How Many Calories Do You Need to Lose or Maintain Your Weight? Use the tools we use as dietitians to find out.
Since most people don’t know how many calories they should eat, it’s hard to help them lose weight because they have no reference with regards to their daily energy requirements.
As a dietitian, I have a lot of tools my disposal to calculate my clients’ basal or resting metabolic rate (called BMR or RMR) and from that number, I can calculate their total energy requirements.
Here’s how you can calculate your total energy requirements to maintain your current weigh then subtract from that number to lose at the rate you want.
Resting Metabolic Rate Calculator:
RMR= 247 – (2.67 X Age) + (401 X height) + (8.6 X Weight)
Height is in meters and weight is in kilograms
Follow this example, using a 38 year old woman who is 5’ 6” and weighs 125 pounds. She has a sedentary job but walks at least an hour per day. She doesn’t want to lose weight, but wants to maintain her current weight.
To convert your height to meters, inches X .0254= height in meters
A 5’ 6” woman= 66 inches= 1.68 meters
Weight in pounds / 2.2 = weight in kilograms
A 125 lb. woman/ 2.2= 57 kg
Moderately Active
Equation:
247 – (2.67 X 38) + (401 X 1.68) + (8.6 X 57)
247 – 101 + 674 + 490= 1,310 calories for a RMR
To estimate total caloric expenditure, you need to add in the energy expenditure of your daily activity plus planned exercise.
RMR X 1.0= Weight Loss of about I pound per week for most people
RMR X 1.3= Weight loss of about .5 pounds per week
RMR X 1.5= Weight maintenance for most people (little exercise)
RMR X 1.7= Weight maintenance for moderately active people (up to 1 hour per day of activity)
RMR X 1.9-2.5= Weight maintenance for athletes
Total Energy Expenditure: 1,310 X 1.7= 2,227 calories
To lose about 1 pound per week, subtract 500 calories = 1,727 calories per day
To lose more than 1 pound per week, subtract 800 calories = 1,427 calories per day
Another formula to try is the Harris-Benedict Formula,, which also calculates your basal or resting metabolic rate.
BMR
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)
For Example:
Woman, 140 pounds, 66 inches tall, 42 years old and wants to lose .5 pounds per week.
BMR 655 + (4.35 X 140) + (4.7 x 66) – (4.7 x 42)
BMR =655 + 609 + 310 – 197
BMR = 1377 calories
Multiply by the following activity factors to figure out your total calorie requirement
To estimate total caloric expenditure, you need to add in the energy expenditure of your daily activity plus planned exercise.
BMR X 1.0= Weight Loss of about I pound per week for most people
BMR X 1.3= Weight loss of about .5 pounds per week
BMR X 1.5= Weight maintenance for most people (little exercise)
BMR X 1.7= Weight maintenance for moderately active people (up to 1 hour per day of activity)
BMR X 1.9-2.5= Weight maintenance for athletes
