How Much is Enough? How Much is Too Much?

The basic formula to remember in terms of weight gain is simply that any excess energy in the form of calories you have left over after your daily energy requirements will result in added weight to your body. Knowing how much energy you need is therefore critical to maintaining a healthy weight range. There are some general points you can remember to make this task a little easier.

Most importantly, keep the daily recommendations for each of the five major food groups in mind when you plan your meals. Learn to add different food groups together and to increase and decrease quantities of each as needed. For example, you can replace that second piece of chicken at dinner with vegetables or rice to decrease the amount of protein for the day and increase your daily servings of other food groups that contain more beneficial nutrients. Or you can stop sprinkling sugar on your cereal in the morning and place some slices of banana on it instead to decrease the amount of sugar you have during the day with a serve of sweet, but healthier fruit.

Each person's daily energy requirement is different depending on a number of factors. These include the person's age, gender, amount of physical activity undertaken daily, general health and physical situation. Consider each of these factors when planning your meals. A person participating in a competitive sport, for example, would require more food so that an adequate level of energy is reached for training and competing. A person who is sitting down in an office for most of the day would need less food daily than a landscape gardener, for another example.

When considering age, people over the age of 60 need to really ensure they are receiving enough of the following nutrients in their daily diet:

calcium to help protect against the effects of osteoporosis, which is more prevalent in the elderly, especially among women
vitamin D is also required to assist in the absorption of calcium, which can be found in natural sunlight, eggs, oily fish and some fortified cereals and spreads
iron is especially important to ward off infections and general feelings of tiredness as your body ages, and again women need to absorb more of this mineral to protect their health than men
vitamin C is also important in maintaining and repairing your body, and the expense and relative difficulty of preparing meals with fruit and vegetables can lead to deficiencies in the elderly
fibre becomes more essential as we age as it plays the key role in ensuring a healthy digestive system and decreasing the risk of colorectal cancer

How Much is Enough? How Much is Too Much?

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