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It’s pretty easy to tell someone who wants to lose weight that they need to eat less, but how much less? More importantly how much should I be eating? If you just start cutting calories you are going to be hungry a lot and more than likely you’ll give up. About a year ago I lost 50 pounds and I was never hungry because I wasn’t overly restricting my calorie intake. So how do I figure out how many calories I should be eating?

The best way, in my opinion, to estimate how many calories I should be eating is by calculating my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). BMR is how many calories you would need if you were completely at rest all day. There are several formulas for figuring BMR. The one I use is called the Harris-Benedict Formula.

The Harris-Benedict Formula:

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

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

So now lets do the math for me:

BMR = 66+ (6.23 x 329) + (4.7 x 71) - (6.8 x 32)

BMR = 66 + 2049.67 + 333.7 - 217.6

BMR = 2231.77

So my BMR is 2231.77 calories a day, but like I mentioned before BMR is a measurement of the amount of calories you’d need if you were completely at rest. I dunno about you, but I am never completely at rest (think in a coma) for a full day. So now I need to add in an activity modifier:

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 moderately 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

Choosing which modifier to use can be a bit subjective, but I generally take my best guess and make adjustments as needed.

I am planning on bumping up my exercise to 5 days a week so I am going to use 1.55 as my modifier.

Daily Calories = 2231.77 x 1.55

Daily Calories = 3459.2438 ( let’s call it 3460)

So now I now how many calories I need, for my given activity level, to maintain my weight. However I want to lose weight so I need to do some subtraction. A pound of fat is 3500 calories and I want to lose about 2 pounds a week. So I need to restrict my caloric intake by 7000 calories for the week. Which means I need to reduce my Daily Calories by 1000.

So I need to eat approx 2460 calories a day, while exercising moderately 3-5 days, to lose about 2 pounds a week.

Disclaimer: This is provided for informational purposes only. I am not an expert!! You should always seek a doctors advice before making any changes in your diet and level of exercise.

– Jeremy