What is Energy Balance?

Energy is another word for "calories." What you eat and drink is energy IN. What you burn through physical activity is energy OUT.

You burn a certain number of calories just by breathing and digesting. A big person burns more calories every day than a small person. You also burn a certain number of calories through your daily routine. Adults burn calories being office workers, kindergarten teachers, construction workers, stay-at-home parents, and everything in between. People with active lifestyles burn more than those with not-so-active lifestyles.

         Equal energy IN and equal energy OUT over time = weight stays the same
More IN than OUT over time = weight gain
More OUT than IN over time = weight loss

Your energy IN and OUT don't have to balance exactly every day. It's the balance over time that determines whether you can maintain a healthy weight in the long run. 

To give you a sense of how many calories, energy IN, you and your family need see the Estimated Calorie Requirement chart. This chart shows the calorie level health experts recommend by gender and age level, also factoring in a person's overall level of physical activity.

Estimated calorie requirements
Estimated amounts of calories needed to maintain energy balance for various gender and age groups at three different levels of physical activity. The estimates are rounded to the nearest 200 calories and were determined using the Institute of Medicine equation.

Estimated Calorie Requirements Chart Inludes gender and age ranges for the amount of calories needed for activity level

a These levels are based on Estimated Energy Requirements (EER) from the Institute of Medicine Dietary Reference Intakes macronutrients report, 2002, calculated by gender, age, and activity level for reference-sized individuals. "Reference size," as determined by IOM, is based on median height and weight for ages up to age 18 years of age and median height and weight for that height to give a BMI of 21.5 for adult females and 22.5 for adult males.
b Sedentary means a lifestyle that includes only the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.
c Moderately active means 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.
d Active means 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.
e The calorie ranges shown are to accommodate needs of different ages within the group. For children and adolescents, more calories are needed at older ages. For adults, fewer calories are needed at older ages.

Balancing Nutrition

To balance energy IN, choose foods that will help you and your family maintain a healthy weight and provide the nutrients they need while keeping their calories under control.

This can be easy if you keep in mind that calories DO count, no matter what kind of food or drink they come from. The trick is to find balance between food (Energy IN) and physical activity (Energy OUT).

The keys to balancing energy IN are:

  • Choose foods that are low to moderate in fat and calories
  • Enjoy small portions at home and in restaurants

Think about food choices

An easy way to eat foods lower in fat and calories is to think in terms of GO, SLOW and WHOA foods.

GO foods are great anytime, SLOW foods are all right to have sometimes, at most several times a week, and WHOA foods should be eaten only once in a while, or on special occasions.

Think about portion size

Balancing your family's energy IN is challenging today because average portion sizes of foods served at restaurants and home or purchased in convenience stores have grown over the past 20 years. Learn what the difference is between a portion and a serving.

Thinking differently about calories, fat and sugar

Remember that energy balance begins with the understanding that calories count, no matter the source.

Increasing Physical Activity - Energy OUT

Americans aren't very physically active. More Americans today work at jobs that require more time sitting at a desk or in a meeting than being physically active. Children spend more time sitting in school. Families spend hours sitting in front of TVs, video games and computers.

In addition, studies show that people often eat when they are in front of a screen, and this habit can be double trouble for a person's weight—very little energy OUT to burn off all that energy IN.

Being physically active is just as important as eating right to maintain a healthy weight. It's half of the energy balance equation: balancing energy IN from calories and nutrients in our food, and energy OUT from our daily activities.

To help family members maintain a healthy weight or lose weight, it is best to change the energy balance on both sides—that is, reduce the energy IN and increase energy OUT.

You can benefit a lot from physical activity. It can:

  • Keep your body healthy.
  • Burn off calories to help you stay at a healthy weight.
  • Make your bones and muscles strong.
  • Make you feel energetic.
  • Build strength and endurance.
  • Help relieve stress.
  • Help you sleep better.
  • Help your mental health.
  • Help you feel good about yourself.
  • Give you something to do when you are bored.
  • Be a fun way to spend time with family and friends.

How much physical activity should your family get?

The HHS/USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americansrecommend that children and teens be physically active for at least 60 minutes on most, if not all, days. Learn more about how much activity your family should get.