Just how many calories does your body need a day?

Strictly speaking there is no magic formula that gives us the exact amount of calories we should eat per day, or how many we need to lose weight, however most women will lose weight successfully on around 1500 calories a day and for men around 2000 calories.

But there are some tricks we can use to find out a little more accurately how many you personally need.

Why do I need to know you may be thinking - well in order to lose weight we need to be taking in less energy (calories) than we expend and in order to do this (grab your calculators) we need to do some sums to figure out just how many calories we need a day just to exist - also known as your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) some factors that effect your BMR are height, weight, age and sex.

For those of you mathematically minded use the formula below to calculate your BMR or if not there are many online calculators that will do the work for you.

English BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
Please note that this formula applies only to adults.

E.g. - based on a (10 stone) 63.5kg female aged 30 with a height of 167.6cm (5ft 5)

655 + (9.6 x 63.5kg = 609.6) = 1264.60

(1.8 x 167.6 = 301.68)

1264.60 + 301.68 = 1566.28

(4.7 x 30 = 141)

1566.28 - 141 = 1425.28 which is our BMR or the number of calories needed just to breathe!
Now based on a special formula we can add in how active you are as follows:

Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9 (www.bmi-calculator.net)

So taking our example 1425.28 and x 1.375 as she is lightly active gives us a total calorie intake of 1959.76 per day to maintain her weight or 1459.75 to lose weight!

There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of body fat. So, if you create a 3500 calorie deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight. The calorie deficit can be achieved either by just reducing your calories from your diet by approximately 500, by increasing your exercise to burn approximately 500 or by a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). This combination of diet and exercise is best for sustainable and lasting weight loss.

If you want to gain body weight, you need to consume more calories than you burn, so eating an extra 500 calories per day will cause you to gain one pound a week.

How to burn off those extra calories? Below are some examples to get you started:

Activity and Total Calories Used Per Hour:

• Ballroom Dancing:  125-310
• Cooking:   185-200
• Walking Slowly (2-1/2 mph):   210-230
• Cleaning:   235-355
• Brisk Walking (4 mph):   250-345
• Golf:   300-350
• Jogging (6 mph):   315-480
• Cycling (9 mph):   315-480
• Tennis:   315-480
• Skating:   320-400
• Gardening (heavy):   450-525
• Basketball:   480-625
• Aerobic Dancing:   480-625
• Swimming:   480-625
• Cross Country Skiing:   480-625

Info calorie control council - based on 150lb person



Weight loss resources calculations

For more advice on how to burn off those extra calories or how to control your eating habits contact Sarah now on 07701 051287 to arrange a free consultation, or visit my website www.sarahbrookes.co.uk for further information.