simply note that for weight loss purposes, the general formula of calories in minus calories out determining weight gain or loss does hold, but that the number of calories on a nutrition label is not necessarily indicative of how many calories the body actually retains.

While there is no clear-cut or ideal amount of macronutrient proportions a person should consume to maintain a healthy diet or lose weight, eating a "healthy" diet replete with a variety of unprocessed foods such as vegetables, fruits, and lean meats is correlated with being healthier, and is more likely to result in sustainable weight loss.

Many of these calories fall under the category of empty calories. While sodas are an obvious culprit, drinks such as juices and even milk have large amounts of sugar and should be consumed in moderation to avoid negating their nutritional benefits. Ideally, a person should drink water, tea, and coffee without adding sugar in order to reduce calories gained from drinks.

When people eat matters as much as what they eat. Empty calories are those that provide energy but very little nutritional value. The parts of food that provide empty calories contain virtually no dietary fiber, amino acids, antioxidants , dietary minerals, or vitamins.

According to ChooseMyPlate. gov , a diet management tool from the USDA, empty calories come mainly from solid fats and added sugars. Added sugars and solid fats are said to make foods and drinks more enjoyable. However, they also add many calories and are major contributors to obesity.

Alcohol can also contribute empty calories to the diet. If beer is not your drink of choice, you can use this calorie calculator provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to work out how many calories alcohol adds to your diet. There are ways of sourcing products with less solid fat or empty sugars.

Rather than choosing the standard hot dog or a fatty cheese, for example, a person could choose low-fat options for either. However, even the lower-fat options are no replacement for calories consumed from sources that also provide nutritional benefit.

Rachel Johnson, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association AHA , shared the following with MNT:. One recent study showed that drinking more than one sugar-sweetened beverage a day increases your risk of high blood pressure.

The intake of empty calories can be avoided or dramatically reduced by incorporating fresh, healthy food and drink into the diet. Calories seem to be linked only to weight gain and obesity, but they are vital for health. They only pose a health risk when people consume more than the recommended amount.

When thinking about calories, you should not be considering just your diet but also your level of physical activity.

A high intake of calories can be countered with regular, high-intensity exercise. The number of calories the body burns while a person is walking varies according to their sex, body size, and how fast they are walking. Learn more…. For some people, a 2, calorie diet contains the right number of calories for a healthful lifestyle.

However, calorie needs among people. Researchers say bariatric surgery can help with weight loss, but it can also help improve cognitive functions including memory. Researchers say running can help with weight loss but only in the short term.

This form of exercise does have other health benefits from maintaining…. Researchers people with diabetes who also have obesity or other weight issues can lower their risk of chronic kidney disease with regular moderate to…. My podcast changed me Can 'biological race' explain disparities in health?

Why Parkinson's research is zooming in on the gut Tools General Health Drugs A-Z Health Hubs Health Tools Find a Doctor BMI Calculators and Charts Blood Pressure Chart: Ranges and Guide Breast Cancer: Self-Examination Guide Sleep Calculator Quizzes RA Myths vs Facts Type 2 Diabetes: Managing Blood Sugar Ankylosing Spondylitis Pain: Fact or Fiction Connect About Medical News Today Who We Are Our Editorial Process Content Integrity Conscious Language Newsletters Sign Up Follow Us.

Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. To find out if you are a healthy weight, use the BMI calculator.

To maintain a healthy weight, you need to balance the amount of calories you consume through food and drink with the amount of calories you burn through physical activity.

To lose weight in a healthy way, you need to use more energy than you consume by eating a healthy, balanced diet with fewer calories while increasing your physical activity.

For more information on weight loss, download the NHS weight loss plan , our free 12 week diet and exercise plan. You should get advice from the GP if you're underweight your body mass index is less than To gain weight, you need to eat more calories than your body uses each day.

For more information, see How can I gain weight safely? Page last reviewed: 28 September Next review due: 28 September

People have different metabolisms that burn energy at different rates, and some people have more active lifestyles than others. The human body needs calories to survive. Without energy, the cells in the body would die, the heart and lungs would stop, and the organs would not be able to carry out the basic processes needed for living.

People absorb this energy from food and drink. If people consumed only the number of calories needed every day, they would probably have healthy lives.

Calorie consumption that is too low or too high will eventually lead to health problems. The number of calories in food tells us how much potential energy they contain. It is not only calories that are important, but also the substance from which the calories are taken.

As an example, here is the breakdown of how a person would get calories from one cup of large eggs , weighing g:. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC published a report in showing that come from fast foods.

As people get older, they tend to get fewer of their daily calories from fast foods. Fast foods make up only 6 percent of the daily calorie intake of older adults.

However, with the number of highly calorific meals served in restaurants or aimed at younger individuals, it is important that people pay close attention to where they get their calories. Researchers at Tel Aviv University wrote in the journal Obesity that a large breakfast containing approximately kcal is ideal for losing weight and lowering the risk of diabetes , heart disease , and high cholesterol.

A large breakfast may help to control body weight. When people eat matters as much as what they eat. Empty calories are those that provide energy but very little nutritional value.

The parts of food that provide empty calories contain virtually no dietary fiber, amino acids, antioxidants , dietary minerals, or vitamins. According to ChooseMyPlate. gov , a diet management tool from the USDA, empty calories come mainly from solid fats and added sugars. Added sugars and solid fats are said to make foods and drinks more enjoyable.

However, they also add many calories and are major contributors to obesity. Alcohol can also contribute empty calories to the diet.

If beer is not your drink of choice, you can use this calorie calculator provided by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to work out how many calories alcohol adds to your diet. There are ways of sourcing products with less solid fat or empty sugars.

Rather than choosing the standard hot dog or a fatty cheese, for example, a person could choose low-fat options for either. However, even the lower-fat options are no replacement for calories consumed from sources that also provide nutritional benefit. Rachel Johnson, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association AHA , shared the following with MNT:.

One recent study showed that drinking more than one sugar-sweetened beverage a day increases your risk of high blood pressure. The intake of empty calories can be avoided or dramatically reduced by incorporating fresh, healthy food and drink into the diet.

Calories seem to be linked only to weight gain and obesity, but they are vital for health. They only pose a health risk when people consume more than the recommended amount. When thinking about calories, you should not be considering just your diet but also your level of physical activity.

A high intake of calories can be countered with regular, high-intensity exercise. The number of calories the body burns while a person is walking varies according to their sex, body size, and how fast they are walking. Learn more…. For some people, a 2, calorie diet contains the right number of calories for a healthful lifestyle.

However, calorie needs among people. Researchers say bariatric surgery can help with weight loss, but it can also help improve cognitive functions including memory.

Researchers say running can help with weight loss but only in the short term. This form of exercise does have other health benefits from maintaining…. Researchers people with diabetes who also have obesity or other weight issues can lower their risk of chronic kidney disease with regular moderate to….

My podcast changed me Can 'biological race' explain disparities in health? Why Parkinson's research is zooming in on the gut Tools General Health Drugs A-Z Health Hubs Health Tools Find a Doctor BMI Calculators and Charts Blood Pressure Chart: Ranges and Guide Breast Cancer: Self-Examination Guide Sleep Calculator Quizzes RA Myths vs Facts Type 2 Diabetes: Managing Blood Sugar Ankylosing Spondylitis Pain: Fact or Fiction Connect About Medical News Today Who We Are Our Editorial Process Content Integrity Conscious Language Newsletters Sign Up Follow Us.

Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. It is inadvisable to lower calorie intake by more than 1, calories per day, as losing more than 2 pounds per week can be unhealthy, and can result in the opposite effect in the near future by reducing metabolism.

Losing more than 2 pounds a week will likely involve muscle loss, which in turn lowers BMR, since more muscle mass results in higher BMR. Excessive weight loss can also be due to dehydration, which is unhealthy.

Furthermore, particularly when exercising in conjunction with dieting, maintaining a good diet is important, since the body needs to be able to support its metabolic processes and replenish itself. Depriving the body of the nutrients it requires as part of heavily unhealthy diets can have serious detrimental effects, and weight lost in this manner has been shown in some studies to be unsustainable, since the weight is often regained in the form of fat putting the participant in a worse state than when beginning the diet.

As such, in addition to monitoring calorie intake, it is important to maintain levels of fiber intake as well as other nutritional necessities to balance the needs of the body.

Calorie counting with the intent of losing weight, on its simplest levels, can be broken down into a few general steps:.

The above steps are an attempt at the most basic form of calorie counting. Calorie counting is not an exact science, and can be as complex as you want to make it. The above does not consider the proportions of macronutrients consumed.

While there is no exactly known, ideal proportion of macronutrients fats, proteins, carbohydrates , some balance is certainly advisable, and different foods have been found to have different effects on health, feelings of hunger, and number of calories burned.

Generally, minimally processed plant and animal foods tend to be more conducive to healthy weight loss and maintenance. There are many approaches to weight loss and there is no set ideal method that works for all people, which is why so many different diets and exercise regimens exist.

While some methods are more effective for each individual person, not all weight loss methods are equivalent, and studies suggest that some approaches are healthier than others. That being said, one of the most commonly effective weight loss methods is counting calories. In its most basic form, calories consumed minus calories expended will result in weight gain if the result is positive, or weight loss if the result is negative.

However, this is far from a comprehensive picture, and many other factors play a role in affecting healthy, sustainable weight loss. For example, there exist conflicting studies addressing whether or not the type of calories or foods consumed, or how they are consumed, affects weight loss.

Studies have shown that foods that require a person to chew more and are more difficult to digest result in the body burning more calories, sometimes referred to as the thermic effect of food. While the increase in burned calories may be marginal, foods that are more difficult to digest such as vegetables generally tend to be healthier and provide more nutrients for fewer calories than many processed foods.

Consistent with the view that in regards to weight loss, only net calories are important and not their source, there exist cases such as the Twinkie diet, where a person that solely counted calories while eating a variety of cake snacks managed to lose 27 pounds over two months.

As effective as this can be, it is certainly not suggested. While the participant did not seem to suffer any noticeable health detriments in this particular case, there are other less measurable factors that should be considered such as long-term effects of such a diet on potential for developing cancers, heart disease, and diabetes.

However, ignoring efficiency and health, sustained, significant reduction of caloric intake or increase of physical activity should result in weight loss, and counting calories can be an effective way to achieve this sole result.

Aside from being one viable method for facilitating weight loss, calorie counting has other somewhat less quantifiable advantages including helping to increase nutritional awareness.

Many people are completely unaware of, or grossly underestimate their daily caloric intake. Counting calories can help raise awareness of different types of foods, the number of calories they contain, and how these calories have a different effect on a person's feelings of satiety.

Once a person has a better understanding of how many calories are actually in that bag of chips that they can so easily inhale within minutes, how much of their daily caloric intake it consumes, and how little the chips do to satiate their hunger, portion control and avoidance of foods with empty calories tends to become easier.

Having actual caloric measurements can also assist in weight loss, since tangible calorie goals can be set, rather than simply trying to eat less.

Also, although this is not necessarily directly related to calorie counting, studies have shown that portion control by simply eating from a smaller plate can help reduce calorie intake, since people tend to fill their plates and eat everything on their plates.

Many people do not realize that they are overeating, since they have become accustomed to restaurant-sized portions being the norm, when said portions can be up to three or more times larger than necessary for a typical meal.

Once a link is made between the amount of exercise that some snack equates to, many people find abstaining from that bag of chips to be the preferred option rather than performing an equivalent amount of exercise — which can lead to healthier eating habits.

In the end, however, what's important is picking a strategy that works for you. Calorie counting is only one method used to achieve weight loss amongst many, and even within this method, there are many possible approaches a person can take.

Finding an approach that fits within your lifestyle that you think you would be able to adhere to is likely going to provide the most sustainable option and desirable result. Zigzag calorie cycling is a weight loss approach that aims to counteract the human body's natural adaptive tendencies.

Counting and restricting calories, as described above, is a viable method to lose weight, but over a period of time, it is possible for the body to adapt to the lower number of calories consumed.

In cases where this happens, a plateau in weight loss that can be difficult to surmount can result. This is where zigzag calorie cycling can help, by not allowing the body to adapt to the lower calorie environment. Zigzag calorie cycling involves alternating the number of calories consumed on a given day.

A person on a zigzag diet should have a combination of high-calorie and low-calorie days to meet the same overall weekly calorie target. For example, if your target calorie intake is 14, calories per week, you could consume 2, calories three days a week, and 1, the other four days of the week, or you could consume 2, calories each day.

In both cases, 14, calories would be consumed over the week, but the body wouldn't adapt and compensate for a 2,calorie diet. This also allows a person more flexibility in their diet, allowing them to plan around occasions, such as work or family gatherings, where a person may consume more calories.

Consuming a lower number of calories on other days can allow a person to enjoy these gatherings or even have a "cheat day" where they eat whatever they want without feeling guilty, since they can make up for the excess calories on their low-calorie days. There is no concrete rule or study that dictates the most effective way to alternate or spread out calorie consumption.

How to vary calorie intake is largely up to personal discretion. Depending on a person's activity, it is generally recommended that the high-calorie and low-calorie days vary by approximately calories, where the high-calorie day is often the number of calories a person needs to consume to maintain their current weight.

For a person with a higher activity level, the calorie difference should be larger. The calculator presents two zigzag diet schedules. The first schedule has two higher calorie days and five lower calorie days.

The second schedule increases and reduces calories gradually. In either case, the total weekly calorie consumption is the same. In the end, regardless of what method you choose to use when approaching weight loss, what's important is picking a strategy that works for you.

Calorie counting and zigzag calorie cycling are only two methods that are fairly interrelated used to achieve weight loss among many, and even within these methods, there are many possible approaches a person can take. Finding an approach that fits within your lifestyle that you think you would be able to adhere to is likely going to provide the most sustainable and desirable result.

Many people seek to lose weight, and often the easiest way to do this is to consume fewer calories each day. But how many calories does the body actually need in order to be healthy?

This largely depends on the amount of physical activity a person performs each day, and regardless of this, is different for all people — there are many different factors involved, not all of which are well-understood or known.

Some factors that influence the number of calories a person needs to remain healthy include age, weight, height, sex, levels of physical activity, and overall general health.

For example, a physically active year-old male that is 6 feet in height requires considerably higher calorie intake than a 5-foot-tall, sedentary year-old woman. Though it differs depending on age and activity level, adult males generally require 2, calories per day to maintain weight while adult females need around 1,, according to the U.

S Department of Health. The body does not require many calories to simply survive.

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Javascript is required in order to use this web app. Calorie Calculator. Switch to Metric Units Age years Height ft. Weight lbs. Select the statement that best describes your usual activity level.

Examples Close Examples Light activity: walking or gardening Moderate activity: fast walking or water aerobics Vigorous activity: jogging, bicycling or lap swimming. Your estimated daily calorie needs rounded to the nearest 50 calories are:.

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ITT Healthy Lifestyle Calorie calculator. Show the heart some love! Give Today. Help us advance cardiovascular medicine. Find a doctor. Explore careers. Sign up for free e-newsletters. About Mayo Clinic. About this Site. Contact Us. Health Information Policy. You need energy from calories for your body to work properly.

Your body uses this energy to function properly. To stay at around the same weight, the calories your body uses should be the same as the amount of calories you eat and drink.

If you do not use the same amount of calories as you eat and drink, your body weight may change. For example:. Calorie information is often given in kcals, which is short for kilocalories. It may also be given in kJ, which is short for kilojoules.

Body mass index BMI is a measurement that works out if you're a healthy weight for your height. check nutrition labels on food packaging for calorie information — this will be displayed under the "energy" heading. aim to have a balanced diet — you can get healthy calories from eating a diet that includes fruit and vegetables, starchy foods, protein and unsaturated fats.

be aware that the more energy you spend doing an activity, the more calories you'll use — for example, fast walking uses more calories than walking at a moderate pace. The Eatwell Guide. Find out more about counting calories and how it can help you lose weight. Calorie counting on NHS Better Health.

Cut down on sugar, salt and fat in your family's diet with these healthier swaps. Visit the NHS Healthier Families website.