In the headlines, on social media and even on smartwatches, we talk about calories. But what is a calorie and how many calories should you burn per day?
In simple terms, calories are a way of measuring energy. Different foods contain different amounts of energy and your body needs and burns different amounts of energy. Often when people talk about calories, it’s in the context of weight loss, weight gain or exercise.
How many calories you burn per day depends on your weight, height, age, gender and activity level. On average, women need to eat about 2000 calories and men 2500, but this also varies from person to person.
How many calories do you burn per day with or without exercise?
If you want to keep track of your calorie intake and burn for various reasons, you probably have some questions:
- How many calories a day do you burn?
- How many calories do you burn per day without exercise?
- How many calories do you burn per day with exercise?
As I said, how many calories you burn depends on how you look and how you move, but your body also burns calories when you don’t move at all. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns per day just by breathing, keeping your organs working and the like. Many websites have formulas and simple calculations that will calculate your BMR for you.
Exercise burns calories, but usually far fewer than you think. The body is energy-efficient and not only burns calories during exercise, but the burn rate is high up to an hour after you stop exercising.
