You need energy daily for various activities: walking, running, thinking, taking an object, digesting meals, etc. This energy, we often call it by the term "calorie", used by misuse of language. Indeed, it is normally necessary to use the word "kilocalorie" when one wants to speak about "calorie". However, the quasi exclusivity of the sites speaking of dietetics / nutrition and speaking to the general public use the notion of "calorie" (abusively) to designate the "kilocalorie". We do the same in this article, in an effort to be understandable by the majority of readers.

Knowing how much energy our body needs to consume every day is essential. This is useful for weight loss, because many slimming methods recommend eating fewer calories each day. But how many calories does the body really need to be healthy? It depends largely on the amount of physical activity a person performs each day, but also on their sex, weight, height and age. Regardless of this, this number is different for all people. There are many different factors that are not all well understood or known. Thus, the number of calories per day required for a very active man (such as a 1.85m tennis player who trains and plays tennis every day for a total of 5 hours, for example) is obviously more important than that of a woman. less active (such as a 65-foot tall secretary working in a computer-controlled and non-sporting environment), while an Olympic champion swimmer like Michael Phelps needed 12,000 kcal / day because he had to spend as much every 24 hours (during his training periods)! That being said, an average man claims about 2500 calories each day to maintain body weight, and an average woman about 2000 kcal daily (except during periods of pregnancy or breastfeeding, when her body may have higher energy requirements) . Here are more accurate estimates of the caloric requirements of humans. The average daily caloric requirement of an adult man: It varies according to his daily physical activities. If the man is active: Less than 30 minutes / day (min / d): it requires about 2100 calories per day (kcal / d), From 30 to 60 mn / day: it claims about 2500 to 2700 kcal / day, More than 60 mn / day: it needs about 3000 to 3500 kcal / day (the longer the activity is long and intense, the more its caloric expenditure will be important and the more it will need to eat in compensation). The average daily caloric requirement of an adult woman: It also changes based on daily physical activity. If this woman is active: Less than 30 minutes / day (min / day): it requires about 1800 calories per day (kcal / d), From 30 to 60 mn / day: it needs about 2000 to 2200 kcal / day, More than 60 mn / day: it requires about 2400 to 2800 kcal / day, If she is pregnant or breastfeeding: she needs about 1800 to 2500 kcal / d. Other factors may also affect the amount of calories you burn on a daily basis, such as: certain hormones (especially thyroid hormones), certain medicines (such as glucocorticoids used to treat inflammation), mood swings, temperature of the environment in which you find yourself, etc. The energy we seek to make our body work every day comes from what we eat or drink. Knowing how many calories a day is needed for your body will better fit your diet. A person who requires 1900 calories daily therefore has very little interest in consuming 2300 kcal. She will have 400 kcal in excess of her demands. These 400 kcal will be stored in her fat store if she does not play sports to burn them. If conversely, this same person consumes only 1500 kcal each day, she eats 400 kcal less (each day) in relation to her daily caloric requirements. She should lose weight (and even faster if she does physical exercises next). If this person does not want to consume energy or consume too little energy for their daily needs, they can calculate how many calories a day they need (in order to stabilize their weight) with our calculator. What formula is this calculator based on? She uses the Mifflin-St Jeor formula, which calculates the basal metabolic rate (BMR), and her results are based on an estimated average. TMB is the amount of energy spent per day at rest (when the body is lying down and doing nothing). There are other calculation formulas: One of the most famous is that of Harris-Benedict used until 1990 (before the introduction of the method Mifflin-St Jeor). There is also the Katch-McArdle formula that calculates the daily energy expenditure at rest taking into account the lean mass. The Mifflin-St Jeor formula is considered the most accurate for calculating TMB (with the exception that the Katch-McArdle equation may be more accurate for people who are thinner and know their percentage of fat accurately body). The formula of Mifflin-St Jeor is as follows: * For men: TMB = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) - 5 × age (years) + 5 * For women: TMB = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) - 5 × age (years) - 161 The value obtained from this formula is the estimated number of calories that a person can consume in a day to maintain their body weight, assuming they remain at rest. This value is multiplied by an activity factor (usually 1.25 to 2 and that's what RegimesMaigrir.com has done here) based on the person's usual exercise levels, in order to get a value more realistic for maintaining body weight (since people are very unlikely to rest all day). 1 kg of body weight equals about 8000 calories. As such, in order to lose 1 kilogram per month, it is recommended to reduce by about 270 the number of calories per day estimated necessary to maintain the weight. For example, if a person needs to eat 2500 calories a day to maintain body weight, consuming 2230 kcal / d for a month would result in the loss of 8000 calories (or 1 kg of body weight) over the period. The different types of calories and their effects: The main sources of calories in the diet of a typical person are carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (fats). Alcohol is also an important part of calorie intake for many people (although ideally it should be limited, since alcohol contains a lot of empty calories in addition to being a drink to consume in moderation). Some studies have shown that the calories displayed on nutrition labels and calories actually consumed and stored can vary considerably. This suggests the complex nature of calories and nutrition. And that's why there are many conflicting views on the "best" methodology for losing weight. For example, the way a person chews his food can affect weight loss to a certain extent. In general, chewing food increases the number of calories the body burns during digestion. People who chew more and stronger also tend to eat less, because the longer time required to chew their food allows the body more time to reach a state of satiety, which leads to eating less. Did you know that there is even a diet that involves chewing to slim down? Generally, foods that require more chewing (fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, etc.) require the body to burn more calories because it takes more energy to digest them. It also results in a feeling of increased satiety, for longer periods of time. In addition, studies have shown that certain thermogenic foods such as coffee, tea, peppers, cinnamon and ginger are able to increase the rate of calories burned because of the ingredients they contain. The "quality" of calories consumed is also important. There are different categories of foods in terms of calories, including those with a high caloric content, those with a low calorie content, and those with mostly empty calories. According to their name, high-calorie foods are caloric foods, which means that there is a large number of calories compared to serving, while low-calorie foods have fewer calories in the same portion. Foods such as fats, oils, fried foods and sugary foods are examples of caloric foods. Being a high calorie food does not mean that food is unhealthy. Avocados, quinoa, nuts and whole grains are all high-calorie foods that are considered healthy when you eat them in moderation. Low calorie foods include, among others, vegetables and certain fruits. Empty calories contain little or no nutrients (such as added sugars and solid fats). Studies have shown that there is a measurable difference between the consumption of 500 calories of carrots and that of 500 calories of popcorn for sale in the cinema. As mentioned earlier, this can be attributed in part to differences in the way food is eaten and processed. Carrots require a lot more chewing and can burn more calories during digestion. The mechanism of these differences is not entirely clear at the moment, but suffice it to note that for weight loss, the general formula "calories consumed - calories burned" holds up when it comes to determining the intake or weight loss, but that the number of calories on a nutrition label does not necessarily indicate how many calories the body actually stores. Although there is no clear or ideal amount of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) that a person should consume to maintain a healthy diet or lose weight, eat a healthy and balanced diet (filled with variety of unprocessed foods such as vegetables, fruits and lean meats) is associated with being healthier and achieving sustainable weight loss. It's even better naturally when this person burns even more calories while playing sports in addition to this food rebalancing. Also remember that the calories from beverages make up about 21% of a typical person's diet. Many of these calories fall into the category of "empty calories". Soft drinks and other sugary soft drinks are obvious culprits, but drinks such as fruit juices and even sweet milk also contain large amounts of sugar. These beverages should also be consumed in moderation to avoid completely canceling their nutritional benefits. Ideally, a person should drink water, tea and coffee without added sugar to reduce the calories from over-sweetened drinks. Remember: all foods, including those that are healthy, should be consumed in moderation. Distinctions can often be misleading because even natural foods (such as fruits) can contain a lot of sugar, and foods labeled as "healthy foods" (such as low-calorie foods, low-fat foods, etc.) can potentially replace an unhealthy component by another. Many low-fat foods, for example, contain large amounts of added sugar to compensate for lost taste by reducing fat. It is therefore important to pay attention to the different components of a food product to determine if it deserves a place in your diet.