This means that you’ll want to be getting those proper amounts when it comes to three main meals of the day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
On top of that, if you’re trying to lose weight, then you’ll especially be watching your calorie intake when it comes to these meals.
So, how many calories should lunch be?
Well, there are few ways to make sure that you’re getting the best amount of calories for you when it comes to each time.
These include calculating it via your sex or swapping out certain foods for others – but we’ll be getting into all of the ways in our handy article below.
If you read on, you’ll find out just how many calories you should be getting at lunch.
Calculating How Many Calories You Need
When it comes to working out how many calories you specifically will need, there are a few different factors that come into it.
For one thing, what sex you are affects how many calories you should be getting.
Your Birth Sex
If you’re a woman, then you will need anywhere between 1600 and 2400 calories per day.
If you’re a man, on the other hand, then you’ll need more – ranging between 2200 and 3200 calories a day.
As you can see, though, those figures are fairly broad and there’s a big difference between each range.
Generally speaking, an average woman is advised to have 2000 calories a day, while the figure is 2500 for an average man.
However, there are other factors that also affect how many calories you will need a day.
Age
One of these is your age. For example, if you’re actually a child or a teeanger, then you will need a higher calorie intake.
This is because calories give you energy, and a lot of energy is needed when young people are growing, because their body is using it up more.
Height And Weight
Another factor is your size. Both your weight and your height will affect how many calories you need a day, because those two aspects will change how quickly you use energy.
A taller person actually needs more calories, because they will burn more of them, since they are supporting a bigger mass and therefore need bigger energy.
Similarly, the more a person weighs, the more calories they will burn. This is because it takes more energy to move the body, because there is more to move. More energy requires more calories.
How Active You Are
Your lifestyle will also determine how many calories you need to be having a day. If you don’t exercise very often, then you will need fewer calories per day.
This is because activity and working out burns off calories and burns them off more quickly. If you’re not exercising, then you’re not going to be burning off as many calories.
However, it’s best not to lead a lifestyle without much exercise.
On the other hand, if you’re moderately active or regularly exercising in various ways, then you will need more calories.
If we think back to the calorie ranges for men and women earlier, you’ll want to be going for the higher end of the ranges if you’re an typically active person.
Calculating It
Thankfully, there are plenty of useful tools that will help you calculate how many calories you should be having per day based on these sorts of statistics.
Once you’ve got an idea of how many calories you should be consuming per day, you can use that number to then work out how many calories you should be having with each lunch.
Of course, you can simply work off the general advice for the sexes and use the ranges we provided earlier.
However, if you want something far more specific and appropriate to you, then it’s best to work it out based on all the factors we have covered.
Once you have that number, simply divide it by the amount of meals that you eat each day. Ideally, you’re eating 3 main meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Let’s look at an example. If you’re a man who needs 2900 calories a day, then divide that by 3.
This comes to 966.67, which means that this particular man should be getting about 967 calories from his lunch.
Similarly, if a woman needs (for example) 2000 calories a day, then divide it by 3. This equals 666.67. For lunch, then, she will want 667 calories.
However, you don’t have to have it equally split across the main meals – and that’s not even taking extra snacks into account.
Some people might want to have a small breakfast, but a large lunch.
In these cases, simply shuffle the numbers around, and make sure that by the end you’ve still got the total amount of calories that you need overall.
Controlling Calories
If you want to cut calories, there are many ways to do it. People might do this in order to lose weight.
However, you will only lose weight if you have a combination of cutting calories AND burning more calories by doing physical exercise.
To cut calories, you can have smaller portions, or swap out high-calorie foods. For example, instead of having extra pizza, have vegetables.
Remember: always be careful and continue getting enough to power your body.
Final Thoughts
It’s always important to make sure you’re getting the right account of calories for your body and lifestyle – lunch is no different.
![How Many Calories Do You Need To Maintain Your Weight? [How To Calculate?]](https://calorie-counter.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/How-Many-Calories-Do-You-Need-To-Maintain-Your-Weight-How-To-Calculate-1.jpg "How Many Calories Do You Need To Maintain Your Weight? [How To Calculate?]")
