To lose weight you must burn more calories than you consume. The need for extra fuel causes the body to use energy that has been stored as fat. To evaluate your caloric needs it is important to know how many calories you burn in an average day. With this information, you can design an effective diet and exercise plan, eliminating excess calories and increasing your odds of successful weight loss.
Calculate Calories Burned
Step 1
Estimate the amount of calories you burn in an average day. According to Lifeclinic.com, for an approximation of your daily calorie expenditure, weigh yourself and then multiply your weight in pounds by 10 if you are a woman and 11 if you're a man. This is not the most accurate measure, but it will provide a rough estimate to work with.
Step 2
Calculate your Basic Metabolic Rate, or BMR, if you'd like a more accurate measure of the calories you use each day. BMR measures the number of calories you burn while sustaining essential bodily functions such as breathing or keeping the blood circulating. According to Cornell Univeristy, BMR can be determined using what is known as the Harris Benedict equation. If you are a woman use the following formula: weight in kg x 9.56 + height in cm x 1.85 + 655 - age in years x 4.68. If you are a man, apply the following equation: weight in kg x 13.75 + height in cm x 5 + 66 - age in years x 6.76.
Step 3
Determine your daily activity level. If your lifestyle is fairly sedentary, then you probably spend most of your time sitting, standing, lying down, reading, watching TV or driving -- and your activity level is 0.2. If you are lightly active, doing garage work, electrical work, carpentry, restaurant work, housecleaning, caring for small children or doing light exercise such as walking for no more than two miles one to three days a week, your activity level is 0.3. If you are moderately active, engaging in heavy gardening or housework, cycling, playing tennis or dancing three to five times a week and you do very little sitting, your activity level is 0.4. And if you are very active, performing heavy manual labor such as construction work or playing sports such as basketball, football or soccer six to seven days a week, your activity level is 0.5
Step 4
Multiply your BMR times your activity level. For example, if you're lightly active, doing housework and chasing after your kids all day and you have a BMR of 1356, then multiply 1356 by 0.3, giving a total of 407 calories you burn throughout your day.
Step 5
Add in the number of calories used during digestion. The food you eat must be processed to be used by the body for fuel. This processing takes up energy and burns approximately 10 percent of your daily calories. To determine your digestion calories, add your BMR and your daily activity calories and then multiply the total by .10. If your BMR was 1356, for example, and your daily activity calories were 407, then for digestion you use 1356 + 407 = 1763 x .10 = 176.3 calories burned during the digestion of food.
Step 6
Calculate your total daily calories burned by adding your BMR, your daily activity calories and your digestion calories. The formula looks like this: 1356 BMR + 407 daily activity + 176 digestion calories = 1939 calories burned each day.
Tips and Warnings
- The more exercise you do, the more calories you burn. To increase the amount of calories you use each day, increase your daily activity level.
Things You'll Need
- Weight scale
- Calculator
- Pencil
- Paper
Member Comments