What are daily calorie needs?
These are the amount of calories your body needs based on your current weight and activity level. Your daily calorie needs depend upon a variety of genetic and environmental factors, including: age, gender, metabolism (metabolic rate), activity level and body weight/size. • Calorie needs peak during your mid-twenties, then decline at about 2 percent per decade. So if, at 25, you need 2300 calories per day, by 35 you need only 2254 calories. This reduction in calorie needs is due partly to an increase in body fat percentage that comes with age. Fat is less metabolically active than lean muscle tissue and ‘burns’ fewer calories. • Men have calorie needs 5-10 percent higher than women. Again, this is due to their higher percentage of lean muscle tissue. The exception is pregnancy, when a woman’s calorie needs rise (on average) by 300 calories per day when pregnant, and 500 calories per day when breast-feeding. • Although weight loss is theoretically determined by calorie intake, it is bes
