Understanding Your Daily Caloric Needs

Knowing how many calories you need each day is really important for keeping healthy and reaching your diet goals. To do this, it helps to understand a few key ideas: energy balance, basal metabolic rate (BMR), and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).

Step 1: What is Energy Balance?

Energy balance is about the calories you eat compared to the calories you use up.

• If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.
• If you burn more calories than you eat, you will lose weight.

The goal is to find a balance that helps you reach your health goals.

Step 2: How to Calculate Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

BMR is the number of calories your body needs to do basic things while resting, like breathing and keeping your heart beating.

You can figure out your BMR with a simple formula, called the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation. Here’s how it works for men and women.

For men:

• BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) - 5 × age (years) + 5

For women:

• BMR = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) - 5 × age (years) - 161

Example:

Let’s say a 30-year-old man weighs 70 kg and is 175 cm tall. His BMR calculation would look like this:

• BMR = 10 × 70 + 6.25 × 175 - 5 × 30 + 5
• BMR = 1,675 calories/day

Step 3: How to Calculate Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)

To find your TDEE, which is how many calories you burn in a whole day, you multiply your BMR by an activity level.

Here are some activity levels:

• Sedentary: Little or no exercise (BMR × 1.2)
• Lightly Active: Light exercise/sports 1-3 days a week (BMR × 1.375)
• Moderately Active: Moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days a week (BMR × 1.55)
• Very Active: Hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week (BMR × 1.725)
• Super Active: Very hard exercise or physical job (BMR × 1.9)

Example:

If we continue with the 30-year-old man who is moderately active, his TDEE could be:

• TDEE = 1,675 × 1.55 ≈ 2,600 calories/day

Summary

1. Calculate your BMR using the Mifflin-St Jeor Equation.
2. Multiply your BMR by the activity level that matches your lifestyle to find your TDEE.

Understanding how many calories you need can help you make better choices about what you eat and how much you exercise, leading to a healthier you!