A food calorie is a unit that measures the amount of energy in food and drinks. Our bodies need energy to function, but when we eat and drink too many calories, we store the excess energy as fat.
Every food has a set number of calories depending on its nutrition content (fat, protein, and carbohydrates). For example, a bottle of Budweiser has 145 calories, a vanilla Dunkin
sprinkle donut has 290 calories, and a medium apple has about 95 calories. Chain restaurants with more than 20 outlets are required to post calorie information on their menus, and most packaged foods you get at the store have calorie content listed on their labels. If you start looking for calorie information, you'll find it.
So how many calories should you eat? That's based on your basal metabolic rate (which can be estimated by your age, sex, height, and weight), your activity level, and whether you want to lose, maintain, or gain weight. Use the calculator to the right to calculate how many calories you should eat to maintain or lose weight.
*A pound of body fat is the equivalent of about 3500 calories. This means that to lose a pound of body fat, you have to burn 3500 more calories than you eat. If you eat 500 calories less per day, then you'll lose 1 pound in a week (500 x 7 days = 3500 calories).