What calorie smart my daily intake of calories be? An ideal daily intake of calories varies depending on age, metabolism and levels of physical activity, among other things.

Generally, the recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories a day for women and 2,500 for men. Calories are a measure of how much energy food or drink contains. Other factors can also affect how much energy you burn. You will find this written as kcal on food packets. International System of Units, and you’ll see both kJ and kcal on nutrition labels. 2kJ is equivalent to approximately 1kcal.

To maintain a healthy weight, you need to balance the amount of calories you consume through food and drink with the amount of calories you burn through physical activity. For more information on weight loss, download the NHS weight loss plan, our free 12 week diet and exercise plan. A GP can also give you advice about losing weight. To gain weight, you need to eat more calories than your body uses each day. For more information, see How can I gain weight safely? The amount of energy in an item of food or drink is measured in calories. When we eat and drink more calories than we use up, our bodies store the excess as body fat.

If this continues, over time we may put on weight. These values can vary depending on age, size and levels of physical activity, among other factors. When we eat and drink, we put energy into our bodies. Our bodies use up that energy through everyday movement, which includes everything from breathing to running. To maintain a stable weight, the energy we put into our bodies must be the same as the energy we use through normal bodily functions and physical activity. An important part of a healthy diet is balancing the energy you put into your bodies with the energy you use. For example, the more physical activity we do, the more energy we use.