Calculating The Amount Of Calories To Lose Weight

In order to determine how many calories you need to take to track your weight, it is important to calculate the amount of calories needed to lose weight. Total calorie requirements are the amount of calories you need to eat each day to maintain weight. And to lose weight, you need to consume less than the calories you need.

Using a simple formula called the Harris-Benedict principle, you can evaluate your basal metabolic rate or what we call BMR. It is the most common method and is widely used to calculate calorie requirements. It estimates calorie requirements based on average.

Basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy your body needs to function properly. Our bodies burn more calories, and burn more calories when we do heavy work and exercise. There are factors that influence BMR and these include height, weight, age and gender as well as activity level. By understanding this formula, calculating the number of calories to lose weight will be easier.

Calculates BMR

To obtain your BMR, the following is used as a standard value.

Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x in pounds) + (4.7 x in inches) - (4.7 x in age)

Man: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age)

Once you get your BMR, the Harris-Benedict equation is used to enter your daily activity level.

To determine the calorie intake you need, multiply your BMR with the following activities:

• For an inactive lifestyle (little or no exercise) - BMR x 1.2


• Active light (light) - BMR x 1.375


• Moderate active (moderate exercise) - BMR x 1.725


• Active active (very hard exercise) - BMR x 1.9

The result will be the amount of calories you need each day and maintain your current weight. To lose weight, you need to consume less calories than this result.

Traditionally, the recommended weight for losing a week is 1 to 2 pounds or the equivalent of eating a 500 calorie deficit daily on your calorie requirements to produce a weekly deficit of 3500 calories which is the amount of calories you need to burn. A 500 to 1000 calorie deficit is the recommended amount that you need to subtract from your total calorie requirements.

Before exercising on a strict diet or diet, you should first consult your doctor for safety considerations.

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