Calorie Curious (cooking week day 4)

I have always been Calorie Curious.

Seriously, can you tell me how many calories are in a head of broccoli, cup of coffee, or slice of cheddar?

Considering my love to cook...and eat (haha)...I felt it would be beneficial to grow my caloric consciousness. I find the following charts very beneficial at provide a basic breakdown of consumable items...(format below)

Food Item

* Serving Size * Carbohydrates(grams) * Fat(grams) * Calories *Proteins

~ Awesome Calorie Charts from calorie-charts.net

~ Food Nutrition Chart from whatscookingamerica.net

Now if you are curious as to how many calories an average person needs to consume to avoid gaining weight...the following paragraphs and chart from The American Heart Association provide some clarity.

Know How Many Calories You Should Eat

To avoid gaining weight over time, you should aim to burn up as many calories through basic metabolic function and physical activity as you take in. To know whether you're on track, you need to be able to estimate how many calories you need based on your age, gender and level of physical activity.

The calorie ranges shown in this table allow for the needs of people of different ages within an age group. Adults need fewer calories at older ages. For example, an active 31-year-old man needs about 3,000 daily calories, but an active 50-year-old man needs only about 2,800 calories.

		Activity Level and Estimated Calories Burned
Gender	Age (years)	Sedentary1	Moderately Active2	Active3
Female	19–30 31–50 51+	2,000 1,800 1,600	2,000-2,200 2,000 1,800	2,400 2,200 2,000-2,200
Male	19–30 31–50 51+	2,400 2,200 2,000	2,600-2,800 2,400-2,600 2,200-2,400	3,000 2,800-3,000 2,400-2,800

¹ Sedentary means you have a lifestyle that includes only the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

² Moderately active means you have a lifestyle that includes physical activity equivalent to walking about 1.5 to 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

³ Active means you have a lifestyle that includes physical activity equivalent to walking more than 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

Eat well to live better!

Make it a great day,

Suchie