The first step to a healthy diet is figuring out what and how much you should be eating. Follow these three steps to find out how many calories you should have each day and what types of foods you should be eating.

1. Daily Calorie Levels

Use this table to figure out the number of calories you should have each day. First, find the row that matches your age. Second, find the column that matches your gender and activity level. Activity levels are defined in the following way:

SEDENTARY : Less than 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity in addition to daily activities.
MODERATELY ACTIVE : At least 30 minutes up to 60 minutes a day of moderate physical activity in addition to daily activities.
ACTIVE :60 or more minutes a day of moderate physical activity in addition to daily activities.

MALES				FEMALES
AGE	Activity Level			AGE	Activity Level
AGE	Sedentary	Mod. Active	Active	AGE	Sedentary	Mod. Active	Active
2	1000	1000	1000	2	1000	1000	1000
3	1000	1400	1400	3	1000	1200	1400
4	1200	1400	1600	4	1200	1400	1400
5	1200	1400	1600	5	1200	1400	1600
6	1400	1600	1800	6	1200	1400	1600
7	1400	1600	1800	7	1200	1600	1800
8	1400	1600	2000	8	1400	1600	1800
9	1600	1800	2000	9	1400	1600	1800
10	1600	1800	2200	10	1400	1800	2000
11	1800	2000	2200	11	1600	1800	2000
12	1800	2200	2400	12	1600	2000	2200
13	2000	2200	2600	13	1600	2000	2200
14	2000	2400	2800	14	1800	2000	2400
15	2200	2600	3000	15	1800	2000	2400
16	2400	2800	3200	16	1800	2000	2400
17	2400	2800	3200	17	1800	2000	2400
18	2400	2800	3200	18	1800	2000	2400
19-20	2600	2800	3000	19-20	2000	2200	2400
21-25	2400	2800	3000	21-25	2000	2200	2400
26-30	2400	2600	3000	26-30	1800	2000	2400
31-35	2400	2600	3000	31-35	1800	2000	2200
36-40	2400	2600	2800	36-40	1800	2000	2200
41-45	2200	2600	2800	41-45	1800	2000	2200
46-50	2200	2400	2800	46-50	1800	2000	2200
51-55	2200	2400	2800	51-55	1600	1800	2200
56-60	2200	2400	2600	56-60	1600	1800	2200
61-65	2000	2400	2600	61-65	1600	1800	2000
66-70	2000	2200	2600	66-70	1600	1800	2000
71-75	2000	2200	2600	71-75	1600	1800	2000
76 and up	2000	2000	2400	76 and up	1600	1800	2000

Adapted from MyPyramid.gov.

2. Daily Amount of Food From Each Group

Use the table below to figure out how much you should be eating from each food group. First, find the column that matches your daily calorie level. Second, read the table down to see how much food you should have from each food group.

Calorie Level	1,000	1,200	1,400	1,600	1,800	2,000
Fruits	1 cup	1 cup	1.5 cups	1.5 cups	1.5 cups	2 cups
Vegetables	1 cup	1.5 cups	1.5 cups	2 cups	2.5 cups	2.5 cups
Grains	3 oz–eq	4 oz–eq	5 oz–eq	5 oz–eq	6 oz–eq	6 oz–eq
Meat and Beans	2 oz–eq	3 oz–eq	4 oz–eq	5 oz–eq	5 oz–eq	5.5 oz–eq
Milk	2 cups	2 cups	2 cups	3 cups	3 cups	3 cups
Oils	3 tsp	4 tsp	4 tsp	5 tsp	5 tsp	6 tsp
Discretionary calorie allowance	165	171	171	132	195	267
Calorie Level	2,200	2,400	2,600	2,800	3,000	3,200
Fruits	2 cups	2 cups	2 cups	2.5 cups	2.5 cups	2.5 cups
Vegetables	3 cups	3 cups	3.5 cups	3.5 cups	4 cups	4 cups
Grains	7 oz–eq	8 oz–eq	9 oz–eq	10 oz–eq	10 oz–eq	10 oz–eq
Meat and Beans	6 oz–eq	6.5 oz–eq	6.5 oz–eq	7 oz–eq	7 oz–eq	7 oz–eq
Milk	3 cups	3 cups	3 cups	3 cups	3 cups	3 cups
Oils	6 tsp	7 tsp	8 tsp	8 tsp	10 tsp	11 tsp
Discretionary calorie allowance	290	362	410	426	512	648

Adapted from MyPyramid.gov.

3. Vegetable Subgroup Amounts are Per Week

In addition to figuring out how much from each food group you need, its also important to know what foods you should be eating from those food groups. This applies particularly to vegetables. Find the column that matches your daily calorie level and then find out how much of each different kind of vegetable you should be eating in a week.

Calorie Level	1,000	1,200	1,400	1,600	1,800	2,000
Dark green veg.	1 c/wk	1.5 c/wk	1.5 c/wk	2 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk
Orange veg.	.5 c/wk	1 c/wk	1 c/wk	1.5 c/wk	2 c/wk	2 c/wk
Legumes	.5 c/wk	1 c/wk	1 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk
Starchy veg.	1.5 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk
Other veg.	3.5 c/wk	4.5 c/wk	4.5 c/wk	5.5 c/wk	6.5 c/wk	6.5 c/wk
Calorie Level	2,200	2,400	2,600	2,800	3,000	3,200
Dark green veg.	3 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk	3 c/wk
Orange veg.	2 c/wk	2 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	2.5 c/wk	2.5 c/wk
Legumes	3 c/wk	3 c/wk	3.5 c/wk	3.5 c/wk	3.5 c/wk	3.5 c/wk
Starchy veg.	6 c/wk	6 c/wk	7 c/wk	7 c/wk	9 c/wk	9 c/wk
Other veg.	7 c/wk	7 c/wk	8.5 c/wk	8.5 c/wk	10 c/wk	10 c/wk

Adapted from MyPyramid.gov.

Did you know?

Walking 1 mile burns about 100 calories. Adding a 1-mile walk daily results in a 10-pound per year weight loss!