The number of calories you burn in a day depends on your basal metabolic rate and your activity level. Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the minimum number of calories needed to sustain body functions -- such as breathing, body temperature, metabolism and digestion -- when you're at rest. Factoring in your activity level gives you the approximate number of calories you burn each day.
Step 1
Calculate your BMR. The formula is different for men and women. Use this formula If you're a woman:
BMR = 655 + (4.35 --- weight in pounds) + (4.7 --- height in inches) -- (4.7 --- age in years)
Step 2
Calculate your BMR using this formula if you're a man:
BMR = 66 + (6.23 --- weight in pounds) + (12.7 --- height in inches) -- (6.8 --- age in years)
Step 3
Adjust your BMR according to your daily activity level. If you're sedentary --- you get no exercise and have a desk job --- multiply your BMR by 1.2. If you're lightly active and do some mild exercise 1 to 3 times per week, multiply by 1.375. If you participate in moderate exercise or sports 3 to 5 times per week, multiply by 1.55. If you're very active and participate in hard exercise or sports 6 to 7 days per week, multiply by 1.725. If you're extremely active and do hard daily exercise and physical work or are training twice per day for a marathon or something similar, multiply by 1.9. Now you have the number of calories you burn in a day.
Tips and Warnings
- Calories are a measure of the energy in food. To maintain your weight, the number of calories you burn has to equal the number of calories you consume. If you want to lose weight, you'll need to increase the number of calories you burn. To lose 1 pound per week --- which equals 3,500 calories --- you'll need to burn 500 more calories per day than you consume. This can be accomplished through exercise, taking in fewer calories or a combination of both. One pound per week is a safe rate of weight loss, according to MayoClinic.com.
- The results of these calorie calculations are not completely accurate; they can only give you an approximate number of the calories you burn each day.
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