• Do you know how many calories you should eat every day?
  • Why does eating have to involve math?
  • Can I eat as much as someone taller than me, who weighs more?

There are different ways to calculate how many calories someone should take in, especially when it comes to men and women. This is a general guideline to follow. Some of the caloric equations out there do not factor in your normal resting metabolic rate (RMR).

A simple rule to follow, is a male burns 1 calorie per kilogram per hour and a female burns 0.9 calorie per kilogram per hour.

EXAMPLE: 140 lb female – change lbs to kilograms (140LBS = 63.5Kg) then use this formula to find the RMR. 63.5 kilograms x 0.9 x 24 = 1,372 calories

However, athletes need more calories for two reasons,

1) they burn a lot more calories and 2) they have more muscle. So it’s important to add on 50% to your RMR to account for simple daily activities such as walking, working, and making dinner.

EXAMPLE CONTINUES: 1,372 x 50% = 686

Add 1,372 + 686 = 2,058

Active people usually burn an extra 250-1000 calories a day.

Depending on your goals, you’ll have to subtract or add to your final number. If you want FAT LOSS, you’ll want to create a deficit of 500-800 calories a day. You can do this with a combined effort in calorie intake reduction and exercise/training. This would create a weekly deficit of around 3,500 to 5,600 calories. As you may already know, it takes a reduction of 3,500 calories to lose one pound.

HIghly recommend weight training. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn at rest.

Resource: Oxygen Magazine, Oct 08