Recommended caloric intake for men and women

Recommended Calories for Men and Women

One member asked:

In consuming calories:

1.]What is the assumed ratio to be taken in terms of “calories consumed:age(including mass&gender) ?

2.]How much calories should you/ could you burn on a day to day basis; or weekly?

Response:

Generally for males, the recommended caloric intake is between 2000 to 2500 calories daily. However, for active males that number can do up to 3000 depending on how active they are.

Females, the recommended intake is between 1500 to 2000 calories. Again, some active females require more; 2500 – 2800. It also depends on if you are pregnant and nursing as well. However don’t think of “ACTIVE” as someone who just goes to the gym and does cardio. When I say active, I mean someone who weight trains at least 2-3 times a week and does some sort of aerobic activity on a regular basis as well.

The amount of calories you can and should burn all depends on the person’s physical ability, medical history and fitness levels. Everyone is different so it’s hard to put a number to that and say “this is how much you can burn”. A fit, active 25 year old woman can burn three times as much as an inactive man of the same age. Athletes can burn more, and teenagers generally have a higher metabolic rate.

That being said: If you are a generally healthy person between 18 and 30, with no medical issues or injuries, then you can burn about 2000 – 2500 calories a day. This includes your RMR which is your metabolic rate when at rest. Your body is constantly burning calories to maintain bodily functions such as respiration, digestion, heart rate, etc. Some people’s basal metabolism is higher than others but generally people burn about 1500 calories daily just doing nothing at all. Then depending on your activity level, you can burn another 500-1000 calories.

So this means if you burn 2500 calories (basal + activity) today but consumed 2000 calories, you’ve lost 500 calories. So if you do that for one week, in 7 days you would have burned 500 * 7 = 3500 calories. For those of you who actually read my posts, 3500cal = 1 lb, therefore you would have lost ONE POUND in ONE WEEK.

Cheers.

Kam