Calories are the basic unit of measurement used to determine how much energy food contains. Your body needs a certain amount of energy every day to maintain functions. In general, eating more calories than your body needs leads to weight gain, while eating fewer calories leads to weight loss. How many calories your body requires depends on many factors.
Basic Caloric Needs
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people need a range of calories each day based on individual factors. For example, the USDA states that adult women typically need between 1,600 and 2,400 calories per day, while adult men need between 2,000 and 3,000. Children, on the other hand, need anywhere from 1,000 to 3,200 calorie per day based on their age, sex and activity level.
Age Differences
As your body ages, you require different amounts of energy to remain healthy. The USDA reports that calorie needs differ significantly based on how old a person is. If, for example, you are an average 20-year old man who leads a moderately active lifestyle, you need between 2,600 and 2,800 calories per day and a woman will need 2,000 to 2,200. If you're a man who is older than 51 and you lead an active lifestyle, you need between 2,220 and 2,400 calories per day; a woman of that age and activity level will need 2,000 to 2,200.
Physical Activity
Another key factor in determining how many calories you require every day is your activity level. Exercising and performing physical activity requires your body to expend more energy; therefore, you need more calories if you're an active person but fewer if you are not. The USDA states that a 40-year old woman who leads a largely sedentary lifestyle needs 1,800 calories per day, while sedentary men of the same age need approximately 2,400 to 2,600. A physically active woman of the same age, on the other hand, needs 2,200 calories per day while a man requires 3,000.
Weight Loss
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, your body begins losing weight as soon as it starts using more calories than you ingest. Our bodies store excess calories as fat cells, and when we do not eat as many calories as our body requires, it starts converting that fat into energy. The CDC states that you need to use 3,500 calories of body fat to lose 1 lb. This means you have to eat 3,500 less than your body needs, or create that deficit through a combination of diet and exercise, to lose that pound.
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