How many calories do I need and when should I eat them?

Your calorie intake is based off your sex, age, weight and activity level. The younger you are generally the more calories you need. The less you weigh or want to weigh the fewer calories you need. The more active you are the more calories you need to stay healthy. And males typically need more calories then females. Many calorie calculators can be found on the web. (Go to MercySiouxCity.com, find the Health Information and Tools area and click on Wellness Tools. Select Nutritional Needs Calculator, found here.)


Now that you know how many calories you should be eating each day you want to spread that amount out over the day. General guidelines are as follows:

• Breakfast – 25-30% of your total calories
• Lunch – 30-35% of your total calories
• Dinner – 30-40% of your total calories
• Snacks – the percent left over after accounting for normal meals.

Remember hidden calories: having black coffee has no calories, but if you add cream and sugar there are additional calories that you need to count. For example: A Starbucks Caffe Mocha Venti 2% with cream is 410 calories, if your calorie needs are 2,000 calories that’s just over 20% of your calorie needs for the day. A 12 oz can of pop is 120 to 170 calories per serving compared to 0 calories for water.

Eating the proper portion sizes to get the right amount of calories for you is an important part of maintaining or getting to your healthy weight.  Don't forget that what those calories are is important as well.  Calories from fruits and vegetables are better for you then a processed bag of potato chips.