Planning Your Calorie Intake

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If you are trying to slim down, or maintain your figure, it is necessary not to take in more calories than you need. Here, we show you how to plan your meals so you can achieve your goal by reducing your intake of calories.

1. Check you daily energy needs in calories.
2. Divide your energy needs among the meals and snacks your are going to have. The ratio depends on your emphasis of each meal. Usually lunch is the lightest, and dinner is the heaviest, so your calorie intake for lunch will be the smallest, and dinner will take up the largest proportion of your daily energy needs. Remember that the calories of the different meals must add up to be equal to your energy needs.
3. For each meal, choose the food you want to eat. When choosing food, the calorie intake must be approximately equal to or, better still, less than the value you have allocated for each meal. You must also take note that the meals provide you with all the nutrients that your body needs. Also, make sure that you do not exceed your Daily Total Fat Allowance You can use the Food Pyramid Guide to help you achieve this. Please look through the nutritional statistics of different food on our site or find the calories of Your Favorite Food.
4. Eat happily and wait for it to happen!

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Sample Menu

Example: Johnny Q. Public, 16 years old, student.

Daily Energy Needs: 2850 Calories

Allocation according to meals:

See these tips on cutting down intake of fats and cholesterol!

This page has been authored for participation in the 1997 Thinkquest Competition. For problems, questions, or suggestions regarding The FOOD Files, send email to tq1997-11960@advanced.org or page the webmaster for quicker results. Last updated: July 31, 1997 See the Links!