Calories Needed to Maintain Weight
How many calories needed to maintain weight? The answer varies from person to person and will depend on a number of factors.
The total calories (kcal) consumed each day by men varies from 1500-4000 for most males: the total for females varies from 900-2500. In extreme cases, calorie intake can vary wildly, from 0 for someone on a water fast, to over 8000 kcal for a logger who burns them all while working, without gaining an ounce, and as high as 12,000 kcal per day for weight-lifters and bodybuilders.
The Weight Is Off. Now What?
Sometimes maintaining weight loss can be even more difficult than losing the weight in the first place. A lot of this is mental, arising from a diet mentality. It is very easy to relax once you’ve lost all of your weight and think that the diet is over, and with this that you are free to return to eating whatever you want. Unfortunately, this type of thought process often results in the rapid return of the weight that was lost in the first place. This is so common, that there is even a term for it-–yoyo dieting. The best way to avoid yoyo dieting is by realizing that weight loss and maintenance of that loss is a lifestyle that must be managed and adhered to most days for the rest of your life.
Do Calories Count?
When considering how many calories needed to maintain weight loss, you may ask yourself whether calories count or not. Provisionally, the answer is yes; however, calories are not the only thing you need to consider when you are seeking to maintain a healthy weight. Along with the calories you take in, you also need to pay attention to the nutritional quality of the food you eat, as well as your physical activity level. All of these things factor into your metabolism and the body’s ability to maintain weight loss.
Factors that Affect Metabolism
Everyone’s metabolism is unique. No two people have exactly the same caloric requirements. There are a number of factors that affect your metabolism, including:
- Lean body mass (LBM) - LBM is everything in your body that is not fat. This includes muscle, bone, water, and organs. The more lean body mass you have – particularly muscle – the more calories your body will burn as a general rule. If you want to increase how many calories needed to maintain weight, then, one of the best ways to do this is by increasing your muscle mass through strength training.
- Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) - Your BMR is how much your body burns if all you did was sat around all day. Caloric energy is required for all of your biological processes such as thinking, breathing and pumping blood through your body. You can get a general idea of your BMR by using a BMR calculator. If you’d like a more specific calculation of your BMR, many physicians and health centers offer BMR testing.
- Your activity level - This one is simple. How active are you? Your activity level can be calculated into your daily caloric requirements using the Harris Benedict Equation. To calculate how your activity level affects your caloric burn rate, multiply your BMR with the following constant, depending on your activity level:
- 1.2 if you are sedentary and get little or no exercise
- 1.375 if you are lightly active and do light exercise one to three days per week
- 1.55 if you are moderately active and do moderate exercise three to five days per week
- 1.725 if you are very active and do heavy exercise six to seven days per week
- 1.9 if you are heavily active – such as working an extremely physically demanding job or training at a high level for a particular sport
- Your age - You can’t really do much about this one, but age does have an affect on metabolism. This can be countered by increasing your activity level and lean body mass.
- Hormones - Your hormones can also wreak havoc on your metabolism – especially for women who are in perimenopause or menopause. Additionally, hormonal imbalances of the thyroid and pituitary glands can also affect your metabolism and require medical support. Check with your doctor if you feel you suffer from disorders of the thyroid or pituitary glands.
How Many Calories Needed to Maintain Weight?
With all of the above factors in mind, you can generally calculate your body’s caloric needs by calculating your BMR and then applying your Harris-Benedict number, as outlined above. The number you achieve will tell you how many calories to eat to maintain your current weight. Try to eat within 100 calories either way of this number most days of the week. Remember, calorie intake is cumulative over time. Any calories not burned by your body will be stored, so if you eat an extra 100 calories every day without balancing it out in the other direction, you will slowly begin to gain weight.
Maintaining your weight is achievable with a little bit of planning and a few calculations. If you find that you are losing or gaining weight, in spite of the above recommendations, check with your doctor to rule out underlying health conditions that may need attention.
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