There's no point counting calories if you don't know how many you should be consuming every day in the first place. Calculating the number of calories you need per day is simple using the Harris-Benedict Equation. This formula compares your age, gender, height and weight to the amount of weekly exercise you get to figure out how much you should eat every day.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy expended by the body in basal condition, calculated as calories per hour per square meter. To put it simply, BMR is the number of calories your body needs to perform basic, resting functions, such as digestion and tissue growth. You can determine your BMR using a free, online calculator at bmi-calculator.net.
Activity Level
After you've determined your BMR, multiply that number by the factor that best describes your exercise levels: if sedentary, multiply by 1.2; if light exercise, multiply by 1.375; if moderate exercise, multiply by 1.55 and if heavy exercise, multiply by 1.725. The answer is the number of calories you need to maintain your weight, based on your height, age, gender and activity level.
Doing the Math
Take a woman who is 5 ft. 8 inches tall and weighs 180 lbs. Using the BMR calculator, she has a BMR of 1,621. She doesn't get any exercise aside from normal daily movement, putting her in the sedentary category. By multiplying her BMR by 1.2, we find that she needs 1,945 calories per day to maintain her weight.
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