How Many Calories Should I Eat in a Day to Maintain Ideal Weight?
When it comes to losing weight or maintaining your health, one of the seemingly simplest questions often proves to be challenging to answer: how many calories should I eat in a day? Knowing this number for your specific body and lifestyle is important to help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of many health problems associated with obesity. To help you burn calories during your day, many turn to popular office wellness products, such as a bike desk or even a standing desk, as an effective and convenient way to burn calories while staying productive at work.
Here, we’re taking a closer look at the energy that fuels your body and helping you assess how many calories you should eat in a day to maintain good health. We also look at effective ways you can burn more calories throughout the day—even while you’re at work.
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| Calorie Calculator |
What is a Calorie?
Let’s start with the basics: what exactly is a calorie? Essentially, calories are units of energy that our bodies need. By consuming calories from our food and drinks, our bodies are able to grow and stay active. Calories are the fuel your body burns when you work out, play a sport, or simply function throughout your day. While calories may have a bad reputation these days, especially as obesity becomes a widespread public health issue, calories are not the bad guys. In fact, we absolutely need calories to survive. Rather, people should be cautious about consuming too many calories (especially if they aren’t active) and consuming calories that do not provide adequate nutrition for the body.
So, yes, calories are your friends—not the enemy. But of course, not every calorie is the same. Be smart about the types of calories you consume so that you’re giving your body the right kind of fuel it needs to grow and function. In your daily diet, strive to consume most of your calories from whole foods including vegetables and fruit, lean meats, nuts, and whole grains. Balancing these types of foods is a surefire way to maintain good health especially as you grow older. You should also try to avoid empty calories that don’t offer your body much in terms of nutrition, such as calories found in highly processed foods, junk food, and surgery food, like candy, soda, or many common breakfast cereals.
How Many Calories Should I Eat in a Day?
When dieting or simply working to maintain good health and a healthy weight, one of the most common questions comes down to a number. How many calories should I be eating in a day? While seemingly simple, this is actually a rather complex question as the answer is unique to each person. The amount of calories you eat in a day comes down to a variety of different factors, such as activity level, age, body size, and type, and your overall health and wellness.
However, there are some guidelines that can help you determine your own caloric needs. In general terms, US dietary guidelines suggest that people consume between 1,600 to 3,000 calories per day. Of course, this range is rather wide because your caloric intake depends on so many variables, such as your weight, activity level, and nutrition goals.
To help people assess their own calorie needs, you can turn to one of many effective calorie calculators online. These simple tools allow you to input your specific health and lifestyle factors to help you come to a clearer idea about how many calories you need each day.
Why is it Important to Burn Calories Throughout the Day?
It’s no secret that our lives are becoming busier by the day. Juggling family, friends, and your profession, who really has time to hit the gym on a regular basis? While it might be easy to skip the gym or a morning jog, burning calories during your day should be a top priority. Since most of us end up in office jobs that provide very little physical activity, we need to find ways to burn calories gradually throughout the day. In fact, failing to do so could mean that your overall health is on the line.
Over time, excess calories build up and turn into excess body weight. When this reaches an obesity level, many different health problems can arise, including:
- Type-2 diabetes.
- High blood pressure.
- Osteoarthritis.
- High cholesterol levels.
- Stroke.
- Cardiovascular disease.
- Overall body pain.
- Poor mobility.
- Mental health issues.
- Higher risk of certain cancers.
- Lower overall life expectancy.
Burning Calories at Work
To combat the ill effects of a sedentary lifestyle and excess calories, many office workers are turning to office wellness products. These products creatively combine office features, like your desk, with exercise equipment. These products, such as a desk bike, treadmill desk, or even just a standing desk, have been proven to help workers burn calories throughout their work shifts. Additionally, there are many additional benefits, such as sharper focus, improved mood, and a boost to your creativity.
Conclusion – How Many Calories Should I Eat in a Day?
We need calories to live, but of course, too much of a good thing can always pose a problem. As we transition to more sedentary lives and find ourselves surrounded by so many food options (many of which aren’t the healthiest), it’s become a common public health issue to consume far too many calories. Doing so, over time, can lead to a variety of health problems, including a higher risk of diabetes, obesity, stroke, poor circulation, and even a shorter life expectancy. Thus, knowing how many calories to consume in a day (and what types of calories) is important for every individual to know.
Once you’ve determined your caloric needs, you can then identify methods to help you meet this goal. If you need to burn more calories throughout your day, consider utilizing an office wellness product. Whether working from home or in a traditional office, these products, like a standing desk or bike desk, can help you burn calories while staying productive, allowing you to experience a range of health benefits while getting work done.