Eating in a calorie surplus can lead to greater fat deposits, including around the belly, Seattle-based registered dietitian nutritionist and Arivale Coach Ginger Hultin, MS, CSO explained. You want to follow a diet with appropriate calories for your needs. "Caloric needs are based on numerous factors, but the most important ones for a healthy individual include gender, age, weight, height, and activity level," added Stephanie Ferrari, a registered dietitian with Fresh Communications.
Everyone is different, so in order to find out how many calories you need, meet with a registered dietitian who can assess your lifestyle and health history to make recommendations. If you've never tracked calories before, do it for a few weeks so you can be certain you're hitting your daily goal. If you are looking for a good place to start, use this formula to calculate how many calories you should eat in a day to lose weight.