How many calories do I need?

Hey All!

So the ivillage website has a great tool to calculate how many calories you need in a day. However, the formula below will be a little bit more accurate.

I don't want you to obsess with calorie counting - but if you are trying to lose or gain weight - it's a really good idea to do it for a couple days and get your eating on track.

Calculate Basal Metabolism:
Multiply weight in pounds by 10 (men is 11)
eg: 120 (weight) x 10 = 1200

Calculate Physical Activity
Multiply basal metabolism by energy expenditure
- Energy Expenditure
Inactive = .3 (sitting most of day, less than 2 hours moving slowly or standing)
Average = .5 (sitting most of day, walking or standing 2 to 4 hours, but no strenuous activity)
Active= .75 (physically active 4 or more hours of the day, little sitting or standing, some
physically strenuous activities
eg: 1200 (basal metabolism) x .5 (average energy expenditure) = 600

Dietary Thermogenesis
Add calories needed for basal metabolism and physical activity together and then multiply by .l
eg: (1200 + 600) x 0.1 = 180

Total Calorie Need:
Add calories needed for basal metabolism, physical activity, and dietary thermogenesis together
1200 + 600 + 180 = 1880
*** This is the number of calories you need to consume to maintain your same weight!!

Adjusting for goals
if you want to lose weight minus 250 off of the total calorie need
eg: 1880 - 250 = 1630
***** This is how many calories you would consume to lose 1 pound a week

If you want to gain weight add 250 - 500 calories to the total calorie need
eg: 1880 + 250 = 2130
or 1880 + 500 = 2380
******This is how many calories you would need to consume to gain 1-2 pound per week

Good Luck! Let me know if you have any questions about this!