How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day?

That depends on what your goal is!

Weight loss

If your BMI is raised (BMI calculator here:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/), or you want to improve your body fat composition, then you should aim to consume fewer calories than you spend each day in order to lose weight. How many calories this is depends on factors such as:

• Your starting weight
• How quickly you are aiming to lose weight
• Other medical needs to consider (e.g. malabsorption issues, or an allergy to diets…)
• If you are able to increase your activity levels

Generally, approximately 3,500 calories is thought to be equivalent to one pound of body weight. It is advisable to lose weight slowly, rather than quickly. So for someone aiming to lose 1 lb/week, this would mean aiming for a 500 calorie deficit/day (for those less mathematically inclined, over 7 days this would be 3500 calories less per week).

One way to do this is by expending about 250 more calories/day, e.g. playing with your kids for 45min (no, ‘Sleeping Lions’ doesn’t count!), or taking a brisk walk for 40min, and also reducing your intake by about 250 calories/day – roughly a Mars bar or a large glass of white wine.

Some people argue that the ‘3,500 calories = 1 pound’ formula is too generalised and may not be strictly true for each individual. While it can still be a helpful starting point, if you want a more precisely tailored plan that takes into account your own measurements, check out the following calculator:

Body Weight Planner | NIDDK (nih.gov) (https://www.niddk.nih.gov/bwp)

This calculator lets you input your current height, weight, activity levels etc, your desired final weight, target end date etc and will give you a breakdown of how many calories to eat per day to maintain your current weight, lose to your target weight and maintain your target weight. Helpful, hey?

And of course you can get super detailed and increase muscle mass in order to raise the number of calories your body uses just by existing, or look at foods that help you stay full longer (hint – it’s not yummy white bread…). Or if you want more detailed advice, feel free to book an appointment with one of our GPs.

Maintaining Weight

Simples! Eat as many calories as you spend.

Not sure what this is? Use the handy calculator above, or for an ‘average’ man, this is about 2500 cal/day, and for an ‘average’ woman, this is about 2000 cal/day.

Weight gain

Although it is a bit more complex, in general, eat more calories than you spend to put on weight.

And of course, you should ensure (like the drinks – get it?!) that your calories come from a variety of food types. An easy way to boost your calorie intake is by substituting cream for milk in meals/drinks. Or add in healthy, high calorie options such as avocados, cashew nuts, seeds etc.

If you’ve only become underweight recently, and aren’t sure how this has happened, please do book an appointment with one of our doctors as this can sometimes be a sign of an important health issue.

And if you’re unsure whether or not you need to put on weight, check out the following useful article:

https://patient.info/news-and-features/problems-caused-by-being-underweight

And Finally,

Sometimes making these changes are easier said than done. If you’d like some further tips or have a particular concern you’d like to discuss, please do download the CheckUp Health app now and book a video or audio call with a private GP, daytime or evening, 7 days/week.