Daily Caloric Needs

**chanota** · 10-10-2002, 09:41 PM

I found this formula in Oxygen magazine, twice, in two seperate articles. Does anyone know were this formula comes from and how acurate is it?

----------------RMR (resting metabolic rate):---------------------
Formula for Females: 447.593 + (3.098 x ht) + (9.247 x wt) - (4.33 x age )
Formula for Males: 88.362 + (4.799 x ht) + (13.397 x wt) - (5.677 x age )

height = in centimeters [inches x 2.54]
weight = in kilograms [pounds divided by 2.2]
age = in years

-------------Daily Caloric Needs = RMR x activity level------------

activity level:
little to none = 1.4
low to moderate = 1.6
high = 1.8
extremely high = 1.9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ My calculations--------------------------------
ht = 5'7"=67"=170.18 cm
wt = 135lbs= 61.36kg
age = 29

447.593 + (3.098x170.18)+(9.247x61.36)-(4.33x29)
447.593+527.22+567.43-125.57 = 1,668 calories RMR
DCN: 1,668 x 1.6 = 2,668 calories pr day to maintain body weight at low to moderate activity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2,668 calories seems like an awful lot??!!!

Questions:

1) Is this the correct formula for figuring daily caloric needs?
2) If not how do I figure my daily caloric needs?
3) How should I break up the protien/carb/fat %
4) How many calories should i add/cut from the total daily caloric needs to build muscle and reduce body fat?

I currently do not keep track of my total calorie intake, but eat 5 to 6 small meals consisting of protien ( fish, salmon, skinless chicken breast, egg w/ egg whites, tuna, etc), carbs ( oatmeal, veggies, fruit) and fat ( peanuts, flax oil). I try to eat at least 135 grams of protien a day and limit the carbs.

-Workout- : walk/sprint 4 - 5 miles, 2-5x pr week (depending on how much my body will let me without injury), small amount of free weights 2-4x pr wk (no real schedule)

I'm wanting to start a strict diet/exercise program and need to setup a good foundation plan.

My body type:

5'7" athletic build, put on muscle very easy, lean upper body, hold more body fat in lower body. measurements: 34-28-36
body fat: ? %
weight: 140 ?(guessing)

**NickB** · 10-10-2002, 10:01 PM

your weight... did you put in your lean body mass or your actual weight? i believe they go by LBM...

And 2600 sounds like a ton, especialy for someone your size!

Gime a minute, ill find you a more accurate one

**NickB** · 10-10-2002, 10:01 PM

Ah, here we go. Check this one out:

http://www.protraineronline.com/past/july2/nutrient.cfm

**Mudge** · 10-11-2002, 12:04 AM

2000 calories is recommended for a 175 pound college student, so something doesn't add up.

Count what you eat now, and change it moderately in either direction if your trying to lose or gain weight, much nicer to deal with than formulas because they dont take into account your own metabolism or daily activity.

**Yanick** · 10-11-2002, 12:32 PM

IMO, all those formulas are wastes of time, no matter how complex they get, there will never be a 'one size fits all' formula.

Easy way to do it,

15x BW to maintain
12x BW to lose
20x BW to gain

These are rough guidelines only meant to give you somewhere to start (just like all those formulas). You will ultimately have to adjust calories as needed, according to goals + progress.

Also, i just re-read your post.

Start counting your calories.

Increase/decrease your cals by 200-250/week, no more than that, but you could use smaller increases/decreases if necessary. As in your losing just under .5lb/week, you can decrease by 100cals and see where it gets you.

Do more resistance training, less cardio, and make a set resistance training schedule. You will not get bulky.

Thats all i can think of for now.

**Duncan** · 10-11-2002, 08:31 PM

370+21.6*(Lean Body Mass in kilos) for BMR

This is within 50 kcals of my reading from an open circuit spirometer which is pretty much the gold standard. All you have to do after is figure your activity. If you are highly active, add 67%, if you are sedentary, add 33%, interpolate from there.

**chanota** · 10-12-2002, 07:49 AM

Okay, I'm going to start out at 1800 cal and see what happens and adjust from there. I'm a little unsure about how much of those calories should be divided up between protien/carbs/fat.

----> Does 40% protien, 30% carbs and 30% fat sound okay?

I plan on keeping my cardio up, hopefully 4 to 6 times pr week, soon as my shin splint heals I'll alternate between walk/sprint/hills and biking... for now its biking. Thus far the spinting has really started to build my core muscles and hamstrings/gluts. Also plan to setup a lifting program, I'm limited on that for now, at the moment all I have are 5, 10 & 20lb dumbells and VERY little space. I'll figure something out.

thank you all for your response n help

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