Whether you need to lose weight, gain weight or maintain your current weight, understanding how many calories you require is essential. Counting calories won't help you manage your weight if you don't know how many you should be consuming. Your daily calorie usage, or basal metabolic rate, depends on your weight, lifestyle and age. If you eat more calories than you require, you will gain weight. A calorie deficit will result in weight loss.
Step 1
Approximate your total calorie needs by multiplying your current weight by 12 or 13 to determine a target calorie goal for weight loss. Multiply by 15 or 16 to estimate how many calories you need to maintain your weight and by 18 or 19 to gain weight, suggests ShapeFit.com. These are rough estimates and do not take lifestyle, height or other factors into consideration.
Step 2
Use the Harris Benedict equation to find your basal metabolic rate, using the appropriate equation for your gender. The equation to figure basal metabolic rate for men is 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years). Women should use 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years) to determine basal metabolic rate.
Step 3
Figure your total daily calorie usage by multiplying your basal metabolic rate by 1.2 if you are sedentary, suggests BMI-Calculator.net. If you are active one to three times a week, multiply your BMR by 1.375. Use a factor of 1.55 if you are active three to five times a week. If you are extremely active, training for competition or work a physical job and exercise, multiply your basal metabolic rate by 1.725 or 1.9, suggests ShapeFit.com.
Step 4
Use these totals as a guideline for weight maintenance. Aim to create a 500 calorie per day deficit through exercise and food intake to lose one pound each week if weight loss is your goal, recommends the American Cancer Society.
Tips and Warnings
- Use an automated online calculator, like the one at CaloriesperHour.com, to figure your daily calorie needs without doing the math.
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