Calories for Active Women

Food is necessary to life, not your enemy. Adequate nutrition and calories fuel your body and meet nutritional needs. If you are an active woman, you increased energy demands and nutritional needs compared to your inactive counterparts, according to Sports Medicine Australia. First you need to know how many calories to eat per day, and then balance those calories for adequate nutrition.

Calculating BMR

Your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the amount of calories you need to take in each day to maintain your weight without exercise. The only information you need is your age, weight in pounds and height in inches. For women the calculation is:

BMR = 655+(4.35 x weight in lbs.)+(4.7 x height in inches)-(4.7 x age in years)

So if you are a 35-year-old woman that weights 145 lbs. and 65 inches tall, your BMR is 1,427 calories per day.

Activity and Calories

Your BMR does not adequately supply your body calories if you are active. Use the Harris Benedict equation to calculate your caloric need based on how much activity you perform. Multiply your BMR by one of the following factors:

Sedentary = 1.2
Lightly Active = 1.375
Moderately Active = 1.55
Very Active = 1.725
Extremely Active = 1.9

If you are moderately active and exercise three to five days each week your daily caloric needs are approximately 2,212 calories per day.

Nutrient Balance

To fuel your active lifestyle you need a balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat in your diet. Carbohydrates should be 45 to 65 percent of your total calories. Good choices include whole wheat products, oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa or potatoes. Protein ideally comprises 10 to 30 percent of your total calories, with those that are very active consuming closer to 30 percent. Good choices are lean pork or beef, poultry, fish or seafood, peanut butter, beans, tofu, eggs and low-fat dairy. Limit the amount of saturated fats, such as butter, you consume. Fat should make up 10 to 30 percent of your total calories. Choose unsaturated fats such as olive and nut oils or avocados.

Considerations

The caloric needs calculation is just an estimate. It is possible you need more or less calories. A registered dietitian can look at your caloric intake in more detail to help you determine how much and what foods you should be eating. If you are looking to lose weight cut your total intake by 10 to 20 percent, according to registered dietitian Nancy Clark. This amount will help you create the caloric deficit needed for fat loss while still fueling your body.