How Many Calories Does Your Body Need?
Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) below.
Basal Metabolic Rate is the minimal caloric requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. Therefore your Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories you'd burn if you slept all day.
Below is a BMR calculator for you to easily work out your basal metabolic rate.
Enter your details and measurements to calculate your BMR:
It is also important to find out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) which refers to the calories your body uses up each day. This energy usage is affected by how active your lifestyle is. So once you have your BMR, select your activity level by referring to the activity multiplier chart below. You can then calculate your TDEE by multiplying your BMR by your activity multiplier. This will tell you how many calories your body needs based on the activity level of your current lifestyle.
Activity Multiplier
- Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
- Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
- Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
- Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
- Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
Now that you know your BMR and TDEE, should you decide to lose, gain or maintain your current weight, you just have to adjust your calorie intake accordingly. To find out more about the calories in food, and work out what you can or should not eat, please feel free to refer to some of the articles below.
