How Many Calories Should I Eat If I Want to Lose or Gain Weight?

Well the answer depends on you. There are many personal factor you must consider when figuring how many calories you need to lose weight ( daily caloric intake)

Why should you know your daily caloric intake?

I'm going to introduce you to a mathematical formula called the Harris-Benedict principle. The sum of the Harris-Benedict principle is called your basal metabolic rate or BMR for short.

Counting calories is worthless if you have no idea how many calories you should consume. Knowing your daily caloric intake is really half the battle. No matter if you're looking to lose, gain or maintain weight you need to know your daily caloric intake. Your daily caloric intake is the amount of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. You will need to deduct calories from your daily caloric intake to lose weight, add calories to gain weight and to maintain weight stay at your daily caloric intake.

Calculating Your BMR

Your BMR is the amount of calories (energy) your body needs to function.We use about 60 % of the calories we consume each day for basic involuntary functions such as breathing and digestion.

Other factors that influence your BMR are height, weight, age and sex.

Step one is to calculate your BMR with the following formula:

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

*Please note that this formula applies only to adults.
Calculate Activity

Step two: In order to incorporate your activity level into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation to get your Activity Level Number.

• If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent
• If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent
• If you are moderately active (You exercise about 3-4 days per week.): BMR x 40 percent
• If you are very active (You exercise intensely 5 or more days per week.): BMR x 50 percent
• If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training, or exercise intensely 5 or more days per week for 3 or more hours per day ): BMR x 60 percent

Add your Activity Level Number to your BMR = Daily Caloric Intake