Calories: Are you eating the right amount for your goals?

By Korey Walz – NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Calories are a measurement unit of energy, they can be energy consumed or energy burned.  Calories are a great way to track your food intake and make sure you are on the right path to achieving your goals. But how do we know what that number is? Many nutrition labels say “based on a 2,000 calorie diet”. Is 2,000 calories the magic number that everyone should eat during whether it be to gain strength or lose fat? If only it was that simple.

There is an equation that helps determine the amount of calories a person should consume based on three common goals.

1. To lose weight
2. To gain weight
3. To maintain weight

This formula is called the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation. This formula takes into account gender, height, weight, BMR (basal metabolic rate – calories burned at rest), and activity level to determine a caloric amount an individual would consume to maintain their weight.  The calculator can be found here: https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html 

Example (typed into the calculator):

Age: 25

Gender: Male

Height: 5 feet 10 inches

Pounds: 160 Pounds

Results:

BMR: 1717 Calories/day

Daily calorie needs based on activity level-

Exercise: 15-30 minutes of elevated heart rate activity.
Intense exercise: 45-120 minutes of elevated heart rate activity.
Very intense exercise: 2+ hours of elevated heart rate activity.

Based on the values I typed in I got a BMR 1717 calories a day. This value is the amount of calories I will burn in a day if I did no activity at all. Now you need to pick an activity level from the grid to find your maintenance level of calories. If you look at the calculator there is a grid to the right of activity levels that range from Sedentary to very intense exercise daily with calorie ranges from 2060 calories all the way to 3,262 calories. 

Based off the grid I am going to pick the third choice to say this individual has an activity level of exercising 4-5 times/week, which gives a value of 2,515 calories a day. This is the amount of calories this individual would need to consume to maintain the weight he is currently at. For the goal of gaining weight we need to consume more calories than we burn so this individual would consume 300- 500 more calories than his maintenance level of calories resulting in 2,815-3,015 calories a day. For the goal of losing weight we need to consume less than we are burning so this individual would consume 300-500 calories less than his maintenance level of calories resulting in 2,015-2,215 calories a day. 

Now put your information into the calculator, pick an activity level off the grid, and either add or subtract 300-500 calories (based on your goals) to the amount listed, and you will have a good estimate of how many calories you should be consuming on a daily basis to lose fat, maintain current level or gain muscle!