Calorie Calculator - Daily Calorie Needs

DAILY CALORIC INTAKE CALCULATOR
Age	Years
Gender	Male Female
Weight	Pounds Kilos
Height	Feet   Inches
Exercise level	Basal Metabolic Rate Little/no exercise (desk job) 3 times/week 5 times/week 5 times/week (*intense) Every day Every day (*intense) or twice daily Daily exercise + physical job
Advanced Options
Results in  Calories    Kilojoules Formula:  what's this? Mifflin-St Jeor Katch-McCardle:      Enter Body Fat % Harris-Benedict
Maintenance ? CALORIES/DAY Fat Loss ? CALORIES/DAY Extreme Fat Loss ? CALORIES/DAY 7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag)   Maintenance Fat Loss Extreme Fat Loss Monday       Tuesday       Wednesday       Thursday       Friday       Saturday       Sunday       *Calorie cycling provides same amount of calories per week, but 'tricks' your body by constantly changing daily calories. This helps to prevent or break plateaus. Guideline only.

* Intense Exercise Defined Here

How Many Calories Should I Eat?

The calorie intake calculator provides an estimate of how many Calories (or kilojoules) are required for both men and women.

• To break this down into carbohydrates, protein, and fat - use the nutrient calculator.
• If you are looking to gain weight or muscle - use the bulking calculator.
• If you are pregnant and looking to gain the appropriate amount of weight needed for a healthy baby - see the pregnancy calorie calculator.
• If you are a new mother and are breastfeeding - see the breastfeeding calorie calculator.

Calories for Fat Loss

Science tells us that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so a daily calorie deficit of 500 should result in 1 pound per week fat loss (find out how many calories you burn for any exercise here). In reality things don't quite work that efficiently! Generally, a person's energy expenditure becomes less as they get lighter - meaning that you will inevitably plateau. The amount of food intake that once lead to weight loss, will now only maintain².

Warning!

Always try to aim for the "Fat Loss" daily calorie level. The "Extreme Fat Loss" level is effectively a rock bottom calorie level. Do not attempt to immediately drop your calories to this level hoping for the quick fix - this may ultimately backfire. The Extreme Fat Loss level is listed to show the lowest calorie amount that could be considered. It should be seen as the exception rather than the rule.

It truly is better to burn the fat than to starve it.

The Weight Loss Plateau

This is why most of us reach a weight loss plateau. At this point, the only option is to boost metabolism; increased cardio, weight training, 'cheat' meals (i.e. occasional high-calorie meals), cycling (or zig-zagging) calories, and even manipulating macro-nutrient ratios can all help to do this (don't forget adequate sleep and hydration). You often find that the nearer you get to your goal weight (or body fat percentage) - the harder things get!

Continually dropping calories only serves to lower metabolism even further - the moment you return to 'normal' eating - the weight comes back on.

Minimum Daily Calorie intake

When reducing calories:

Try to gradually lower calories. A sudden drop (such as 500 calories or more) can cause your metabolism to slow. Learn to eat slowly - research shows that faster eaters are heavier people¹.

What happens when calories are too low?

1) Muscle mass is broken down for energy (catabolism).
2) Metabolic rate will begin to drop (typically) after 3 days of very low calories - this is related to, and compounded by the loss of muscle mass.
3) With very low calories you risk sluggishness, nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and often irritability. You are completely set-up for a regain in fat if you suddenly return to your previous eating patterns.

Lose Fat AND Build Muscle?

Most people lose muscle mass when restricting calories. It takes great effort to maintain muscle tone - and it is even more tricky actually building muscle while losing fat.

There are 2 great resources for this.

• Beginner It's worth reading Tom Venuto's Burn the fat, feed the muscle (BFFM) for valuable insight on how to maintain muscle while maximizing fat loss. This book / manual is the biggest selling on-line book over the last 8 years.
• Advanced To build muscle and lose fat check out Venuto's follow up - the Holy Grail Body Transformation Program. It is an honest guide showing you how to achieve this. It is technical - using cyclical diet adjustment and periodization techniques. Please note that this takes great dedication!

How to Zig Zag Calories?

As mentioned above, tricking the body by varying calorie intake can be helpful - particularly for those that have hit a plateau. Jon Benson's Every Other Day Diet is worth a look: rather than eating "diet food", he changes nothing but varies the amount he eats.

Carb Cycling
To extend the concept of calorie cycling even further, carbohydrate cycling is an option especially for those who have HIT A PLATEAU. This involves manipulating your daily intake of carbohydrates in order to maximize fat loss, and it helps to keep you in the right 'headspace' when you have 1-2 days of restricted Calories. Tom Venuto's article on Carb cycling is an excellent guide to start looking at.

Loose Skin?

Many people who lose larger amounts of weight find issues with loose skin. Because skin is elastic it stretches when we gain weight (normally a slow process), but fails to return to shape when we lost weight (often a faster process). This is complex but there are some answers in this guide (hint: creams don't work).

References

This calculator has been developed using the most accurate methodologies from peer-reviewed research. Please see the Calorie Needs Guide for a complete explanation + citations.

[1] Faster Self-Reported Speed of Eating Is Related to Higher Body Mass Index in a Nationwide Survey of Middle-Aged Women Sook Ling Leong, Clara Madden, Andrew Gray, Debra Waters, Caroline Horwath Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1 August 2011 (volume 111 issue 8 Pages 1192-1197 DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2011.05.012)

[2] Modeling weight-loss maintenance to help prevent body weight regain. Kevin D Hall and Peter N Jordan , American Journal of Clinical Nutrition December 2008 (Vol. 88, No. 6, 1495-1503doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.26333)