What are calories?
A calorie is a unit of energy. When something says it contains 100 calories, it’s a way of describing how much energy your body could get from eating or drinking it. The amount of energy you need will depend on:
- your age – growing children and teenagers need more energy
- your lifestyle – how active you are
- your size – your height and weight can affect how quickly you use energy
- some hormones (chemicals produced by the body) such as thyroid hormones
- some medicines, such as glucocorticoids which a type of steroid used to treat inflammation
What should my daily intake of calories be?
An ideal daily intake of calories varies depending on age, metabolism and levels of physical activity, among other things. More importantly, your goals will have an effect on how many calories you should have in a day. Finding your BMR – the number of calories you burn as your body performs basic life-sustaining function – is a great place to start to figure out how many calories you need every day. If you don’t know what your BMR is, we can help you find out using our Inbody Body Composition Manager. We have one in every location so you can come in at your convenience.Â
Maintaining Weight
To maintain a healthy weight, you need to balance the amount of calories you consume through food and drink with the amount of calories you burn through physical activity.
Losing Weight
To lose weight in a healthy way, you need to use more energy than you consume by eating a healthy, balanced diet with fewer calories while increasing your physical activity.
Gaining Weight
To gain weight, you need to eat more calories than your body uses each day.
