How to Calculate Calories?

Calculating Calories.

Maintaining your body weight within the prescribed limits for your sex, height, and age is key to remaining healthy. Understanding and knowing your calorie requirements per day is an essential step to attaining this goal. Our basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy (calories) we spend on the vital bodily activities that keep us alive and awake. These include breathing, blood circulation, digestion and absorption of food, kidney function, and so on.

Basal metabolic rate is calculated by using the Harris-Benedict formula modified by Mifflin. The following is the formula for women (please note, men have a different formula). Here, the BMR is equal to “(10 x weight in kg) plus (6.25 x height in cm) minus (5 x age in years) minus 161”. So, all you need to do is enter your weight, height and age to get your BMR.

But we are all active to a greater or lesser degree. So, to account for this, you multiply the BMR with the number you select from the following list to get the Active Metabolic Rate (AMR).

• Sedentary persons (little or no exercise): AMR = BMR x 1.2
• Lightly Active persons (exercise 1-3 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.375
• Moderately Active persons (exercise 3-5 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.55
• Active persons (exercise 6-7 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.725
• Very Active persons (hard exercise 6-7 days/week): AMR = BMR x 1.9

The AMR reveals the number of calories you need to consume daily to maintain your current body weight. If you need to reduce weight, then your permitted calories will be less than this. These calorie values may need to be modified under certain situations, such as diabetes.

Benefits of Calculating Calories

Knowing daily calorie requirements is one of the key things you need to remain healthy. But other things do need to be taken into consideration. One of them is body fat percentage, which can be calculated again and modified accordingly. In addition, you can now choose what you eat depending on the details available on food packages sourced reliably.

In addition to calories, choices you make must consider the amount and ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. You must also include adequate quantities of other nutrients like vitamins and minerals. With this knowledge, you can now choose a varied diet and make every meal appetizing yet maintain good health. You cannot, of course, forget the other aspects of health like regular exercise or sports, regular and adequate hours of sleep, and having enough time for leisure activities.

Calculating your daily calorie requirements may appear a formidable mathematical task at first sight. But once you understand the ideas behind it, the process becomes much more manageable. Frankly, it is quite a simple task. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead, sit down with pen and paper and do your calculations right now!

What is a Calorie? By Emma Bryce

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