How many calories? how many grams? how much carbohydrates? how much protein? How much fat? These are all questions that give the masses a huge headache when it comes to being health, losing or even gaining weight. Well worry no more! Today I’m going to show you just how easy it is to work out how much you should be eating of each macronutrient.
So let’s start at the beginning. Our body needs a specific amount of calories just in order to survive and carry out basic bodily functions. This is called a basal metabolic rate (BMR). As human beings we are highly diverse in nature, therefore no 2 persons’ calorie requirements will be the same (or at least very rare anyway).
How to calculate your BMR:
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age)
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age)
Example:
You are female
You are 30 years old
You are 5’6” tall (167.6 cm)
You weigh 8 stone 8 Ibs (54.5 kg)
Your BMR = 655 + 523 + 302 + – 141 = 1339 calories/day
So, we have calculated our bodies requirements for basic function. Now we need to look at how many calories we need to carry out all our daily activities, taking into consideration the intensity level in which we do so. This is known as our total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
How to calculate our TDEE:
Firstly, we look at our activity levels, we then multiply by the factor which is applicable to your lifestyle.
| Sedentary | BMR x 1.2 | Little or no exercise, desk job |
| Lightly active | BMR x 1.375 | Light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week |
| Moderately active | BMR x 1.55 | Moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week |
| Very active | BMR x 1.725 | Hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week |
| Extra active | BMR x 1.9 | Hard daily exercise/sports and physical job |
Example:
Using our example from above, our BMR is 1330 calories/day
Your activity level is moderately active (workout 3-4 times/week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
TDEE = 1.55 x 1339 = 2075 calories/day
So there you have it, now you can calculate your requirements!
Mark Brearley
(Personal Trainer and Director of INTERFIT)