Figuring out your daily maintenance calories is an important step for maintaining your current weight, losing weight or building muscle. To lose weight, you must do a combination of exercise and dieting to make sure you are burning more calories than you consume, but without going below your maintenance calories because that would put your body into "famine mode" and it would hold on to the fat it has as well as steal glucose from your muscles. Once you are at your ideal weight, you need to know your maintenance calories so you do not overeat and put the pounds back on. If you are looking to add some muscle, you will need to eat more calories so your body has something to build and maintain the muscle with. Determining your approximate maintenance calorie number is as easy as entering some basic information into an online calorie calculator.
Step 1
Take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 15 and 16 to get a quick estimate of your daily caloric needs. Multiply your weight by 12 to 13 calories per pound if you want to get a general idea of the number of calories you should eat to lose weight. Multiply your weight by 18 to 19 for a number of calories that would contribute to weight gain.
Step 2
Use an online calculator for a more specific number (see Resources). Select your gender, from the online calorie calculator and hit "Next."
Step 3
Scroll down to select your body fat percentage range. Use a hand-held body fat percentage device or a scale with a built-in body fat percentage reader to get your current body fat percentage. Hit "Next."
Step 4
Write down your daily maintenance level as given.
Step 5
Check the answer with your physician or fitness professional to be sure this is a reasonable calorie number for you.
Step 6
Repeat the process if, due to exercise and/or dieting, your body fat percentage range changes.
Tips and Warnings
- Do not eat less than 1,400 calories a day if you are a man or 1,200 calories a day if you are a woman. Adjust your eating gradually so that you do not add or subtract a large number of calories all at once if you find that you are not eating the correct number of calories for your goal. Slow changes will give your body a chance to adapt and respond appropriately.
- Athletes and active people will need to eat many more calories because of their high levels of activity, which isn't taken into account with most formulas for daily calorie needs.
Things You'll Need
- Body fat percentage device
Member Comments