The 1, 2, 3 of Calorie Counting

I am a calorie counter and to this day you will find me running tabs on my computer calculator or on a sheet of paper.  Knowing how much you’re consuming and how much you’re burning is a dummy-proof way to manage your weight whether you’re trying to lose or maintain it (or even gain if you’re one of those anomalous creatures).  For the past 6 years I have used different equations and have allotted myself daily intakes ranging from 1200-2500 calories depending on my weight at the time and how active I was.  Just note though that 1200 calories is usually considered too low an amount no matter what, so I wouldn’t suggest it.  I’m sure you heard your body will turn against your weight loss goal if it thinks you’re starving.  The calorie equation I like most comes from one of my favorite books, Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook.

Below I’ve included an excerpt from her book that I have taken the liberty of editing just a tad for clarity (pg. 272-3).

This is how to calculate how many calories you should be eating a day depending on your body and your goal.

1. Estimate your resting metabolic rate (RMR)—the calories you need simply to breathe, pump blood and be alive—by multiplying your healthy weight by 10 calories per pound.  If you are significantly overweight, use an adjusted weight, a weight about halfway between your desired weight and your current weight. That is, if you weigh 160 pounds but at one time normally weighed 120 pounds, use 140 as your adjusted weight.
2. Add more calories for daily activity apart from your purposeful exercise. If you are moderately active throughout the day, add about 50 percent of your RMR.  If you are sedentary, add 20-40%; if you are very active (simply in day-to-day life, not in terms of how much purposeful exercise you do), add 60-80% of your RMR.
3. Add more calories for purposeful/intentional exercise. If you weigh 140-pounds and generally run 3 miles a day at a 10-minute-mile speed, you will burn about 270 calories in that time (see site here where I got this info. – it’s a great tool!).
4. To lose weight, subtract 20% of your total calorie needs.

We’ll use me as our real-world example (‘cuz I guess I have no shame at this point!).

• My RMR would be calculated as = 135 (my healthy – and current – weight in lbs) by 10 = 1350
• I am sedentary through the day (it happens, people), so I will add 20% of that, which is 270.
• 1350 + 270 = 1620
• Add in that I average running about 5 miles a day, which at the speed I do it would be about 500 calories worth of purposeful exercise a day.
• 1620 + 500 = 2120

So you see you can adjust your daily caloric intake depending on how much purposeful exercise you plan on doing that day.  This means basically that if I was simply trying to maintain my weight as it is, I could eat 2120 calories a day and not gain or lose anything.  I would be breaking even.

• Since I do want to lose 10 pounds, I would subtract 20% of my total calorie needs (2120), which is 424.
• 2120 – 424 = 1696 calories allotted per day if I want gradual and safe weight loss.

Knowing your calorie needs depending on your goals is the most important and primary step in any weight loss plan!  Hope this helps.

Tags: calorie equation, calories, exercise, health education, nutritional information, running, sports nutrition, weight loss, weight loss solutions