How Many Calories Should You Burn Per Day?

The amount of calories that you need per day to be healthy varies by: if you are female or male; if you are a pregnant female; your health; your diet; your age; the amount of muscle that you have; and your level of activity. Pregnant women, sick people, young and older people and people with a high level or activity or stress need more calories than average. Men need more calories than women.This is important since the basic way to lose weight is to take in more calories and to burn more calories. Note that if you exercise a lot more by time and/or intensity, you can take in more calories and still lose weight.

Notice that muscle burns more than at. That is not a myth. It is the Truth. Therefore, dieting and aerobics alone are usually not efficient to lose weight. You will need to build muscle. Many women are afraid that if they train, they ill look like a bodybuilder. Do not worry. Unless you train a lot and eat an amount of protein that is a lot more than normal for you, this will not happen. Weight training is good for health, burning calories and your bones.

Weight training also affects insulin resistance due to increased muscle mass. Insulin is a hormone released by the Islets of Langerhans of the pancreas and promotes the uptake of glucose from the blood into cells. Insulin is the body's primary storage hormone because it directs digested nutrients such as glycogen and amino acids into either lean tissue (the liver and muscle) for fuel, or into the fat cells. When you lift weights, your body relies on glycogen for energy. When glycogen fuel stores are depleted, more nutrients are shuttled into muscle cells as opposed to your fat cells. Your metabolism is activated and you burn more calories.

Fat cells are resistant to insulin and glucose. Glucose is more likely to get into muscle cells and get burned. If there are too many fat cells more insulin will be needed. This condition may lead to diabetes. In addition, excess insulin goes to the liver, where it is converted into triglycerides, precursors to fat. Triglycerides interfere with insulin sensitivity, and a vicious cycle ensues.

To find out how many calories you should be burning per day, do an internet search. It is even better if you consult a physician or dietician. Again, as you work out and get more in touch with your body, you will feel how much food you need per day.

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Some information for this blog was obtained fromhttp://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_6_1x_Calorie_Calculator.asp, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/WT00006/si=2765 and http://www.bodymusclejournal.com/vol03/women_bodyfat_loss.html

Accessed on December 12, 2005

Disclaimer: Information on this blog is posted for information purposes, not as a substitute for professional medical advice.