A calories calculator formula to help you get started.

This calories calculator formula is only intended to help you get started with your weight loss goals and clacultating calories for the first time.

Please do not see this as the only method as it is not individualised enough to be entirely accurate.

However for those of you who do not have a large amount of fat to lose or find calculating calories time consuming try this method to get you started:

Firstly calculate your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) using the figures outlined below:

Age (years)	Men	Women
10-18	(body weight in Kg x 17.5) + 651	(body weight in Kg x 12.2) + 746
19-30	(body weight in Kg x 15.3) + 679	(body weight in Kg x 14.7) + 496
31-60	(body weight in Kg x 11.6) + 879	(body weight in Kg x 8.7) + 829

Source: Hawley, J. and Burke, L. (1998), 'The Training Diet', in Peak Performance, Chapter 10 (St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin), pp. 215-32: from Bean, A. (2008), 'The Complete Guide To Strength Training', 4th Edition. Chapter 3, p14, London: A & C Black Ltd.

Just for your information your RMR is your total caloriies burnt whilst at rest during a 24 hour period (i.e. calories needed to maintain normal bodily functions).

So lets put this calculation into our calories calculator formula using myself as an example. My age is 39 and I weigh 78Kg so therefore my RMR =
78 X 11.6 = 904.8 + 879 = 1783.8 Kcal

Secondly calculate daily energy needs based on your lifestyle. You can do this by using the figures from the table below:

Daily Activity Level	Lifestyle daily energy needs
Mostly seated or standing	RMR x 1.4
Regular brisk walking or equivalent	RMR x 1.7
Generally physically active	RMR x 2.0

So again using my figures as an example: My job is mostly seated or standing (I am an Electronic Engineer so I spend most of my time at a Computer or investigating faulty PCB's at a bench) and at the moment we are not factoring in our exercise levels. Therefore:
1783.8 x 1.4 = 2947.32 Kcal.

Thirdly factor in your excercise calorie expenditure using the figures in the table below (calculate calories according to entire week of exercise):

Sport	Kcal Per Hour
	Men	Women
Cycling (11.2 Kph)	300	234
Cycling (16 Kph)	450	354
Rowing Machine	480	377
Running (12 Kph)	840	660
Running (16 Kph)	1092	858
Swimming (Crawl, 4.8 Kph)	1200	942
Tennis (singles)	426	330
Weight Training	492	384

Again using my example lets update the calories calculator formula, lets say I weight train 3 times a week for 1 hour = 492 x 3 = 1476 Kcal plus 2 times 30 min sessions a week cardio using running at 12 Kph = 840:

1476 + 840 = 2316 Kcal (divide by 7 for daily calorie expenditure)

2316 / 7 = 331 Kcal per day extra calories

Add this into our calories calculator formula to get:
2947.32 + 331 = 3278.32 Kcal

Now all we need do is tweak this depending on our personal goals.

For example if we want to gain weight (i.e. muscle mass) multiply this figure by 1.2 an increase of 20%.

Or if we want to lose weight then multiply by 0.85 a decrease of 15% (between 15% and 20% below maintanence is considered safe for optimal fat loss!).

Lets see how this translates into my example:

To Gain weight (or muscle mass)
3278.32 x 1.2 = 4474 Kcal (rounded up)

To lose Weight
3278.32 x 0.85 = 2787 Kcal (rounded up)

Finally.....

It might be worth adding at this point to further refine your calories calculator formula by subdividing down into macronutrient ratios.

A ratio I use is 55% of Calories from Carbohydrates, 30% from Protein and 15% from Fats. By doing this I know I am eating optimum amounts of the macronutrients I need to reach my goals.

So if I was following my weight lose calculation, the final adjustment to the calories calculator formula would look like this:

Carbs = 2787 x 55% = 1533 Kcals
Protein = 2787 x 30% = 836 Kcals
Fats = 2787 x 15% = 418 Kcals

Converting into grams looks like this:
As 1 gram of Carbs = 4 Kcals: 1533 / 4 = 383 grams of Carbs per day
As 1 gram of Protein = 4 Kcals: 836 / 4 = 209 grams of Protein per day
As 1 gram of Fat = 9 Kcals: 418 / 9 = 46 grams of Fat per day

You may come across various methods for splitting your macronutrients such as the Zone Diets 40-30-30 split but this has some shortcomings that are too lengthy to examine here.

My basic recommendation and it is the principle I follow from Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle" is between 50-55% Carbs, 30% Protein and 15-20% Fat - this is my baseline and from here I will tweak depending on my body type and goals. For example some people may need to adjust to 60% Carbs or drop down to 45% Carbs (personally I would not go further below 45% for concerns regarding health and safe fat loss).

By following this method I have learned how to boost and repair my metabolism for the greatest fat burning effect. Read this article to help explain in more detail how your metabolism can be supercharged for greater fat burning effect ...Click here.

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Conclusion

Although the above method is fine for calculating calories if you want to get started quickly. It does have it's own problems in my opinion.

The main one being is that it does not account for individual body types.

The method I use takes into consideration my body type and also compensates for lean muscle mass weight.

The above formula calculates total body weight which means things like bone, muscle, fat and water are all incorporated into the calories calculator formula.

By being able to deduct your body fat percentage from the calculation you can track better how much weight being lost is actual Fat and not lean muscle or water. Also your starting figure can be alot more accurrate.

Using my prefered method for example I get maintanence calories of 2611 Kcal as compared to 2787 for Fat loss from the above example.

I know this is only a difference of 176 Kcals but this difference could be extreme with somebody who has a much larger body fat percentage.

My original Base Metabolic Rate worked out to 1684 calculated against my lean body fat weight - which was calculated at 61 Kg. Compared to 1783.8 Kcal from the above example based on total body weight of 78Kg.

As you are beginning to see, my prefered method takes into account my own individual body type with body fat percentage deducted from the equation - which is much more effective as a calories calculator.

But if you want more accurate results then I do highly recommend Tom Venuto's "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" who teaches the methods used by fitness models and body builders to lose weight.

These same methods can be applied by you, for more information read this article.

It has a whole chapter dedicted to macronutrients as well as a Chapter about calculating calorie requirements. Chapters on meal planning, motivation techniques as well food charts listing individual foods calorie, protein, carb and fat content.

He also talks about supplements and why most of them do not work - including so called fat lose pills!! Not to mention access to his blogs, regular emails and plenty of bonuses.