Once you learn how to accurately work out how many calories you burn during exercise, it's easier to navigate the tricky balance of calories consumed versus calories burned. The body burns a large number of calories every day with the various processes and functions required to keep the body alive. Any extra calories burned during exercise are on top of this figure. If you eat more calories then you burn, you'll gain weight at a rate of 1 lb. of fat for every 3,500 extra calories consumed.
Step 1
Find out your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. Your BMR is the number of calories your body burns throughout the day staying alive. This is the number of calories your body would burn during a 24 hour period if you rested in bed the entire day. According to the American College of Sports Medicine you can find out your BMR by figuring 10 calories burned for every lb. of body weight. For example, a 160 lb. woman has a BMR of 1,600 calories burned per day.
Step 2
Figure out how many METs your exercise activity is worth. METs stands for metabolic equivalents, the number reflects the amount of effort needed to perform a specific exercise. For instance, sitting watching TV has a MET of 1 and running at 6.7 mph has a MET of 11. Consult the MET chart at My-Calorie-Counter. com (See Resources).
Step 3
Convert your weight to kilograms by dividing your weight in pounds by 2.2. For example, a 160-lb. woman weighs 73 kg (160 / 2.2 = 73 kg).
Step 4
Figure out how many calories you have burned during a specific activity by following the equation: Weight in kg x METs = Calories burned per hour. For example, a 73 kg woman who performs the METs 11 activity of running for one hour burns 803 calories (73 x 11 = 803 ).
Step 5
Add the number of calories you burn during exercise activities throughout the day to the number of BMR calories to find the total number of calories.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep a food journal with the calories listed to figure out how many calories you consume daily and whether you have a deficit or surplus of daily calories.
Things You'll Need
- Calculator
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