The United States Department of Agriculture released guidelines in 2010 that were designed to provide nutritional guidance for Americans. These guidelines provide estimates for caloric requirements according to age, gender and physical-activity level. For example, a female between the ages of 31 and 50 should consume 1,800 calories per day if sedentary, 2,000 if moderately active and 2,200 if active. Ingesting more calories than you need results in the storage of fat, so it is important to ensure that you are eating the right amount. To make this determination, you should calculate the calories provided each day by the foods and beverages you consume.
Step 1
Buy or make a food journal. If your journal is not already labeled with the proper categories, create a table on each page with six columns labeled "Food," "Serving Size," "Calories per Serving," "Amount," "Servings" and "Calories."
Step 2
For every meal or snack you consume, fill in the journal accordingly. Refer to the nutrition label or an online calorie counter for exact serving size and calories per serving and enter those values in the appropriate columns.
Step 3
Weigh the amount of the food you are going to eat in grams and enter that number in the "Amount" column.
Step 4
Divide the number in the "Amount" column by the number in the "Serving Size" column and write that quotient in the "Servings" column.
Step 5
Multiply the number in the "Servings" column by the number in the "Calories per Serving" column and write that product in the "Calories" column.
Step 6
Add the amounts in the "Calories" column at the end of each day to find out your daily caloric intake.
Tips and Warnings
- Once you determine how many calories you are taking in, you can adjust the number according to your objectives. For example, there are 3,500 calories of energy in a pound of fat, so if you want to lose a pound each week, one option is to reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories per day. Calculating your daily caloric intake is important because it allows you to determine whether you are ingesting appropriate amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fat. USDA dietary reference intakes have been established for these macronutrients, and they are stated as percentages relative to the total amount of calories you consume.
Things You'll Need
- Journal
- Digital kitchen scale
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Balancing Calories to Manage Weight
- "Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance Seventh Edition"; W.D. McArdle, F.I. Katch and V.L. Katch; 2010.
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