The numbers of calories you eat on a daily basis help determine how quickly you can lose weight by making subtle adjustments. You have to cut 3500 calories from your current calorie intake to be able to lose one pound. Many people think they need to switch to a 1200-calorie diet to experience weight loss, but that is not true, especially if your current calorie intake is somewhere close to 3000 calories a day.

Following such low-calorie diets is not sustainable in the long-run, which is why you are less likely to see results. You should be cutting calories gradually to lose weight in a healthy way. To determine a healthy pace, you need to learn about the number of calories you are eating now. Many people do not know it, but the average American diet contains much more calories than you might realize.

By digging deeper into the details, you will realize that Americans are eating so many additional calories on a daily basis. You have to understand more about calories per capita to get a better idea of how many calories the average American meal contains. In 2010, the average per capita calorie intake was 2,534 calories. It went up since then and right now people are consuming much more than 2638 calories a day, which has made obesity a serious issue. It is important to point out that the average adult female is still eating fewer calories (1785 calories) as compared to the average adult male.

Some studies have also found that the younger Americans are eating fewer calories, but are still getting more than what they need. For instance, studies have found that 2-to-5-year old males are getting 1641 calories on average, whereas the females in the same age group are getting about 1486 calories a day. The number goes up for six-to 11-year-old males, as they consume around 2092 calories on average. Some studies have also shown that 12-to 19-year old males get more than 2707 calories a day, whereas the intake is around 1906 for the females in the same age group.

How many calories you need to keep your body functioning optimally depends on many factors, including your age, sex, and activity level. If you are physically very active, you will be burning a lot more calories for energy. Therefore, it is important to keep your calorie intake high. However, if you consume 3000 calories a day and are moderately active, you may have a calorie surplus that would make you gain weight over time. In most cases, you need at least 1200 calories to get important nutrients and lose weight without putting your body into a starvation mode.

The problem is that you simply cannot follow such low-calorie diet if your existing diet contains more than 3000 calories. Such serious reductions would throw your body into a shock and keep you from losing weight effectively. Therefore, it is important to consider the number of calories found in your meals and then make gradual reductions in your calorie intake to get positive results.