With obesity levels at a record high, too many people have no idea how many calories they should be eating each day to keep them at a healthy weight.

The number of calories each individual needs can vary enormously from person to person, with factors such as weight, height, age, gender and activity levels all taken into consideration. Therefore, it can be particularly beneficial to calculate your daily caloric needs at regular intervals to help keep your weight steady.



What are your daily caloric needs?

Government guidelines recommend eating between 1,600-2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000-3,000 for adult men. With such a wide variation, people can consistently eat more than they need. For instance, a woman believing she can eat 2,400 calories each day but who in reality only needs 1,600, would be overeating by 800 calories a day. It's easy to see this person would be gaining weight at a rapid rate.

Naturally our calorie needs change from day to day, where some days are busier than others. However, it's not only our activity levels which contribute towards daily calorie needs. Our body burns off calories through involuntary actions, including breathing and heart functions. Fortunately, these activities take care of using up a large proportion of our daily calories, even while resting. This amount of calories is called the BMR (basal metabolic rate).

When calculating your daily caloric needs, you could use a helpful online tool such as this one provided by The American Heart Association. Alternatively, it's quite easy to work out your daily caloric needs manually by using the following procedures where you calculate your BMR rate along with the amount of exercise you take.

Step 1: Calculate your BMR

An easy and accurate method of working out your BMR is by using an electronic body fat monitor. These provide you with your BMR as well as several other useful measurements. You could also ask your doctor for a BMR reading or visit an online BMR calculator where you simply type in your height, age, weight and gender and it does the calculation for you. If you wish to work out your BMR manually simply choose either the imperial method or metric formula shown below.

Imperial BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in year) 

Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) -  (6.8 x age in years )

The number you arrive at may seem quite low. But remember this is the number of calories your body uses up while you are doing absolutely nothing. The next step involves adding on the number of calories used up during an average day through exercise. This includes everything, from going to the gym to showering, walking and even eating.
Step 2: Calculate your daily caloric needs

The Harris Benedict Formula provides a handy way of working out your daily caloric needs according to your lifestyle. Just pick whichever category you think you fit into, and do the sums.

1. Sedentary (little or no exercise) : BMR x 1.2
2. Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : BMR x 1.375
3. Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : BMR x 1.55
4. Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : BMR x 1.725
5. Extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job) : BMR x 1.9

As an example, a woman who weighs 140 pounds, is 5 foot 6 inches tall and is aged 40, has a BMR of 1,386. She has a moderately active lifestyle. Therefore, she multiplies 1,386 by 1.55 and works out that her daily caloric needs are 2,148. In order for this woman to keep her weight steady she would need to consume 2,148 calories each day.

Calculating your daily caloric needs can be an eye opening experience. With many of us assuming we should eat the average number of calories recommended by guidelines, the actual calories we need can be a long way out. This can mean we’re inadvertently eating too much, or in some cases, too little for our personal needs. Working out your daily caloric needs is an easy exercise in itself and is a useful guide for managing your weight.