Your calorie requirements depend on your activity level and other factors such as height, weight, age and gender. The minimum number of calories you need each day is your resting metabolic rate. You can estimate your resting metabolic rate by making a few measurements, and entering the results into a standard formula by using your calculator. Men and women use different formulas primarily because of the differences in body fat percentage.
Step 1
Measure your height with a tape measure. Convert your height from inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.54. This is necessary because the formula for metabolic rate uses metric units.
Step 2
Determine your weight with scale. Convert your weight from pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
Step 3
Calculate the daily calorie requirements for males. This is given by the equation (height x 6.25) + (weight x 9.99) - (age x 4.92) + 5. Assume your height is 169 cm, your weight is 70 kg and your age is 39 years. Your minimum calorie requirements are (169 x 6.25) + (70 x 9.99) - (39 x 4.92) + 5 = 1,569 calories per day.
Step 4
Compute the daily calorie requirements for females. This is provided by the formula (height x 6.25) + (weight x 9.99) - (age x 4.92) - 161. Assume your height is 153 cm, your weight is 60 kg and your age is 46 years. Your minimum calorie requirements are (153 x 6.25) + (60 x 9.99) - (46 x 4.92) - 161 = 1,168 calories per day.
Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Scale
- Calculator
References
- "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition"; A New Predictive Equation for Resting Energy Expenditure in Healthy Individuals; M.D. Mifflin, S.T. St Jeor, L.A. Hill, B.J. Scott, S.A. Daugherty and Y.O. Koh; 1990
- CaloriesPerHour.com: Calculating BMR and RMR
- "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America"; A Biometric Study of Human Basal Metabolism; J. Arthur Harris and Francis G. Benedict; December 1918
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