Look at almost any food label and you'll see a 2,000-calorie diet used to detail the nutritional information of its contents. This can give you a very basic idea for the percentages of fat, sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrates and other nutrients found in a single serving. But not everyone needs 2,000 calories a day, especially if your ultimate goal is to maintain or lose weight.
Caloric Deficit
If you take in fewer calories than you use each day, you generate what's known as a caloric deficit. It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to shed a single pound of fat. This means a deficit of 375 calories a day, for example, promotes a weight loss of about ¾ of a pound each week. Double this deficit, and now you're looking at a weight loss of 1 ½ lbs. in the same amount of time.
Caloric Need
A 2,000-calorie diet can provide a caloric deficit for some people, while others will reach a caloric surplus, which then leads to weight gain. To determine roughly how many calories to include in your diet, a fairly simple equation can help. Using your weight in pounds and your height in inches, women take [(weight x 4.35) + (height x 4.7) - (age x 4.7) + 655] x 1.2. Men use [(weight x 6.23) + (height x 12.7) - (age x 6.8) + 66] x 1.2 to arrive at this number. Both equations estimate how many calories you can eat to maintain your weight without exercise.
Caloric Intake
Let's say a woman weighing 180 lb. at a height of 5 feet, 8 inches tall wants to lose weight. At an age of 30, she can take in just over 1,930 calories to maintain her current weight without exercise. In this situation, a 2,000-calorie diet won't give her the results she's looking for. In fact, she'll gain weight at a rate of roughly 1 lb. every year. A man of an equal weight, height and age, on the other hand, can take in almost 2,220 calories without exercise. Eating 2,000 calories a day provides a deficit that promotes a weight loss of 1 lb. every 16 days.
Physical Activity
Being physically active, however, expends additional energy, causing the body to burn more calories. If you exercise one to three days a week, your equation changes slightly. Instead of using 1.2 as the final multiplication, swap it with 1.375, which represents your level of physical activity. For women, the equation now looks something like this:
[(weight x 4.35) + (height x 4.7) - (age x 4.7) + 655] x 1.375 = Caloric Need
Men use:
[(weight x 6.23) + (height x 12.7) - (age x 6.8) + 66] x 1.375 = Caloric Need
A 30-year-old woman weighing 180 lbs. at a height of 5 feet, 8 inches can eat almost 2,225 calories to maintain her weight. A 2,000-calorie diet now provides a weight loss of 1 lb. every 16 days.
Exercise Frequency
Increasing the frequency of exercise also influences your caloric need. If you workout three to five days a week, use 1.55 rather than 1.375 to represent your level of physical activity. Six to seven days a week use 1.725 and more than seven sessions of exercise a week use 1.9.
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