Calories Per Day For Men - The Biggest Nutrition Mistake

The Biggest Nutrition Mistake

As a nutritional coach and personal trainer I explain the principals of macronutrient ratios, thermic effect, calorie tapering, carbohydrate tapering and many other techniques to my clients. These advanced techniques get you from a good body to a great body. But the biggest nutrition mistake is trying to jump straight to these advanced techniques and NOT get the fundamentals right.

Rule Number 1 - Calories Per Day For Men

Rule Number 1 is eating the right amount of calories a day. If you don't get this right first then no amount of advanced techniques will deliver.  A calorie is a measurement. It is the unit measuring the energy value in food. The more calories a food has, the more units of energy it has. The laws of energy state that if you consume more energy (calories) than your body uses, then you will store this excess energy and therefore gain weight.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is the American Government's "cornerstone of Federal nutrition policy" from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). It states that the estimated calories per day for men between 19 - 30 should be 2,600 - 2,800 for moderately active men, and 3,000 for active men. The estimated calories per day for men between 31 - 50 should be 2,400 - 2,600 for moderately active men, and 2,800 - 3,000 for active men.

The above guidelines are a useful starting place but a generalization. Most people are surprised when they find out the exact amount of calories they should be eating to achieve their goals. There are many different ways of calculating your optimum daily calorie intake. It should be dependent on your body type, your goals and other crucial factors. Often people also do not know how many calories they currently consume on an average day. How can you get a good body if you know how much you should be eating?

The Next Step

The Next Step is getting a "clean diet". This means that you are getting your calories from the right source of foods - healthy foods. A clean diet includes minimizing your sugar intake, drinking plenty of water, having small frequent meals (not snacks) each with a lean protein and complex carbohydrate (including plenty of vegetables). 

Part of the biggest mistake is to forget about the fundamental calories per day for men when you move onto the next step. If your goal is adding muscle, it does not matter if you are eating the healthiest foods in the world, but if you are not eating enough of them you will not give the body enough calories to create and maintain muscle growth.

Advanced Techniques

When you have reached your target muscle size it is time to reveal the muscle definition. This is achieved by removing the covering layer of subcutaneous fat whilst keeping the muscle.  Depending on your body type this can be the easiest or hardest stage. You should know by this stage how your body reacts to changes in your diet from measuring the results on your body from Rule Number 1 (calories per day for men) and The Next Step.

You can take this further by creating a diet with the right proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fat each day. This can be taken even further and the ratios used to optimize each meal. Do not be fooled by "experts" into jumping into advanced techniques until you have the first two fundamental techniques exactly right or you will see only marginal results.

By understanding the calories per day for men and having a "clean diet" you will see great results. For amazing results you need to look further into dietary science to accelerating muscle growth and breaking through stubborn problem areas; but not at the sacrifice of the fundamentals!