Calculate Burned Calories

How many calories do you need?

Many people want to lose weight and often the easiest way is to eat fewer calories per day. But how many calories does the body actually need to be healthy? This largely depends on the physical activity a person performs each day and is different for everyone regardless. Factors a person needs to stay healthy include age, weight, height, gender, level of physical activity, and overall health. For example, a physically active 25-year-old man who is 6 feet tall requires a much higher caloric intake than a sedentary 70-year-old woman who is 5 feet tall.

The body does not need many calories to survive. However, too little calorie intake leads to poor functioning of the body.

The main sources of calories in a typical person's diet are carbohydrates, protein and fat. Some studies have shown that the calories reported on nutrition labels and the calories actually ingested and stored can vary considerably. This points to the complex nature of calories and nutrition and is the reason why there are many conflicting viewpoints on the best methodology for weight loss. For example, the way a person chews their food has been shown to affect weight loss to some degree. In general, chewing food increases the number of calories the body burns during digestion. People who chew more also tend to eat less because the longer period of time it takes to chew their food allows more time to reach a state of satiety - resulting in eating less. However, the effects of how food is chewed and how different foods are digested are not fully understood and it is possible that there are other factors, so this information should be taken with a grain of salt.