Losing weight means balancing the Calorie Intake. If we eat more Calories, we can gain weight. If we eat less calories, we can lose weight. The same principles determine, whether you are trying to lose 5 pounds or 50 pounds.

Our Body Weight is depending upon the Amount of energy we consume as food and the amount of energy we burn in our daily activities. Energy is always measured in calories. If you slowly gain weight that means the calorie intake is high in our body. If the weight remains constant, it is likely that the amount of calorie intake and the amount of calorie we burn is the same.

We can easily control our calorie intake. The amount of calories we burn daily is depending upon our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and level of physical activity we do. For some people, due to genetic reasons, the basal metabolic rate (BMR) can be somewhat higher or lower than the average. We can also control the body weight by increasing the amount of physical activities that helps in burning calories.

Our lifestyle and work habits decide how much calories we should consume each day. People who are involved in heavy physical labor job will naturally burn high number of calories when compared to the people who do a sedentary job. The people in sedentary job require strong physical activity, exercise that can result in increased number of calories burned.

As a rough evaluation, an average woman 30-50 years of age who do a sitting kind of job needs approximately 1,800 calories per day to maintain a normal body weight. A man of the similar age requires about 2,200 calories. It’s recommended to these age group to get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise or 1 hour and 20 minutes (80 minutes) of vigorous intensity physical exercise every week.  Besides helping you lose weight, physical activity also increases the quality of life.

To know more about maintaining your good health, join Shaw Academy’s Nutrition program. Shaw Academy, based in Dublin, Ireland, is the world’s largest online education provider. Check them on SlideShare.