As you go about your quest to see weight loss results, one thing that you absolutely must be paying attention to is the number of calories that you’re taking in on a daily basis. Simply stated, nothing is going to guarantee your weight loss faster than making sure your calorie intake is where it needs to be. Far too many people overlook the importance of calories and instead just pay attention to the foods that they’re consuming. They think that if they eat healthy, this should guarantee that they see the weight loss success they’re after, right? Not quite.

Without the right calorie intake, fat loss will not occur regardless of what you’re eating, so this is one thing that you must have absolutely correct.
Let’s take a closer look into what calories are so that you can see for yourself why these are so critical to long term success.


What A Calorie Is

The very first thing that you need to learn is what a calorie is.  A calorie is essentially just a unit of energy that’s used by the body to execute all the many different necessary life function.
For instance, you will burn calories breathing, digesting your food, eliminating waste from the body, as well as building and repairing broken down muscle tissue.
Each and every second of the day, your body is burning up calories.  Think of calories for the body as what gas is for a car: energy to execute life.

The Various Calorie Levels Of Different Foods

Now, one thing that you must keep in mind when thinking about calories is that not all foods are created the same.  Fat rich foods for instance are the most calorie dense foods and will have more calories per gram than both protein sand carbohydrate foods.

One gram of dietary fat contains 9 calories while one gram of protein and carbs contains just four.  So as you can see from this, if you’re looking to lose weight, it can be helpful to keep your fat intake slightly lower.
This will help to reduce your total calorie intake for the day and allow you to eat more food.

On a side note, you should also keep in mind that alcohol contains seven calories per gram, even though this isn’t actually considered a ‘nutrient’ in your diet.  Alcohol calories will still add up however and will contribute to your total daily calorie intake.

How Many Calories Do You Need?

So how many calories should you be eating to see weight loss success? Each and every person will have a different calorie requirement and this can vary based on a number of factors such as age, gender, activity level, and whether you’re stressed or not.
For most females, a good estimation for maintenance calorie requirements is around 14-15 calories per pound of body weight while for most males, they’ll want to take that slightly higher to around 15-16 calories per pound of body weight.

Males generally have more lean muscle mass on their frame which is a primary determinant of how many calories they require so this is why you see that slight discrepancy.
To lose body weight, once you’ve figured out how many calories you need, you’ll simply reduce your calorie intake from that number. To build muscle mass, on the other hand, you would increase your calorie intake up higher.
Making sure that you’re paying close attention to your energy needs and getting your daily intake in proper alignment will guarantee that you move closer to the goals you’ve set for yourself.
While the type of calories you eat (proteins, carbs, or fats) definitely will influence the nature of the results you see, it’s the total daily calorie intake that is the deciding factor in whether you see fat loss progress.
So there you have the vital need to know information about calories. Make sure that you aren’t neglecting them in your plan.