Calorie Counting Guide: Intake for Muscle & Weight Loss

Determining how many calories you need depends on your fitness goals, whether you are a marathon runner or a weightlifter. Use intake formulas to calculate your needs for muscle gain or sustainable weight loss.

Woman Wearing Gym Clothing Choosing Fruit From Bowl

Is 1,200 Calories Enough for Active Young Women?

Eating too few calories will help you lose weight, but can also make you sick. The number of calories you need depends on your height, weight, age and activity level. Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the minimal amount of calories you need for body functions.

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Sweet and Sour Chicken

The Difference Between Carbs & Calories

Without calories, the human body does not get the energy it needs to continue to fuel itself. All calories come from either fat, protein or carbohydrates. There are many types of carbohydrates. The term "carbohydrate"

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Senior man sitting on armchair holding glass of water, looking up

Daily Water Intake and Frequent Urination

Water serves several major functions in your body, from providing the fluid for your blood, to cushioning your joints. If you don’t drink enough every day, you can feel fatigued. When you don't get enough water for a long time, dehydration can develop. This is a life-threatening condition.

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Young woman holding a fork in a bowl of salad

Can Low Caloric Intake Affect Your Period?

Watching your caloric intake is a good way to lose unwanted pounds or maintain a healthy weight. However, if your intake is too low, this can result in unwanted side effects, such as missing your period. If you have skipped a period or are concerned that your caloric intake may be too low, talk to your doctor.

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Lettuce on plate.

Can You Survive on 500 Calories a Day?

Some enthusiastic dieters may be tempted to seek out extreme weight loss plans to shed unwanted pounds as quickly as possible. Severe calorie restriction diets, such as the HCG method typically restrict dieters to 500 calories a day. Strict diets of fewer than 1,110 calories pose numerous health risks.

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fresh red apples in a white bowl

Fruit Carbs vs. Grain Carbs

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that you should get between 45 percent and 65 percent of your daily calorie intake in the form of carbohydrates.

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Walnuts

What Nutrients Does the Body Need to Maintain Homeostasis?

The systems of your body are both distinct and interactive and always working to maintain homeostasis, or equilibrium. To contribute to the overall physical equilibrium that sustains life, each system must meet its metabolic needs through the nutrition you get from food.

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Woman's feet on weight scale

Negative Side Effects of Eating Less Than 1,200 Calories a Day

The idea of a low-calorie diet might tempt you because it seems like the quickest, surest way to lose weight. It certainly isn't easy, but it will get results. However, many negative side effects come along with restricting your calorie intake below 1,200.

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bowl of homemade hummus with breadsticks

Is Hummus Fattening?

A staple of Middle Eastern diets, as well as a popular hors d'oeuvre around the world, hummus can be either a boon or a bust to your own diet. A garbanzo bean-based paste, it's easy to incorporate it into your meal plan.

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Nutrition Facts

Calories Recommended: Is It Calories Consumed or Net Calories?

Calories are on the minds of every dieter, trainer and athlete who is careful about what she eats and how it affects her body. When a health and fitness professional recommends calories, it is important to know whether it is calories consumed or net calories.

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Young woman eating fresh salad

Does It Matter What You Eat if You Just Count Calories?

"The most important goal for weight loss is to achieve a negative calorie balance. ... The focus is on calories," says Kristin Reimers, Ph.D., in her chapter on nutrition in the National Strength and Conditioning Association's "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning." However, Jane E.

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Beef Sirloin

Cuts of Steak With the Least Calories

Lean cuts of steak contain nearly the same amount of fat, saturated fat and cholesterol-per-serving as boneless, skinless chicken breasts. In addition, lean steak has only slightly more calories in a 3-ounce serving than cooked chicken.

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Woman in exercise class

How to Prevent Catabolism of Muscle

Catabolism -- or the wasting of lean muscle tissue -- should be avoided at all costs. Not only do you get weaker and more prone to injury, your metabolism will slow, decreasing how many calories you burn at rest.

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How Soon Are Calories Absorbed After Eating?

Most people are familiar with the basics about calories: Calories are the fuel on which the body is run, unused calories get converted into fat, and too many stored calories is what leads to the belly paunch that few people love. There are, however, other details about calories that are not common knowledge.

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Sport couple running and jogging on rural street

Overweight Vs. Underweight

Being overweight or underweight can have negative impacts on your health. Maintaining a healthy weight is part of maintaining a good nutritional status, which can lower your risk for chronic diseases.

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A senior man eating a hamburger

Normal Caloric Intake for Men

Calories -- formally known as kilocalories -- measure the amount of energy supplied by food and beverages. The number of calories your body requires to function and maintain itself depends on a variety of factors, including your body size, your metabolism, your activity level and your gender.

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Cheese and wine

How Many Calories Are in Moscato Wine?

Moscato wines can be as diverse as the muscat grapes they’re made from. Whether they’re produced in Italy, France, Spain, Australia or California, these light-bodied wines are almost always sweet, fragrant, bubbly and low in alcohol.

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Wine gum

How Many Calories Are in a Wine Gum?

Wine gums -- a popular British confection invented in the early 20th century -- come in a variety of shapes, colors and fruit-inspired flavors. Although the chewy, gelatin-based candies are marked with words like “Burgundy,” “Champagne,” “claret,” “port” and “sherry,” they don’t actually contain wine.

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