Your body has a specific amount of calories it needs to maintain its current weight. This number will vary from person to person. It's not only based on your weight and height, but also your age, sex and activity level. To determine your approximate daily caloric need, there's a fairly simple equation you can use.
Step 1
Weigh yourself on a standard bathroom scale. If you're unsure of whether or not your scale is calibrated correctly, consider having your weight taken at the doctor's office. As soon as you've got the number, you can recalibrate your scale to better track your weight in pounds.
Step 2
Measure your height. To determine your approximate number of calories to maintain your weight, you'll need this number in inches, not feet.
Step 3
Decide where your activity level falls using the Harris Benedict Equation. Each level of activity has a numeric value that's broken out into five separate categories: sedentary (no exercise), lightly active (1 to 3 times per week), moderately active (3 to 5 times per week), extremely active (6 to 7 times per week) and vigorously active (more than 7 times per week). The numeric values are as follows:
• Sedentary = 1.2
• Lightly = 1.375
• Moderately = 1.55
• Extremely = 1.725
• Vigorously = 1.9
Step 4
Plug in the above numbers into the following equations, based on your sex, to help you determine the number of calories you need each day to maintain your weight:
Females: [655 + (4.7 x inches) + (4.35 x pounds) - (4.7 x age in years)] x level of activity
Males: [66 + (12.7 x inches) + (6.23 x pounds) - (6.8 x age in years)] x level of activity
Step 5
Cut calories if you're looking to lose weight. Once you've achieved your weight loss goal, recalculate the numbers to determine the number of calories you need each day to maintain your new weight.
Tips and Warnings
- Since this is an approximate determination of your daily caloric needs, you may want to talk to a doctor or dietitian to help you establish how much you can eat on any given day. They may also include your body mass index and lean muscle mass to arrive at a more precise number.
Things You'll Need
- Scale
- Tape measure
- Paper
- Pen
- Calculator (optional)
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