“How Many Calories Should I Eat?” Part 2

So last week in “How Many Calories Should I Eat?” Part One  we established the fact that a calorie is simply a unit of measurement, that is is neither good nor evil and that approximately 3500 of them equals about 1 pound of fat. While we didn’t get into discussing the quality of said calories, when broken down to its basest level it doesn’t matter for this part of the discussion; so…

“How Many Calories Should I Eat?”

Like I said in the last installment, this is an extremely common question; don’t feel bad if you don’t know how to figure the answer out. That’s why I’m here for you!

The way you are going to figure this out is by calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate and then adjusting for how active you are. Yes, I know you probably just wanted me to give you a number and then call it a day, but that’s not how it works! Caloric intake is highly individualized; so yes, you are going to have to do a little math. So suck it up and let’s take a look at how we are going to calculate this mess!

First up is figuring out what that mildly ominous sounding Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is. The basic gist of the BMR is that it is tells you how many calories your body uses to stay alive… or in other words, how many calories your base bodily functions burn while you lounge around all day reading comic books or binge watching old TV series on Netflix. Unless you are bed-ridden this is only part of the number crunching we are going to have to do, but for desk-jockeys who don’t get much exercise, it’s a good starting point.  So what exactly is this magic formula? Luckily you don’t need to recall your college trigonometry class, because we have the Internet! *cue the angel’s choir*

Unfortunately, while the Internet is giving you a respite from math it is causing me webmaster distress by not providing me with an embeddable BMR calculator, so you are stuck going here to input your data.

Once you find out what your BMR is, go ahead and play with the calculator a bit. You will see as you increase/decrease your weight and as you change your age that the BMR changes. What this shows us is that depending on how much of you there is, your body will have to work differently to maintain it; it also points out that as you get older your BMR decreases. Also, when it comes to gender, girls burn less calories per day than guys. Sorry ladies, that’s just how it is.

Now, you might be wondering exactly how this is all calculated and how accurate it is. I promise you it isn’t Voodoo and that the calculations are solid, but if you really want to understand the whole formula and equation definitely Google it; it can’t hurt. The more you know, the better (and knowing is half the battle…. Gooooooo Joe!)

Now that we have your BMR we’re going to use it to determine how many calories you’re burning on a daily basis after factoring in your normal physical activity level.

So let’s take that base number and make it a little more realistic! We are going to use something called the Harris-Benedict Formula! By using this formula we will calculate how many calories your body burns every day when you’re not lounging around being a loaf. Whether you’re just wandering the mall, walking the dog, running, doing Zumba or banging out circuit training that puts Captain America to shame…

Take that BMR number you just calculated, and figure out where you fit into this equation:

• Little or No Exercise : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• Playing Superman (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

So using myself as an example – My BMR is 1679.8 and I fall somewhere between Moderate and Very Active on the Harris-Benedict Formula. So to make things simple, let’s err on the side of caution and use the formula for Moderately Active giving us 1679.8 x 1.55 which comes out to 2603.69 calories a day for me to maintain my current weight.

As we have discussed previously, calories consumed vs. calories used will determine if you gain weight, lose weight, or maintain. This is the easiest way to approach weight loss; you still eat basically the same that you do now, you just adjust how much. While this is the simplest method, I feel this yields less than optimal results… but we have to start somewhere! Since I am sure you are tired of formulas and numbers, we will wait until next week to dig a little further into how to adjust your eating habits. Until then, enjoy doing math! (You can find “How Many Calories Should I Eat?” Part 3 here!)

So are you mad at me for making you break out a calculator? Are you confused on how to determine exactly how active (or inactive) you are? Let me know in the comments below! Also, be sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter and be sure to Sign up for our free newsletter! (No spam, I promise!)