Calories are fuel for your body. Muscles require calories in order to maintain tissue structure and function. If you have muscle, you will need to increase you calorie intake. You can determine the number of calories you need by computing your basal metabolic rate.
Basal Metabolic Rate
The presence of muscle increases your basal metabolic rate. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will need to consume. Estimate your basal metabolic rate, which is the number of calories that you burn in a single day. The calculation for basal metabolic rate takes into account the extra weight of your muscle mass. You should eat the same number of calories as your computed basal metabolic rate to maintain your muscle.
Calculating Calories
The equation a woman can use to calculate her basal metabolic rate is 655 + (4.35 X weight in lb.) + (4.7 X height in inches) -- (4.7 X age in years). A male would use a slightly different equation to find his basal metabolic rate, which is 66 + (6.23 X weight in lbs) + (12.7 X height in inches) -- (6.8 X age in years).
Example
Based on the basal metabolic rate equation, a male who is 30 years old, is 6 feet tall, or 72 inches, and weighs 200 lb. would need to consume 2022.4 calories per day. The equation would look like 66 + (6.23 X 200) + (12.7 X 72) - 6.8(30), which comes out to 2022.4.
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