Nearly every type of food that you consume contains calories, and these calories are what your body utilizes as fuel to accomplish everything from maintaining a heartbeat while you sleep to running a marathon. Calories are ingested, but they are also kept as a reserve within your body in the form of fat. Thus, the amount of calories you should consume during a single day depends largely on your lifestyle and whether you wish to maintain your weight, lose weight, or gain weight.

General Recommendations for Daily Calorie Intake

According to the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council, daily calorie requirements are set at 2,700 per day for men between the ages of 23 and 50, and 2,000 for women in the same age bracket. This information provides the basic framework in order to gauge how many calories you should generally consume. With this knowledge in hand, you can begin adding or subtracting calories, depending on whether you wish to gain or lose weight. Simply put, burn more calories than you take in during a day and you will eventually lose weight. On the other hand, eat more calories than you burn, and you will begin the process of packing on pounds.

Specific Recommendations

Sedentary Lifestyles: This means you do only light physical activities that are part of everyday life. If you are a female between 19 and 30 years old, you should consume 2,000 calories. Between ages 31 and 50, you should consume 1,800. If you're over 51, you should consume 1,600. Men between the ages of 19 and 30 should take in 2,400. Between 31 and 50, men should consume 2,200. And over the age of 51, men should take in approximately 2,000 calories a day. Moderately Active Lifestyles: A moderately active lifestyle means you participate in physical activity that is equal to 1.5 to 3 miles a day at approximately 3mph to 4mph, in addition to the typical activities associated with day-to-day life. Once again, women in this group between the ages of 19 and 30 will want to consume 2,000 to 2,200 calories. Women aged 31-50 should take in 2,000. Women over 50 will want to consume 1,800. Men aged 19-30 will want to consume between 2,600 and 2,800 calories. Between the ages 31 and 50, moderately active men should take in 2,400 to 2,600 calories. Men over 51 should consume 2,200 to 2,400 calories every day. Active Lifestyles: A person with an active lifestyle will expend energy equivalent to walking over three miles a day at a rate of 3 to 4 miles per hour, this on top of the light physical activities that go with everyday life. Women with an active lifestyle, between the ages of 19 and 30, should take in 2,400 calories a day. If they are between the ages of 31 and 50, the calorie intake should be 2,200. And an active woman over 51 should take in between 2,000 and 2,200 calories. Active men between 19 and 30 years old should have a daily calorie intake of 3,000. Between the ages of 31 and 50, active men should consume between 2,800 and 3,000 calories. After the age of 51, they should consume between 2,400 and 2,800 calories. In addition to daily calorie requirements, you must also remember to fulfill nutritional requirements. As a part of your daily diet, be sure to consume nutrient-dense food and drink from all basic food groups, while attempting to cut down on added sugars, saturated and trans-fat, alcohol, and cholesterol.

Source:

Fort Valley State College of Agriculture: Your Daily Calorie Requirement

Americanheart.org: Know How Many Calories You Should Eat

Health.gov: Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Resource:

Freedieting.com: Calorie Calculator-Daily Calorie Needs