The number of calories you need to consume to maintain your weight is equal the number of calories you burn. Your calorie expenditure rate is an essential part of a healthy weight loss plan. You can calculate your calorie expenditure rate from your activity level and physical factors, including your height, weight and age.
Basal Metabolic Rate
An accurate calculation of your calorie expenditure rate requires you to estimate your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your BMR is the minimum rate at which you must expend calories to live. It assumes you're in the post-absorptive stage of digestion, meaning that you're not actively digesting food. Your BMR also assumes you're at a metabolically neutral temperature, meaning that you don't need to burn calories to heat or cool yourself.
Harris Benedict Equations
The Harris-Benedict equations allow you to calculate your BMR. Each gender uses a specific equation. The equation for men is BMR = (weight x 13.75) + (height x 5.003) - (age x 6.775) + 66.5. The equation for females is BMR = (weight x 9.563) + (height x 1.850) - (age x 4.676) + 655.1.
Activity Level
An accurate calculation of your calorie expenditure rate also requires you to determine the number that best represents your activity level. The Multi Vitamin UK website provides activity factors for a variety of lifestyles. For example, an activity factor of 1.2 is for a person with a generally sedentary lifestyle. You have an activity factor of 1.375 if you engage in light exercise up to three times per week. An activity factor of 1.55 applies to people who are moderately active, and an activity factor of 1.725 is for people who have up to six sessions of heavy exercise per week.
Calculation
Assume you're a 37 year-old female with a weight of 76 kg and a height of 173 cm. You have a BMR of (76 x 9.563) + (173 x 1.850) - (37 x 4.676) + 655.1 = 1,529 calories per day. Assume you have a moderately active lifestyle, giving you an activity factor of 1.55. Multiply your BMR by your activity level to obtain your daily calorie expenditure rate. In this example, your daily calorie expenditure rate is 1,529 x 1.55 = 2,370 calories per day.
Conversion
The Harris-Benedict equations require your height in centimeters and your weight in kilograms. Multiply your height in inches by 2.54 to obtain your height in centimeters. Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to obtain your weight in kilograms.
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