how to calculate amount of calories needed to keep even weight? thanks
If you’re just trying to maintain why count calories?
I’d only starting counting (and reducing/increasing) if you’re either shrinking or growing.
How many calories you need doesn’t only depend on your height/weight, it also depends on your lean body mass, the frequency and intensity of your training, your own rate of metabolism, etc.
If I’m not doing much, I estimate around 3000 kcal per day maintain my puny frame. If however I’m working out hard 3-4 times per week, it seems if I go below 4500kcal I start losing weight…
Well, I’m just blathering because I don’t know any actual equations for figuring this out, but I guess if the equations were simple and effective, they’d be more commonly cited.
[quote]sead wrote:
how to calculate amount of calories needed to keep even weight? thanks [/quote]
http://www.johnberardi.com/updates/july262002/na_masscalculator.htm
He must be wrong! I factored in my numbers and I should be eating over 3 000 which makes no sense for me at 5,3 130 bls 18% BF I barely eat 2000 and trust me I calculate everything I eat
[quote]steinnes wrote:
If you’re just trying to maintain why count calories?
[/quote]
…so he doesnt gain or lose weight.
[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
He must be wrong! I factored in my numbers and I should be eating over 3 000 which makes no sense for me at 5,3 130 bls 18% BF I barely eat 2000 and trust me I calculate everything I eat[/quote]
Well it is the massive eating calculator but I’d agree it’s a bit high for what I put in as well.
[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
He must be wrong! I factored in my numbers and I should be eating over 3 000 which makes no sense for me at 5,3 130 bls 18% BF I barely eat 2000 and trust me I calculate everything I eat[/quote]
Actually this calculator seems pretty accurate to me.
Just being me, doing nothing special (office work), I burn 3500 calories according to it.
And On days that I exercise it said around 4500.
Which is not so far from what I had found out myself, especially given the differences between people in terms of metabolism, etc…
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
steinnes wrote:
If you’re just trying to maintain why count calories?
…so he doesnt gain or lose weight.[/quote]
Perhaps I wasn’t being clear. I meant that deciding beforehand on a caloric level to stay at, in order to maintain might not give him the right results.
Trying to eat “normally”, and using for example the 7 habits of healthy eating, and of course some good PWO nutrition, would be the first step in maintaining I’d say.
If however this does not seem to work, then counting your calories, and increasing/decreasing might be in order. Blah, this approach at least seemed rather simple to me…
I came across this on the internet, and it seems to work pretty well for me.
Warning: There is a bit of math involved!
I believe its called the Harris-Benedict formula:
66 + (6.3 x body weight in lbs.) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
This gives you your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Now that you know your BMR, multiply your BMR by your activity multiplier from below:
Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job
Your BMR x Activity level will give you approx maintenance calorie level. Subtract about 500cal a day, and you should lose about a pound a week. All this of course in addition to clean eating and exercising. Good luck
[quote]steinnes wrote:
rrjc5488 wrote:
steinnes wrote:
If you’re just trying to maintain why count calories?
…so he doesnt gain or lose weight.
Perhaps I wasn’t being clear. I meant that deciding beforehand on a caloric level to stay at, in order to maintain might not give him the right results.
Trying to eat “normally”, and using for example the 7 habits of healthy eating, and of course some good PWO nutrition, would be the first step in maintaining I’d say.
If however this does not seem to work, then counting your calories, and increasing/decreasing might be in order. Blah, this approach at least seemed rather simple to me…
[/quote]
steinnes,
Just following the 7 habits doesn’t mean anyhting about the total caloric intake. I can follow the 7 habits and take in 1700 kcals a day or 4500 kcals a day. The 7 habits deal with clean eating.
Everyone has a maintenance caloric intake, and everything else is based on that, meaning adjustments are made to that to get your bulking or cutting calories.