There are a couple of standard formulas for determining your daily caloric needs, such as the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation (see also Determining your Daily Caloric Needs). However, today I'm going to provide you with a simpler method for determining your daily caloric needs. Using the table below, first find your activity level and gender, then choose your desired weight (in pounds) and multiply your desired weight by the factor in the second column. This will provide a guideline for the number of calories you should consume in a day.
For example, if you are a moderately active male who wishes to weigh 170 pounds, multiply 170 by 17 and your daily caloric needs are 2,890. Likewise, a sedentary female who desires to weigh 120 pounds should consume no more than 1,440 calories per day. However, if that same female became very physically active, she could consume up to 2,160 calories per day! That's the power of exercise!
Copyright © 2012
Activity Level | Multiplication Factor |
Sedentary Female | 12 |
Sedentary Male | 14 |
Moderately Active Female | 15 |
Moderately Active Male | 17 |
Very Active Female | 18 |
Very Active Male | 20 |
~Lori Dotson, CPT, CPFT, PES, BA, MS
President, DotsoFit, LLC
Copyright © 2012
