Learning how to calculate calories for your personal daily needs is extremely important to any weight loss, fat burning or fitness program.
The best way to calculate calories is the BMR Method. First you find your personal BMR and then use it to get your daily calorie needs.
What is BMR? BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It based on your age, gender, height and weight. (Just be careful to note is does not take into account your lean muscle. If are muscular you might need a bit more calories…if you are very out of shape, you should shave a few calories off your end result.)
Formula to Calculate Your BMR:
| 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 ) |
To calculate your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the activity level:
- If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
- If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
- If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
- If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
- If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
*** Now to lose weight take 500 calories off your ending number. ( Remember for women never drop below 1200 calories and for men never drop below 1800 calories per day.)
See our quick chart for activity: Exercise Calculator Calories Burned
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A Quick Fun Method for Calculating Calories:
How to calculate calories for a Slow Day (slow rest days/not exercising):
A. Your weight, in pounds: ____
B. A x 15 = _____
C. B – 500 = _____
How to calculate calories for a Fast Day (active days/exercising):
A. Your weight, in pounds: ____
B. A x 18 = ____
C. B – 500 = ____
Calorie counting done the right way = weight loss? Absolutely!
You and I know that losing fat and staying in great shape is a difficult task because it is so hard to stay motivated and it is so tempting to cheat, especially when you can hide the cheating. We dieters have all been in a starving situation when dieting and our mind reasons very quickly why that extra piece of pie is not going to hurt us. We take it, forget about it and then wonder next day why we didn’t lose weight.
This is why it is so important for us to learn how to calculate calories and keep records of what calories we take in.
For most of us dieting is a constant battle between emotion and reason and when hungry, reason is out of the window and emotion just wins. We do not see the immediate effects of our behavior and therefore our brain is fooled into thinking that everything is all right. On the other hand, let’s say you would get very sick when eating more than you need, overeating would stop very quickly.
Getting sick after a little bit of overeating does normally not happen therefore we need to find a different way to show the consequences of our behavior. We need to show this in a factual manner, an immediate visual display of the results of our cheating. It is not punishment right away, but over time our brain will be conditioned such that taking an extra piece of pie will give negative weight loss results. Then we will start to understand why we don’t lose weight and can pinpoint the causes.
What should this visual display look like? First I like charts, they are very easy to understand and can show trends and correlations between variables. In this chart I would like to see over a period of time, the average calories that I take in per day compared with the average calories that I burn per day. If the chart shows that the intake calories are lower than the burned calories, I will lose weight and vice versa I will gain weight. Correlate that with a chart that shows your weight or BMI (Body Mass Index) over time and I have the tool that helps me regulate my food consumption versus my daily activities.
If I add my hunger levels before and after the meals, I can fine tune my meal plans and daily activities. In this way I can sustain my dieting for a long time and preferably it will become my way of life. I have minimized the hunger pain and increase the pleasure of losing weight and feeling more attractive.
There is abundance of free online food calorie calculators. These calorie counters just display nutrition facts and are not going to help you lose weight. Nor is a simple calorie calculator that tries to calculate your calories burned solely based on your weight and average activity level. These are simple little gimmicks that are a waste of your time.
Only when you seriously can track and correlate your calorie intake and calories burned over time, depending on your age, weight, gender, height and individual activity intensity levels (The BMR Method above) can you precisely measure your calorie balance. Seeing visually that your weight loss program works is a big motivator to stay on track. Also you can see immediately when you are off track and you can adjust your situation accordingly.
Acquiring great health is a complex task. Interrelating factors like diet, nutritional facts, meal plans, calorie balance, body reading measurements, supplement and medicine intake, exercise routines, daily activity intensity and costs will make it very difficult for you to see the forest for the trees. Learn how to calculate calories
Read our segment on: How To Lose Fat
7 Calorie Burning Tips
These are just a few habits you can embrace to start revving your metabolism right away. You may have heard stories about people who have lost dozens of pounds simply switching to diet soda or walking a few minutes each day. These are all small habits that contribute to a big difference and increase your metabolism over time. You will make weight loss quicker and easier by increasing your metabolic rate and burning more calories.
1) Move More
Sedentary people burn about one-third less calories per day. By simply taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn in one day. Small movements will add up over time to lots of calories. The trick is to keep moving throughout your day. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move – here’s some ideas for burning extra calories:
Tap your feet
Swing your legs
Stand up and stretch
Move your head from side to side
Change position
Wriggle and fidget
Pace up and down
Use the restroom upstairs
Park in the furthest corner of the parking lot
Stand up when you’re on the phone and step from side to side
Clench and release your muscles
2) Eat Little and Often
Evidence suggests that eating small meals every 2-4 hours will keep your metabolism burning faster than larger, less frequent meals. When you eat small amounts often your body is constantly working to digest and absorb food which requires energy.
3) Eat Fat
If you want feel good and keep the fat off you need to first put it in. Fat not only tastes good our bodies need it to work efficiently. By consuming several servings of ‘healthy’ fats every day you will actually increase your calorie burning potential. Try incorporating fats like Flaxseed oil, hempseed oil, olive oil, avocados, salmon, albacore tuna, nuts and seeds into your diet daily.
4) Spice up
Eating hot spices might speed up your metabolism. Just half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day can help boost metabolism and keep blood sugar levels in check. Can’t stand the thought of cinnamon in your morning cup of coffee? Spice up with cayenne, crushed red pepper or wasabi.
(This book is a great read to know exactly how to substitute tasty low-calorie options into your life.)
5) Eat More Protein
Protein requires a more complex chemical breakdown by your body in order to be digested and used as fuel. For example, 100 calories of protein may take up to 30 calories to process. Protein also takes longer to digest and helps to stabilize blood sugar for longer periods of time and this can help you to not overeat later in the day. Eat a portion of protein at every meal and as part of your snacks and you will increase the total number of calories you burn each day.
6) Drink Cold Water
Evidence shows that your body might expend more calories trying to raise cold water to the temperature of your body then hot beverages. And overall being well hydrated will help your body’s metabolic processes burn quicker.
7) Exercise With Weights
Training with weights boosts your metabolism in a number of ways. By lifting weights you will build muscle tissue. And muscle tissue is metabolically active, so it requires calories even when at rest and so it helps to increase fat-burning enzymes in your body.