How Many Calories Should I Have A Week To Lose Weight

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There are many factors that go into determining your calorie needs. Your age, weight, height and activity level all play a role. According to dietary guidelines in the United States, adults 21 years old and older should consume anywhere between 1, 600 and 3, 000 calories per day.

So, what do you need to know to strike a y balance? Registered dietitian Julia Zumpano RD, LD, helps us do the math.

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Whether you want to gain weight, lose it or find the perfect Goldilocks balance to stay exactly where you are, calories matter. And if you’re a person who likes to track and measure things, you could benefit from determining exactly how many calories you need.

Digital apps and online calorie calculators can help, Zumpano says. But because it can be complicated (are you really active, pretty active or just kind of active?), Zumpano recommends seeing a dietitian to get an expert’s take.

Others may not need to crunch the numbers to meet their calorie targets. Simply knowing your recommended calorie ranges can help you hit your goals.

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“Keep in mind, these calorie recommendations are for people who are at a normal weight, ” notes Zumpano. “If your weight is above the normal range for your height and your goal is weight loss, you need to consume less. A deficit of 500 calories can provide a weight loss of 1 pound per week.”

But if you consume more calories than you need, your body stores that energy for later (in the form of extra padding on your hips and around your middle).

Everybody’s daily calorie needs are different, which can make it hard to figure out the magic number. In general, men need more calories than women. Active people need more than those who have desk jobs. And younger people need more than older people, whose metabolisms slow down as they age.

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If your goal is to gain weight, don’t just focus on eating more. You want to make sure you add weight in a y way.

You should also consider eating more often and looking for ways to add extra calories to each meal. For example, adding nuts or seeds to your yogurt, oatmeal or cereal.

“Don’t forget to include more liquid calories that won’t leave you feeling too full by the next meal, ” advises Zumpano. “Opt for high-calorie beverages like whole milk, cream, 100% fruit juice, smoothies and high-calorie nutrition shakes.”

Calories For Cutting

But proceed with caution, Zumpano says. If you eat fewer than 1, 200 calories a day, it’s tough to get all of the nutrients you need to stay y.

“If you’re on a very low-calorie diet, it can affect your metabolism, ” warns Zumpano. “Your body can go into conservation mode, which can slow down the calories you burn, making it harder to lose weight.”

“Then you don’t have to cut back as much, so you can have a more balanced diet and get all the nutrients you need, ” explains Zumpano.

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It’s good to have a sense of your daily calorie needs and to be aware of how the calories in your favorite foods add up. Those numbers can help guide your decisions about what to eat and what to save for another day.

“Plenty of people lose weight not by counting calories, but by focusing on the quality of the food and on portion control, ” says Zumpano.

You may have heard of “empty calories.” These can be found in processed foods — items that typically contain added sugar, trans fat and an unnecessary amount of fat and calories.

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While you might get a boost of energy from consuming those foods, processed foods don’t tend to have a good amount of fiber, minerals and vitamins. Those empty calories won’t satisfy you, leading to food cravings. You may even feel tired or fatigued.

Instead, make sure you focus on eating a well-balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, nuts and seeds.

“Empty calorie foods commonly are designed for you to crave and consume those foods often and in large quantities which further leads to consuming excess calories and poor nutritional intake, ” explains Zumpano.

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Whether you’re trying to lose, gain or maintain your weight, figuring out how many calories will help you achieve your goal is key.

If you’re unsure how many calories you need to eat each day, don’t hesitate to reach out to a registered dietitian. They can take factors like your age, sex, medications, lifestyle, weight history, family history and activity level into account and provide you with information on how to tailor your meals and exercise.

It’s important to understand how many calories you’re consuming compared to how many calories your body needs. Although the source of where those calories are coming from is important, too.

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“For example, consuming 200 calories from 16 ounces of soda is metabolized differently than 200 calories from 1 ounce of nuts, ” says Zumpano. “You’re gaining vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and y fats from the nuts and no nutritional benefits from the soda.”

Determining how many calories you should eat every day can be a challenge, as there are many factors to take into consideration. A registered dietitian discusses counting calories.Women's Health may earn commission from the links on this page, but we only feature products we believe in. Why Trust Us?

If you’re looking to lose weight, one of the first things many experts will recommend is to create a calorie deficit, which simply means to consume fewer calories than your body technically needs to maintain your weight. Sounds easy enough, but it's a little more complex than it may seem.

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To accurately calculate how many calories you're consuming, says Morgan Goodstadt, RDN, founder of Good Nutrition. And importantly, finding the sweet spot of a calorie deficit without overly restricting can be tricky. Still, a calorie deficit is a key to weight loss and it's worth exploring how you can do it in a healthy way.

Here, experts address major questions you may have, like what is a calorie deficit? And how can you create one in a healthy way? Remember: Everyone is super unique and it's always worthwhile to discuss major diet changes with your own doctor or a registered dietitian.

Meet the experts: Morgan Goodstadt, RDN, is the founder of Good Nutrition. Keri Gans, RD, is an NYC-based nutritionist and the author of

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Roxana Ehsani, RD, is a nutritionist who specializes in sports dietetics. She is also a national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Some basics: A calorie is a measurement of energy. The calories in food supply your body with the fuel you need to survive. When you eat food, it’s broken down by your body to release energy to be used right away or stored for later, depending on what you need at that moment.

Your body needs to take in a certain number of calories to maintain your weight, says Keri Gans, RD, the author of

How Many Calories Do You Need?

And so, “a calorie deficit is when you consume fewer calories than your body requires to stay at its current weight, ” she explains. If you take in fewer calories than your body needs, your body will turn to the calories you have stored up to burn for energy. As a result, you’ll lose weight.

Every person’s caloric needs and deficits are different and depend on a bunch of factors, like how much you exercise, your genes, your hormones, and your metabolism, notes Sonya Angelone, RD, a former spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The landscape of the gut microbiome can also modulate how much energy we absorb and utilize from food, notes Goodstadt.

Again, it can be challenging to create a calorie deficit in a healthy way. For example, most people might not pick the correct total amount of calories to go off, then create too much of a restrictive calorie deficit for themselves to follow, says Roxana Ehsani, RD, LDN, a national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

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Excessive caloric restriction may also backfire, contributing to strong hunger cravings, Goodstadt says. “Calories provide energy to our cells to function properly, and if we are over-restricting, our body will send hunger signals (usually for quick-burning calories in the form of sugar and simple carbohydrates).”

What's more, going too low calorie-wise can lower your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the minimum number of calories your body needs to function properly every day, Goodstadt says. And when BMR decreases, she explains, as soon as you go back to eating “normally, ” you gain the weight back (and sometimes a little more). “Nutrition theory suggests that the body does this to prevent starvation if/when the body is exposed to future famine (aka your next crash diet), ” she says.

Another risk of being in a calorie deficit is that any caloric restriction with an inadequate intake of protein and physical exercise may also lead to loss of muscle mass. “Typically, the goal of caloric restriction is to reduce fat mass and preserve

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