Knowing how many calories are burned per day is usually one of the most common questions when we are thinking about going on a diet, losing weight, or we are simply curious.
Each person has a different caloric expenditure ; however, specialists dare to generalize depending on each case, gender, age, physical and dietary situation.
Calories are necessary to get through our day without faltering ; they are the body's energy and are very necessary and important. We just need to be aware of which foods provide them and how to combine foods well.
These are the calories that keep our bodies in shape and help us perform all our activities. The number of calories needed will depend on many factors:
- Age.
- Gender.
- Climate of the place where we reside.
- The diet that we usually carry.
- The daily physical exercise we do.
In the case of exercise or physical activity, it will have to be a value of vital importance to be able to know the figure we need per day. Because it can represent between 15% or 30% of the total energy expenditure.
It is not the same amount that an ordinary citizen spends as a professional athlete, as well as their daily calorie intake. The energy consumed is very different, because it could increase up to 50% of the cost.
Energy expenditure of calories
Below we explain the energy expenditure of an adult ; simple calculations are made to determine the calories they should obtain from food to meet all their needs.
If you're also looking to lose weight, this information is important because it will tell you what number you'll maintain at your current weight and what the limit is that you shouldn't exceed.
We'll give you several examples, taking into account age, body weight, and physical condition, as well as muscle mass, which consumes energy constantly. We'll explain the mathematical formulas you need to follow:
Age factor
- Up to 18 years in the Making: 17,3 x body weight in kilograms + 651
- De 19 to 30 years: 15,3 x body weight in kilograms + 679
- De 31 to 60 years: 11,6 x weight in kilograms + 879
- More than 60 years: 13,5 x body weight in kilograms + 487
For example, a person of 30 years and 70 kilos of weight: 15,3 x 70 + 679 = 1743 calories would be the daily expenditure of this person.
On the other hand, there is another formula also suitable for finding the range within which it may fluctuate. An adult burns between 28 and 32 calories per kilogram of body weight. In this case, a person who weighs 70 kilograms would have to calculate:
70 x 28 calories = 1960; and 70 x 32 calories = 2240. Therefore, this person would have to stay within those two values ​​to maintain a healthy weight.
Physical activity
This is an important factor to consider for reliable energy expenditure data. Virtually every activity we do each day burns calories ; some burn more than others, and we even lose and burn energy while we sleep.
Whether it's brushing our teeth, bending down to pick something up, climbing stairs, drinking water, taking a walk , or especially playing sports, all activities require calories to be carried out. This makes energy expenditure higher, because every activity adds up.
The advantage of endurance exercise is that the calories burned add to your basal metabolic rate , helping you lose weight. Below, we'll tell you approximately how many calories you'll burn with each sport.
- Light activity: go for walks, golf, bowling or fishing. Per minute we can spend between 1,5 and 5 calories.
- Moderate activity: volleyball, walking biking, dancing. They burn between 3,5 and 7,4 calories per minute.
- Intense level: water skiing, tennis, jogging, rollerblading. Per minute we could burn between 5,5 and 9,9 calories per minute.
- Very intense activities: soccer, basketball, boxing, swimming or fencing. In these sports we would lose between 7,5 and 12,4 calories per minute.
- Extremely intense and continuous sports: play squash or run at a constant speed. Ideal for losing weight because we burn between 10 calories per minute.
The number of calories burned and needed varies greatly depending on weight ; the calorie expenditure is not the same for someone at their ideal weight as for someone who is overweight or obese . Obese people burn more calories, and it also depends on age, gender, and the climate in which the exercise is performed.
We can get a rough idea of ​​how much we spend per day, thanks to formulas and by calculating the minutes of physical exercise we do.
Today we have an advantage that we didn't years ago, because technology is on our side and there are many devices that help us count them, the distance we have covered, the intensity and speed.
Regardless of what you need for health, whether it is to lose weight or gain, now you will have a closer idea to know how many calories you need.
However, this information does not exempt a person from ignoring all contact with a nutritionist; it is important to go to a specialist if what we are looking for is something specific since they will be the right person to guide us in our maintenance process, weight loss or if we are looking to gain weight.