Have you ever wondered how many calories you really need? Sure, you can go type in your height and weight on one of those free online calorie calculators, but it’s not at all tailored to your individual needs. Plus, how much confidence can you place in a robot as compared to a real live person who has been trained to do just that. After all, there’s more to assessing nutritional needs than just considering height and weight.
How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day?
The number one request I get from people when they hear that I’m a dietitian is, “Can you tell me how many calories I need to eat a day?” This may have been one of the top reasons why you may have considered seeing one in the past. There is a confidence provided when you talk with an expert about your personal situation and needs.
Now, you don’t have to leave the house or shell out the big bucks to get your nutritional needs assessed by a Registered Dietitian. All you have to do is answer a few confidential questions. What you will get is your estimated calorie, protein and fluid requirements [to either lose weight, gain weight or remain where you are]. You’ll also get a mini health risk analysis based on the info provided. Once you know how many calories your body needs what you do with the information is what really matters.
With your personalized numbers, you will get the ultimate guide: How to Quickly Estimate Calories to easily meet your daily needs.
What you should always know [before you take that bite] is about how many calories your meal has. This doesn’t mean you need to begin calorie counting! Estimating calories doesn’t mean counting them. There is a difference between recording every bite you put in your mouth and visually assessing your plate to do a quick calculation in your head. Ignorantly eating without having the slightest idea of how many calories you’re consuming is a recipe for disaster!
Losing weight and keeping it off is a matter of having the right knowledge and putting it to use in good decisions.
If you know how many calories you need, and how many calories a meal has, you will be able to give yourself a rough estimate of how much you’re eating then be able to act accordingly. This also works for daily planning. For instance, if you need around 1,600 calories in a day and you know you’ve got a dinner date planned, allow 1,000 – 1,200 calories to eat at dinner (very reasonable estimate with bread, appetizer, cocktail/wine, salad and dinner). That means you have around 600 calories to eat during the day before your date. You may wish to have a small bowl of cereal for breakfast then a juice or shake for lunch. It doesn’t seem like much, but dinner dates are calorie-loaded! They add up quickly!
Thinking ahead will allow you to still enjoy your fancy dinner without skimping. This is the key to weight loss success!
If you’ve struggled with finding your ideal weight, the bottom line is that you need to know how many calories your body needs and how to accurately estimate the calories in food. Answering some questions on one quick form will get you a personalized nutritional assessment based on your specific and unique answers. But even more importantly, you will learn how to accurately estimate the calories in foods without calorie counting.
Finally your calorie, protein and fluid needs can be analyzed by a dietitian, not a computer program… without going to visit one!
What Goes into a Nutritional Assessment?
Medical history and current health condition
Diabetes, heart conditions, kidney or liver disease, menopause, pregnancy, breastfeeding…the list goes on and on…they all influence calorie, protein and fluid needs.
Anthropometrics
Ok, ok. Chris would be irritated about now…Jessa, don’t use dietitian talk, he’d say. Anthropometric is just a fancy term for physical measures like height, weight, waist circumference, skin-fold fat measures, etc.
Gender and Age
Younger males generally need more calories as compared to older females…but not always. An accurate nutritional assessment looks at more than just one factor.
Activity Level
Do you chase toddlers all day long or do you sit at the computer for 6 hours or more? Does an occasional walk suit your workout taste or are you at the gym for an hour 5 days a week? This being one of the most variable factors is one of the most important for an accurate assessment.
Without physically weighing you underwater or measuring the carbon dioxide you exhale, (extremely precise ways to test your calorie expenditure) estimating your nutritional needs is fairly straight forward. What do I need? For you to honestly answer the pre-assessment form that will be emailed to you after payment. Give yourself the power to finally manage your weight!
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Very interesting! One thing to keep in mind about dieting is that it’s not one-size-fits-all. We are each so unique – we have to learn how to listen to our bodies and like you said, make good decisions.
This is great information! I am a large woman and this is definitely a “challenging” area for me!
I know many share in your struggles, I know I did! Thanks for your comment.
Great information here. It is good that you are personalizing this for people because our needs for our bodies are not the same.
Certainly true! Thank you for your comment!