Most of us know to eat a balanced diet. But how much food should we eat each day? It depends on calories and what types of food you eat.
Calories measure how much energy is stored in food. If you eat too many calories for your body type and age in a day, you will gain weight. Conversely, if you eat less than your daily requirements for calories each day, you will lose weight.
If you are between the ages of 31 and 50, you should be eating about 2,500 calories a day to maintain your current weight. If you are an active person, that number is 2750. If you are an inactive person, that number is 2,200.
Younger people tend to burn more calories and require more calories in their diet. If you are between the ages of about 12 and 30, you should be eating about 2750 calories a day.
Older people require less calories because they naturally burn less energy. If you are over 50, your calorie intake should be about 2300 calories a day. Of course if you are active, add a couple hundred more.
When it comes to calories, not all food is created equal. There is an obesity epidemic in our country. Especially in the southern states, adults commonly struggle with their weight. That’s why it’s important to pick and choose your foods wisely.
When you eat, the goal is to feel full and feel energetic. The trick is eating more calories doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to feel full! For example, butter is almost pure fat and loaded with calories. If you cook with butter or flavor your food with butter, you are going to be adding hundreds more calories to your daily diet. But butter has no real nutritional value! Nor does it make you feel full!
The only thing butter does to your body is make it gain weight.
That can be said with most dairy products. A glass of milk has 330 calories and over 20 grams of fat in it! Cheese is also loaded with calories and fat. As a general rule, you should avoid dairy. It has very little nutritional value other than some calcium and other trace minerals and it doesn’t contribute to your diet in a positive way.
Sugar can also throw our caloric consumption way off. Sugar is just empty calories. It will never make us feel full. It sweetens our food but at the cost of making us overweight.
Oils can also wreak havoc on our diets. Frying foods in vegetable oil adds hundreds more calories plus additional fat to our meal. Try baking or steaming instead.
Dairy, sugar, and oil are the three biggest landmines in American diets. If we could steer away from these three items and focus more on a variety of natural foods, we would stay within our recommended calorie intake. Eating a balanced diet free from high-fat, high calorie foods would also help us feel fuller and more energetic during the day.
If you are struggling with your weight, it is a good idea to keep track of your calories from every meal. Make a chart and see how many calories you are averaging during the day. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to eat 500 calories less than your recommended level per day. There have also been studies to show that people who eat fewer calories during the day live longer and enjoy healthier lives.
Don’t forget your ionized water! Alkaline ionized water hydrates your body better and detoxifies it. A balanced diet full of ionized water instead of high calorie beverages like fruit juice is the best choice. Ionized water even helps with food digestion!
In conclusion, be mindful of the calories in your diet. Avoid dairy, oil, and sugar and keep hydrated with ionized water and you will be fit and healthy.
