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Calorie counting is an essential part of losing or maintaining a healthy weight. Each and every person is different so your caloric needs will vary. The amount of calories you should be consuming in a day depends on how active you are, how much you weigh, your age and gender, and also what your goal is (lose weight , gain weight, maintain weight). There are a few steps in figure out your caloric needs.

The first thing to do is to assess your basal metabolic rate or your BMR. Your BMR is the amount of energy your body needs to function. We use about 60% of the calories we consume each day for basic bodily functions such as breathing.  There are other factors that influence your BMR such as height, weight, age and sex. You can calculate your BMR using the following formula:

Women: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

Next, calculate your activity level using the following:

· If you are not very active : BMR x 20 percent

· If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent

· If you exercise most days of the week:  BMR x 40 percent

· If you are very active and exercise every day of the week: BMR x 50 percent

· If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60        percent

Add whatever number you come up with to your BMR and you will have the number of calories you can eat in a day to maintain your weight. If you want to lose weight, eat less and if you want to gain weight eat more. It is important to remember that other factors can affect your weight besides calorie consumption. Stress, your metabolism and health factors are also factors.