The number of calories you need to consume in order to sustain your weight is equal to the number of calories that you burn. You can calculate your calorie expenditure from your activity level and physical factors such as age, height and weight. Determining your calorie expenditure can help you establish a healthy weight-loss plan.
Activity
Your activity level directly affects the number of calories you need to consume. Multivitamin.co.uk provides activity factors for specific lifestyles. For example, a sedentary person has an activity factor of 1.2. A lifestyle that includes two or three sessions of light exercise each week has an activity factor of 1.375. A moderately active lifestyle has an activity factor of 1.55. A lifestyle that includes up to six sessions of heavy exercise each week has an activity factor of 1.725.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Your minimum calorie expenditure rate is your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. Your BMR is the rate at which you expend calories when you're not performing any activity at all. Once you estimate your BMR, and you can multiply this number by your activity factor to obtain the total number of calories you need to sustain your weight.
Harris Benedict Equations
The Harris-Benedict equations provide estimates for your BMR. The Weill Medical College of Cornell University offers the following Harris-Benedict equation for men: BMR = (13.75 x weight) + (5.003 x height) - (6.775 x age) + 66.5. Women use this equation: BMR = (9.563 x weight) + (1.850 x height) - (4.676 x age) + 655.1.
Conversion of Units
The Harris-Benedict equations require your weight in kilograms and your height in centimeters, which frequently requires you to convert units of measure. Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to obtain your weight in kilograms. Multiply your height in inches by 2.54 to obtain your height in centimeters.
Calculations
Assume you are a 42 year-old male with a weight of 83 kg and a height of 182 cm. Your BMR is therefore (13.75 x 83) + (5.003 x 182) - (6.775 x 42) + 66.5 = 1,834 calories per day. You have a moderately active lifestyle, so your activity factor is 1.55. You therefore need to consume 1,834 x 1.55 = 2,842 calories per day to sustain your weight.
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