How Many Calories?
We all know there is an average calculation as to how many calories we should be consuming on a daily basis. But, is there such thing as an “average” person? I tend to believe we are unique even though we may show a number of similarities. We have different levels of activities, body types, likes and so on and so forth.
Calculating How Many Calories
Like many things in nutrition, there is no exact number or answer. These are all guidelines. However, they do give you a good indication of where you should be. There are apps such as MyFitnessPal which can calculate your requirements but usually speaking, a manual calculation can be equally if not more effective. There are two formulas, one for males and one for females, and like everything else, there are more than one set of formulas too.
Mifflin-St Jeor Formula
According to a number of reputable websites, this is the most popular and accurate one. Have a play and see what you think.
The first part is calculating your BMR which is your BASAL METABOLIC RATE. This is the bare minimum number of calories the body requires in order to carry out basic functions such as digestion, brain activity etc.
| Males (10 x weight in KG) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age) – 5 |
| Females (10 x weight in KG) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age) – 161 |
Now that we have the BMR, the next part is based on the level of activity. It stands to reason that the more active an individual, the more calories they will burn therefore requiring more calories. The Physical Activity Level or PAL is calculated as follows:
| Lifestyle | Activity Level | Score |
| Sedentary | mostly sitting and inactive | 1.2 |
| Fairly active | walking and exercising 1 – 2 a week | 1.3 |
| Moderately Active | exercises 2 – 3 times a week | 1.4 |
| Active | exercises hard more than 3 times a week | 1.5 |
| Very Active | exercises hard every day 7 days a week | 1.7 |
Once you selected what your PAL is, you simply multiply it by your BMR. So for example, if the BMR is 1458 kcal and PAL is 1.5 then the TDEE is in the region of 2187 kcal a day. This can then be split into macros (% fat, protein & carbs) but we will leave that for another day.
Harris-Benedict Formula
The Harris-Benedict formula is another popular formula commonly used. It works in exactly the same way as the Mifflin-St Jeor formula in which it takes into account age, gender, weight, height and levels of activity.
| Male 66 + (Weight in kg x 13.7) + (Height in cm x 5) – (Age x 6.8) |
| Female 655 + (Weight in kg x 9.6) + (Height in cm x 1.8) – (Age x 4.7) |
The PAL has slightly different figures which are as follows:
| Lifestyle | Activity Level | Score |
| Sedentary | low level of activity | 1.2 |
| Light active | gym 2 – 3 times sedentary job | 1.375 |
| Moderately Active | trains regularly and has an active job/ lifestyle | 1.55 |
| Very Active | trains 4 – 6 times a week and has an active lifestyle/ job | 1.725 |
| Extra Active | Professional athlete | 1.9 |
So, based on the same details as used above, the BMR for the same person using the Harris-Benedict formula would be 1450 kcal and the TDEE would be 2501 kcal a day.
The very, very basic rule of thumb is that if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. If you consume more than what you burn, you will put on wight. And if you consume and burn about the same amount, then you will maintain weight. Weight management is a totally separate topic and will be dealt with in another post in the future.
If you would like some help to work your calories or nutritional advice feel free to contact me or fill in the contact form below.
