Thread: Where can I find out how many calories I need?

google calorie calculator.... a bunch of good ones pop up. mayo clinic for example. Of course these are just based on hight and weight

You know what... there are a bunch of calculators out there that can give you a rough idea. But the best thing that has worked for me is more pain staking but the most accurate-

just start keeping a food journal. Keep track of at the very least your calories and weigh yourself every morning and/or night. You can see what you need to maintain, lose, or pack on.

There's an article Layne Norton wrote which outlines many great points at bodybuilding dot com. The article is called A Unique Combination of Science and Experience Based Pre-contest Advice. As far as calorie tracking sites I'd say FitDay is the best.

Originally Posted by acctingman

Is there a site or calculator that will tell me how many calories I need to maintain and for weight loss based on all the factors?

Thanks

Too many factors come into action for me to provide with you a number. But what I see a lot of is people getting carried away with counting calories. It is much easier to hit macros and make adjustments ot them.

I think there may be one on fitday. FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal

Track your cals and then see what works for you. This is the only way you will know for sure.

I use one on bodybuilding. com

The Harris-Benedict Equation for calculating calorie needs.

Use the appropriate formula for men or women..

Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x W) + (5 x H) - (6.8 x Age) = Daily calories required

Women: BMR = 665 + (9.6 x W) + (1.8 x H) - (4.7 x Age) = Daily calories needs

Where:
W = weight in Kgs Convert body weight here!
H = Height in cms ( 1 foot = 12 inches, 1 inch = 2.54 cms)
Age = Years
An example for a 30 year old women weighing 80 (176 pounds) Kgs and 5 foot 6 inches tall would be..

665 + (9.6 x 80) + (1.8 x 168) - (4.7 x 30)

665 + 768 + 302 - 141 = 1594 calories per day!

The values in the above equation are based on averages within the population. Therefore the problem with this equation is it doesn't take into account the amount of lean body weight a person may have. For this reason people who are very muscular or those who are obese may not obtain a very accurate calculation of BMR. Muscular individuals may need more calories than the formula suggests and, very overweight people may need less than the calories needs from the calculation.

The above equation calculates calorie needs for the BMR, you still need to work out calorie requirements for the day including any activities.

Multiply your BMR by an activity factor which more closely suits your lifestyle

Sedentary - none or very little exercise = BMR X 1.2
Light activity for average of 2 days/week = BMR X 1.375
Moderate activity level exercising 4 days/week = BMR X 1.5
High activity levels exercise & sports more than 6 days/week = BMR X 1.7
Higher activity levels = up to 2 x BMR

Or just go with the simpler "13 - 15 times your bodyweight in pounds" for a ballpark estimate and tweak from there. (Note that obese people should sub in target weight for bodyweight using this method)