Here's how to calculate maintenance level of daily caloric intake!
1. Calculate BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) ...or how many calories you need to upkeep normal bodily functions
Men use: 1.0kcal/kg
Women use: 0.9kcal/kg
For men:
(weight in kg) x (1.0kcal/kg of bodyweight x hour) x (24 hours/day) = BMR in kcal/day
For women:
(weight in kg) x (0.9kcal/kg of bodyweight x hour) x (24 hours/day) = BMR in kcal/day
2. Determine Your Activity Level
sedentary = 30% BMR
light = 50% BMR
moderate = 70% BMR
strenuous = 100% BMR
So, activity level x BMR kcal/day = activity in kcal/day needed to support daily activity
3. Determine your Thermic Effect of Food (aka. the cost of calories to digest food... usually 5% for fat and carbs and 10% for protein... we'll use 5%)
5% x (BMR + Activity + Gain) = TEF in kcal/day
4. Determine total energy intake
BMR + Activity + TEF = TOTAL kcal/day
For example, I'll use myself 
BMR = 1.0kcal/kg x hour x 78kg (aka 172 lbs) x 24hours/day = 1872 kcal/day
Activity Level = 50% BMR so, 0.5(1872kcal/day) = 936 kcal/day
TEF = 0.05 (1872 + 936 + 500) = 165.4
Total Energy Intake to Gain: 1872 + 936 + 165.4 = 2973.4 kcal/day
This is pretty much on the money for me, as I use www.fitday.com to calculate my daily intake of calories (fats/carbs/protein) and I've been hitting 2900-3000kcal/day and maintaining the same weight over the last several days.
What are you goals? What's your daily caloric intake? Are you trying to gain or lose weight?
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Comments (9)
this reminds me of 8th grade algebra...
@goblinsinthemirror@xanga - ROFL
In a considerably less amound of time, I could just plug it into an online calculator.
^~^ Interesting, but it just reminds me of Health class when I would always do the math wrong and come out with me being obese, when I obviously wasn't, haha.
Oh, noez. Math. >_< Not really interested in losing weight though so I'll just try my best to eat right and exercise without having to worry about caloric intake. If I lose weight, fine. If I don't, well that's fine too.
Thank you for posting this. This is the same formula I use as well.
It saddens me that the most useful posts are also the least read/ commented ones.
To maintain bodyweight, I consume about 4000-4200 calories a day. I like my weight class, I'm trying to trim down while increasing lean muscle mass and increasing power. It's a tall order, but I'm managing it. It falls to the components of what I'm eating at this point, rather than overall caloric intake/ output.
Wow, you actually need TWICE as many calories per day as I do. Haa.
i just joined the site you posted.
i love it already.
I got it. I've plugged in my information....so far, BMR=1144.8 and I figured my activity level is at least .5 times that which = 572.4
Here's where I'm slightly confused....
5% x (BMR + Activity + Gain) = TEF in kcal/day
Get that, but what's the "gain" mean? What if I want to maintain or loose...how do I figure that out?
@blue_dragonfly420@xanga - Oops! That was a mistake.
Yeah, I added 500 in my original post for gaining weight. If you wanted to lose weight, try subtracting 200-500 calories to get your TEF.
Then add the BMR + activity level + TEF and subtract 200-500 calories for daily caloric intake to lose weight!