How to Calculate Your Caloric Needs!
Are you a foodie but also health conscious? Or you are always thinking about balance calorie intake? Whether it’s for weight loss or weight gain or to maintain your current balance, we are here to guide you how to calculate your caloric needs.
There is a simple term used for it known as CICO diet which stands for calorie in. Calorie out. It is all about burning the calories you are taking in. Isn’t it simple and easy to sound. It is even easier to do so. Let’s see how!
If You Eat It, You Gotta Burn It!
But how do you figure out your magic calorie number? Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to calculating your caloric needs using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (a fancy way of saying “math that helps you eat smarter”). Plus, once you have your number, I’ll show you what to actually do with it!
Step 1: Calculate Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is all you need to know first. Your body expends that many calories simply to survive. (1) Your body would still need energy, or calories, to breathe, pump blood, make cells and hormones, and other functions even if you spent the entire day in bed.
The Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which accounts for your weight, height, age, and gender, is among the most accurate methods for determining your BMR.
How to calculate BMR infographic by gender
You can receive a customized estimate of how many calories your body burns at rest by entering your own values into this calculation. Although this is one of the most accurate methods for determining your BMR, it’s not a perfect science, which is why I say “estimate.”
Together, let’s compute this using an example. For example, you would first need to figure out your height and weight in centimeters and kilograms if you are a 35-year-old woman who is 5’4″ and weighs 165 pounds. First all you need to do is calculate your height and weight in centimeters and kilograms.
- Height in centimeters = height in inches x 2.54 or 64 x 2.54 = 162.56
- Weight in kilograms = weight in pounds ÷ 2.2 or 165 ÷ 2.2 = 75
Now, let’s plug these numbers into the BMR equation.
- BMR = (10 × 75) + (6.25 × 162.56) – (5 × 35) – 161
- BMR = 750 + 1016 – 175 – 161
- BMR ≈ 1,430 calories/day.
This means, your body requires 1,430 calories a day to keep going good throughout the day. You must, however, modify your energy requirements according to your level of activity because you don’t lie down all day.
Just in case if you want to skip all the calculations, you can count your BMR here.
Step 2: Adjust BMR Based on Your Activity Level
After calculating your BMR, you can adjust your BMR on the activity you perform daily. By doing so, you can measure how many calories you need each day. And this is called TDEE which stands for total daily energy expenditure. TDEE takes account of your daily physical movement and adjusts your caloric needs based on that. Here are a few factors to calculate your daily TDEE.
Sedentary (little to no exercise)
If you have a desk job and have no movement or little movement throughout the day. You can calculate it as mentioned below.
Activity multiplier: BMR x 1.2
Lightly active (exercise 1-3 days per week)
If you manage to do exercise 3 days per week or even go for a walk 3 days per week. Here is how you can calculate.
Activity multiplier: BMR x 1.375
Moderately active (exercise 3-5 days per week)
If you walk a lot daily or at least 5 days a week, you’ll be considered moderately active. And here is how to calculate it.
Activity multiplier: BMR × 1.55
Very active (exercise 6-7 days per week)
If you have a routine of exercising daily, or even do rope skipping, or your job is more physical. Then, you’ll be considered very active. Here is the formula to calculate it.
Activity multiplier: BMR × 1.725
Super active (hard exercise or physical job)
If you are doing any hard exercises or spending more than hour in a gym doing cardio or heavy movement. You are super active. And this is how you can calculate it.
Activity multiplier: BMR × 1.9
So, getting back to our original example, if you exercise four times per week, your activity multiplier would be BMR × 1.55. Your BMR was 1,430 calories, so the equation looks like this.
TDEE = 1,430 × 1.55 = 2,216.50 calories/day
This suggests that you would require approximately 2,215 calories per day to maintain your current weight. We’ll now update this figure based on your goals.
Step 3: Set Your Goal: Weight Loss, Maintenance, or Gain
Let’s learn your caloric needs based on your personal goals.
Weight Loss:
So, the CICO diet logic is that a pound measures approximately 3,500 calories. In order to shed some weight, you’d subtract 250 to 500 calories from your TDEE.
As per our example TDEE of 2,215, you can cut your intake by 500 Calories. Hence you can take 1715 calories daily to lose some weight. This won’t cut down your weight in a day, but you’ll notice a gradual decrease of 1 pound per week.
Don’t rush to get the results. Start slowly so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. The most important thing to keep in mind is that caloric needs are just a tool to help you lose weight, not a precise science. The results may vary, you may lose more or less but you’ll definitely get the results if you’re consistent.
For Weight Gain:
Thus method also helps if you want to gain few pounds. All you have to do is to consume more calories than your TDEE. Your caloric needs for weight gain can increase by about 500 calories per day, bringing your total to around 2,715 calories.
For Weight Maintenance:
And if you have perfect weight as per your age and height, you can use this method to maintain your current weight. Try to match your calorie intake to your TDEE. The example we are considering, you can consume about 2215 calories per day.
Irrespective of your goal, the only way to get the best results is to take small steps for long-term success. Extreme calorie deficiency may lead to nutritional problems and may impact negatively on your overall health.
You can follow MyFitnessPal, to track your CICI diet for weight loss, weight gain, and weight maintenance.
Macronutrient Balance: Optimizing Your Caloric Needs
The macronutrient balance helps you maximize your nutrition, while the CICO diet might help you control your calorie consumption.
Carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins are the three macronutrients. Achieving the ideal balance enables you to adequately feed your body for particular objectives, such as weight maintenance, muscular growth, or weight loss.
Protein:
Protein is very important for your body. It builds your muscle strength and mass. It helps you to feel full for a longer period of time, so you don’t munch on snacking. All you have to do is to take enough protein while you’re reducing weight.
Fats:
You may think fats are not good for your health, but it is completely a misconception. Good fats help your body to digest and absorb food in the blood. A beneficial macronutrient balance includes about 30% of your daily caloric needs from heart-healthy fats. You may find them in avocados, nuts, seeds, and extra virgin olive oil.
Carbohydrates:
Carbs are often maligned–particularly among those trying to lose weight. However, carbs are your body and brain’s main energy source, and your muscles need carbs to fuel physical activity. Carbs are an important part of your macronutrient balance. Typically, 40% of your daily caloric needs should come from carbohydrates.
The Bottom Line:
Start counting your caloric needs if you want to gain, lose, or maintain your weight. Don’t forget that this process is highly dependent on individuals and depends on other factors like genes, hormones, and muscle mass may change the results too.
