How to Calculate Calorie Expenditure to Reach Weight-Loss Goal
Although there are many components of a healthy diet, determining your correct daily caloric intake is essential to reach your weight-loss goal. Your ideal caloric intake is determined by your age, weight, height, activity level and gender. Even though many experts recommend a diet of 2,000 calories a day, you may need more or less depending on these factors. You can use a simple formula to determine how many calories you need to consume to maintain or lose weight.
Instructions
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Determining Your Daily Caloric Intake Target
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1
Weigh yourself on a scale and record your exact weight in pounds. If you do not know how tall you are, stand against a wall and have a friend use a pencil to lightly mark where the top of your head is. Use a tape measure to determine the distance from the floor to the mark in inches.
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2
Use a calculator to plug your height, weight, and age into the following formula for women: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years). Men should use this formula: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years).
Height and weight will make the result larger, while age will make it smaller. This means that larger individuals require more calories, while older individuals require less. The resultant number is your BMR, or basal metabolic rate.
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3
Determine your activity level. If you are sedentary, this means that you spend most of your day sitting and don't exercise often. If you are lightly active, you may spend a good chunk of your day standing and/or exercise two to three days a week. Moderately active individuals are those who engage in exercise most days of the week. A highly active lifestyle is one where intense exercise occurs on a daily basis for prolonged periods.
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4
Incorporate your activity level into your caloric intake estimate by plugging the appropriate equation into your calculator (BMR is the number you got in step 2): sedentary: BMR x 1.20; lightly active: BMR x 1.30; moderately active: BMR x 1.40; very active: BMR x 1.50.
The total is the number of calories you should consume each day to maintain your current weight.
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5
If you want to lose weight, you must consume fewer daily calories than indicated in step 4. A deficit of 3,500 calories equals 1 lb. of weight loss. This means that if you want to lose 1 lb. a week, you should subtract 500 calories from your daily target. If you want to lose 2 lbs. a week, you should reduce it by 1,000 calories. You can also do this by burning the extra calories through exercise instead of reducing your caloric intake.
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Tips & Warnings
In addition to caloric intake, be sure to consider things such as fat, fiber and carbohydrate levels.
Eat unprocessed foods, such as organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins, to aid in weight control. Not only are they lower in calories, but they also aid in proper digestion and hormonal balance associated with weight loss.
Never eat fewer than 1,200 calories a day. This is the minimum number of calories that your body needs to function. Consistently eating fewer than 1,200 calories a day could lead to hair loss, sallow skin, degradation of muscle, organ damage, malnutrition and starvation. Refusal to consume this bare minimum of calories could be an indicator of anorexia.
Two pounds each week is the fastest that one can lose weight while still maintaining good health. Unless you are very overweight or obese, losing more than 2 lbs. a week can lead to decreased muscle mass.
Never start a new diet without medical supervision.
Women who are pregnant or nursing require significantly more calories each day and should not use these guidelines.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit waist measurement image by msw from Fotolia.com
