How many calories do I burn a day – and how many calories do I need to lose weight? Advice from the experts

If you’re monitoring your weight, you’re probably interested to know how many calories you burn in a day. 

Calorie counting is one of the most popular ways to lose or maintain weight, among many of the other diets that work. Whether you’re looking to improve fitness, overall health or just want to feel more confident in your body, if you’re someone who watches your calorie intake you’ve probably already done your research into low calorie meals, whether you’re looking for a low calorie breakfast or low calorie lunch ideas.

But it’s important to know that the answer to how many calories do I burn in a day will be different for everyone, because it’s all dependent on what you get up to. So whether you’re looking to know how many calories you burn in a day through particular exercises or just through eating, drinking and breathing, this is what the experts want you to know.

How many calories do I burn a day?

Most people will burn over 1800 calories every day without doing any exercise at all, and this number will be higher for those who are more active. Other factors that can affect how many calories you burn include age, sex, height and weight.

Dr Greg Potter, nutritionist and chief science officer at Resilient Nutrition, explains the reason we burn so many calories without exercise is because we burn most of them just through daily bodily functions. “Our bodies have all sorts of different housekeeping functions they have to maintain even at rest. Your heart is always beating, your brain requires lots of energy. That resting energy expenditure actually makes up the majority of calories people burn each day,” he says. 

(Image credit: Future)

A study by the American Council on Exercise and the Exercise and Health Program at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse looked at 10 different occupations and how many steps each person did every day. A mail carrier, for instance, does around 18,904 steps per day according to the study, working out to about 882 more calories burned per day than a secretary, who will supposedly burn 196 calories throughout the day.

However, it’s a little bit more complicated than this. How many calories you’ll burn per day – either just through your bodily functions or with the addition of exercise – also depends on three main factors according to the Mayo Clinic: 

• Weight/Height: The heavier you weigh, whether fat-mass or muscle mass, the more calories you’ll burn. Taller people tend to also weigh more because they are supporting more mass.
• Sex: Men tend to have more muscle and less fat-mass than women, meaning they burn more calories
• Age: The amount of muscle you have tends to decrease as your get older, slowing down the amount of calories you burn.

What is a calorie?

Calories are the unit of measurement for the amount of energy in food and drink.  Everyone needs to eat a certain amount of calories to keep functioning. 

According to the NHS, the number of calories that should be consumed per day is 2,500 calories for a man and 2,000 for a woman. However, this number actually depends on a whole range of factors, including whether you’re looking to gain pounds or wondering how to lose weight. 

Dr Potter says that when it comes to weight loss, maintenance or gaining weight, what many people are really interested in is the energy balance over time. “The difference between the calories they ingest and the calories they expend,” he explains. “If someone wants to lose weight, they want the long-term trajectory to be such that they are expending more calories than they consume.”

(Image credit: Getty Images)

How many calories do I burn without exercise?

The average person burns around 1800 calories a day doing absolutely nothing. For example, according to the Healthy Eating Guide, sitting burns an estimated 75 calories per hour.

This number will vary however. A sedentary woman aged 19 to 30 burns 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily, while a sedentary woman aged 31 to 51 burns about 1,800 calories per day.

Dr Potter explains, “The number of calories you burn each day depends on your body composition first and foremost. What that means is, the more fat-free mass you have (the body weight you have that’s not made up of fat, e.g. muscle) is the main determinant of how many calories you’ll burn.”

As a study from the University of Cambridge shows, muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue as it’s metabolically more active. This means it works more to grow, produce energy and eliminate waste material. So the more muscle you have, the larger amount of energy your body uses up (even during rest), which means your body will burn more calories while effectively doing nothing.

But while we all want to believe that you can lose weight without diet or exercise, this is largely untrue. So, when you’re thinking about what exercise you may want to include in your regime, Dr Potter says that if you want to burn calories in the long-term then it helps to build muscle – or at least hang onto the muscle you already have.

How many calories do I burn during exercise?

How many calories you burn during exercise varies wildly depending on a number of factors, including weight, height, sex and age, as well as the exercise you are doing. And does being cold burn calories? It can do, but during high intensity exercise, you’ll likely burn more in the heat than in the cold.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you’re looking to take up an exercise that burns the most calories per minute, there are some that are a better choice than others. This is how much a 68kg, 5ft 6 woman in her 30s may burn per minute when working at an average pace: 

• Running: 11 calories
• Spinning: 11 calories
• Skipping: 10 calories
• HIIT/Interval Training: 10 calories
• Swimming: 10 calories
• Jogging: 8 calories
• Cycling: 7 calories
• Boxing: 6 calories
• Tennis: 5 calories
• Rowing: 5 calories
• Pilates: 4 calories
• Walking: 2 calories
• Yoga: 2 calories

Ultimately, the most successful exercise will be the one you enjoy most. While running tends to burn more calories than cycling, if the idea of going out for a run fills you with a deep dread, you’re less likely to go. 

If you’re relatively new to exercise and still finding your groove in what you do and don’t like, Dr Potter says there’s one type of exercise that’s perfect for those looking to lose weight. 

He says, “If I was going to pick one exercise for somebody whose goal is weight-loss, knowing that people are a bit crunched for time, I would definitely push them towards doing strength training.” 

Not only is strength training (otherwise known as resistance training) proven to burn more calories in the longer term, whether that be weightlifting or callisthenics, it’s also better for maintaining an all round body composition. 

“If those who are losing weight don’t do resistance training,” Dr Greg Potter says, “They’ll end up losing a big proportion of their mass as fat mass but also a relatively substantial portion of their mass as fat-free mass. They’ll lose muscle mass and bone mass and so on as well.

“However, if they do resistance training, they’ll hold onto a lot more of their fat-free mass.” 

According to a Harvard study, the depletion of muscle mass could lead to less mobility and greater weakness, meaning you’re more prone to falling over and fractures. Meanwhile, the loss of bone mass can trigger conditions such as osteoporosis, otherwise known as “weak bones” – it’s a disease that causes bones to become brittle and makes them more likely to fracture too. 

Resistance training is also a good exercise to go for because you really never know how many calories you’re actually burning through exercise – even when you use a fitness tracker. As Dr Potter explains, “What’s important to recognise is that when somebody steps on a treadmill and they see some estimate of calories burnt while running, they often forget two things.. One, that it is just an estimate and it’s probably not particularly accurate. It’s actually quite difficult to measure energy expenditure (i. e. calories burnt) in the real world.

“And two, people often forget that they would have been burning calories at rest anyway during a bout of exercise. I think many people go wrong because they’ll go to the gym, get on a treadmill and stay on it for an hour. 

“It’ll say something like ‘500 calories burnt’ and they’ll think, ‘great, I’ve just earned an additional 500 calories on top of what I would have burnt’. But the reality is, they would have burnt some of those calories at rest anyway.” 

This is one of the reasons why it’s important to look at your diet first if you’re looking to gain or lose weight.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

How many calories should I eat to lose weight?

Typically, to lose weight you have to eat 500 calories fewer than your maintenance level. If you have a calorie deficit of 500 per day, according to a leading study on the subject, you’ll lose one pound per week. 

This is because 3,500 calories roughly works out to one pound of body fat. In a month, you may lose almost 2kg in weight. You can find out your maintenance level with a simple calorie calculator.

Calorie counting is one of the most popular ways to manage a diet without sticking to a specific one, like the Sirtfood Diet, for example, or reverse dieting. It involves setting yourself a limit, depending on whether you want to lose, maintain or gain weight, and literally counting the number of calories you consume per day to ensure it meets this.

8 calorie counting weight loss tips:

1. Weigh and measure all of your food and drink

That’s right. To even attempt calorie counting successfully, you have to measure and weigh out everything that you put into your body. So whether that’s your morning coffee or the ketchup on your chips, it all needs to be recorded. 

But there are apps that can help with this. Here are some of the best ones: 

• My Fitness Pal 
• Lose it! 
• Noom 

While there’s no guarantee that the nutritional information in the app will be entirely correct, you do have the option to scan labels and input the nutritional information yourself.

If you have a Fitbit, you can also record your calories within the Fitbit app. This will then weigh up the number of calories you’ve eaten throughout the day with the number you’ve burnt, whether through exercise or daily movement.

2. Limit calorie tracking to just a week or two

While those such as athletes and sports people whose weight is important to their occupation may be able to make calorie counting sustainable, it’s not achievable for the everyday person. But calorie counting just for a week or two is a good way to discover what’s actually in the food you’re eating. 

“Some people, when they’re starting out, they really don’t know what’s in food. They don’t really know what carbohydrates are. They don’t know which foods are rich in protein, and so on. And so assuming somebody has a relatively healthy relationship with food, but they don’t really know what’s in food, I think calorie counting can be helpful. And I think the actual process of tracking [eating] behaviour is often helpful too,” Dr Potter says.

3. Focus on the food you’re eating – not just the calories

When it comes to counting calories, it’s also important to look at the nutritional information of the food you’re eating. 

“Ensure you’re focusing on the nutrient density rather than solely the calories,” Nutritionist Jenna Hope tells us. “For example, oatcakes contain more calories than rice cakes but they’re also higher in fibre and B-vitamins. Fibre contributes to satiety and so they’ll leave you feeling fuller for longer.” 

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Having a source of complete protein is also important, Dr Potter says. “A fist-sized source of complete protein at each meal is a pretty good place to start. These are basically all animal sources of protein – and there are some plant ones too. It’s important for fat-free mass but it’s also the most satiating of all the macronutrients. One gram of protein is more satisfying that one gram of carbohydrate or fat on average. And so, protein is very good at keeping hunger at bay relative to the other macronutrients. “

He also adds, “You burn more calories digesting protein than you do burning carbohydrates or fats on average.”

4. Don’t cut your calories too low

According to NHS guidance, if you need to lose weight you should aim for a loss of maximum 2 pounds per week until you reach a healthy weight for your height.

“You should be able to lose this amount if you eat and drink about 500 to 600kcal fewer a day than you need,” they say.

Cutting your calorie intake by more than this can have a serious impact on your health. They’re not easy diets to follow through with and they can have dangerous side-effects.

Side effects of a low-calorie diet can include:

• Feeling hungry
• Feeling low on energy
• A dry mouth
• Diarrhoea or constipation
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Cramps
• Hair thinning

“While very low calorie diets can lead to short term weight loss, it is likely that the weight will come back on after the diet ends,” the guidance adds.

Low energy levels, linked to not eating enough, are famously a reason why many of us feel tired all the time. Our body needs calories to function day-to-day so when you limit these, you’re likely to feel fatigued.

5. Focus on long-term lifestyle changes rather than a quick fix

Ultimately, calorie counting is often not sustainable in the long-term and weight loss is affected by many other factors – not just what you put into your body. 

“Weight can also be heavily affected by sleep and stress too. Therefore, try to ensure you’re getting ample sleep and that you’re managing stress where possible too,” Jenna says. 

So, if you’re finding that eating a low calorie diet isn’t helping you achieve your weight goals, you might want to start to look elsewhere for ways to help you progress.

6. Try high-volume eating

The worst part of counting calories will be feeling hungry. This is almost inevitable if you’re reducing the amount of food you’d normally eat in a day.  

High-volume eating can work to counteract this. It’s a strategy of eating where you can consume a large amount of food while not exceeding your calorie goals as you’re eating a lot of food that’s low in density, i.e. low in calories. 

It’s based on the idea that a food’s physical weight and the number of calories it has is not directly linked. For example, 160g of (cooked) red lentils works out to be about 154 calories. While 170g of (cooked) white pasta works out to be almost double this at 282 calories. 

This is because white pasta is significantly richer in carbohydrates, which have a higher calorific value, than red lentils. So by eating for volume, you can eat more food while consuming less calories.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

7. Make sensible food swaps

Swapping out calorie-dense foods for lighter ones means you have more calories to work with.

But this doesn’t even need to be as extreme as swapping your favourite spaghetti bolognese for lentils. It can be something as simple as swapping from whole milk to sugar-free oat milk. The difference between the two may only be 20 calories per 100ml, but if you drink multiple cups of milky tea or coffee every day it can really add up.

8. Try zig-zag calorie counting

Not only is eating exactly the same number of calories every day likely to get boring very quickly as you’ll undoubtedly find yourself sticking to similar foods, there’s also evidence to suggest that it will stop working after a while. 

For example, one study from 2015 found that a three-week low calorie diet decreased participant’s metabolisms by more than 100 calories.

Zigzag calorie counting aims to combat this as you alternate the number of calories you eat on any given day. The same study found that when they switched participants onto a higher-calorie diet in the fourth week of the program, their metabolism increased to above the starting level. 

For it to work, you should have a combination of high-calorie days and low-calorie days. All these add up to your weekly calorie target. 

So for example, if your weekly calorie target is 14,000 calories per week (2,000 per day) then you may eat 2,300 calories for three days a week and 1,775 for the other four days of the week. 

This method of calorie counting prevents the body from adapting to the lower number of calories and putting you into a weight loss plateau, research shows. 

A seven-week study of participants who had taken part in calorie-restricted diet found that a heavy carbohydrate “refeed” for two consecutive days was more effective at preventing the loss of fat-free mass than a continuous cycle of energy restriction. They also discovered that the participants’ resting metabolic rate was slightly better maintained.

And a second study from the Obesity Society also confirmed that intermittent low-calorie diets were more effective for weight loss than a continuous restriction.

Calorie counting: Is it for you?

• It’s not the healthiest way to lose weight: Nutritionist Jenna says, “Calorie counting is generally not the healthiest approach to losing weight. It oversimplifies nutrition and dietary choices. Making healthy decisions should be based on a wide range of factors including proteins, fibre and micronutrients.” 
• The nutrition label on the back of food packets isn’t always correct: Also if you do decide to calorie count, be aware that what you nutritional information won’t always be true. “The calories listed on food labels are often inaccurate,” Jenna says. 
• Or, there won’t be a nutrition label at all: So if the labels aren’t always correct (or they don’t exist), you’ll have to make an educated guess. You’ll have to base your plan around the nutritional values you do know – if you know any of them.
• It depends on your lifestyle: If you’re someone who enjoys going out to eat or drink, at a friend’s house or in a restaurant, you’re naturally going to find it harder to count calories, because you won’t always know the calorific value of the food you’re eating.
• You may experience a negative impact on your mental health: “Tracking calories can become all consuming and can have a negative impact on mental wellbeing,” Jenna says. And it’s particularly not recommended for those who have experienced disordered eating in the past – one 2018 study found that out of 105 people diagnosed with an eating disorder, 75% said that they used an app to count their calories.

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses and can manifest in many ways. If you need help, eating disorder charity Beat has support available. Learn more via their website or contact them via their helplines. 

Related features:

• Weight gain: How long does it take to put on weight?
• 16:8 diet plan
• 5:2 diet meal plans
• The Fast 800 Diet explained with recipes
• What is the 1,000 calorie meal diet?
• Sugar-free diet plan
• Diets that work fast

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How Many Calories Do You Burn In A Day Without Exercise? – Performance Lab®

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Calorie counting is a popular and effective way to lose weight. But to help you work out how many calories you need to consume daily, it’s important to know how many calories you burn in a day at rest.

Calories measure the energy we take in through eating and how much we expend. They provide energy for our bodies to perform essential basic functions. This idling state is known as the body’s basal metabolic rate (BMR).

In this article, we explain everything you need to know about the body’s BMR and how many calories the average person burns a day.

Your Body At Rest

You may think laying on the sofa uses no energy at all, when in fact, there are still a bunch of things going on inside your body that require energy. For example, energy is needed to maintain basic functions such as breathing, circulating blood, and building cells.

Your BMR represents the number of calories you need to perform these essential functions in a given period. Essentially, how many your body needs to remain alive.

Your BMR accounts for roughly two-thirds of your total calorie expenditure in a day, so a fair chunk. Some people may have a higher BMR than others because metabolism is affected by a number of factors, such as age, gender, body size and composition, and medical conditions.

Fidgeting is another source of casual energy expenditure. If you like a good leg jiggle, you will actually be burning through more calories. According to one study, this could increase calorie expenditure by up to 350 calories a day (1)!

So if you aim to lose weight, you might want to try picking up fidgeting as a new habit – much to your friends’ dismay!

The varying factors that influence metabolism mean it can sometimes be difficult to determine your BMR accurately. Luckily, there is a simple equation that you can use to help you work out how many calories you burn at rest a day.

Calculating Your Own BMR

The Mifflin-St Jeor equation is an old-school formula to help you estimate your own BMR (2).

For those who enjoy math – time to get your calculators out! You will also need your weight (kg), height (cm), and age to fill in the formula below. Note that the formula is different for men and women.

• Males: 9.99 × weight + 6.25 × height – 4.92 × age + 5 = BMR
• Females: 9.99 × weight + 6.25 × height – 4.92 × age – 161= BMR

Generally, most people burn over 1800 calories a day without any exercise. But it’s important to remember that this is just a guide.

And while this is still considered the best equation for measuring metabolic rate, it is only 70% accurate (3). A more accurate measurement would need to be done in a lab with the proper lab equipment.

Boosting Calorie Expenditure

To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than your body uses, known as a calorie deficit. Exercise is the obvious factor that will increase your calorie expenditure, but did you know some supplements can also help raise your metabolic rate to help you burn more calories at rest?

Performance Lab Caffeine Plus not only improves mental alertness and physical energy but also raises your metabolism to help boost fat burning and accelerate weight loss.

A combination of other clever ingredients such as L-theanine and L-tyrosine also minimizes the adverse side effects commonly associated with caffeine for cleaner stimulation.

Conclusion

Calories are a measurement of the amount of energy your body uses in a given time. During rest periods, calories are still used to power essential functions such as breathing, the heartbeat, and cellular processes.

This is known as the BMR, which can be calculated using a simple equation that takes into account weight, age, height, and gender. On average, a person will burn at least 1800 calories a day without exercise.

To lose weight, you must be in a calorie deficit. Caffeine supplements can help you achieve this state by boosting your BMR to promote fat burning.

References

1. Levine, James A., et al. “Interindividual variation in posture allocation: possible role in human obesity.” Science 307. 5709 (2005): 584-586.
2. Cancello, Raffaella, et al. “Analysis of predictive equations for estimating resting energy expenditure in a large cohort of morbidly obese patients.” Frontiers in endocrinology 9 (2018): 367.
3. Bendavid, Itai, et al. “The centenary of the Harris–Benedict equations: how to assess energy requirements best? Recommendations from the ESPEN expert group.” Clinical nutrition 40.3 (2021): 690-701

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How many calories does your body burn? – HEALBE Blog

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A beautiful, slender body is 80% the result of proper eating habits and a healthy diet, the rest depends on your physical activity. To be in shape, you need to eat less and move more. But how do you know how many calories you need to burn to reach your goals? Are you sure that your calculations are correct?

Calorie consumption is boring! So you ate, for example, a cheesecake and you think: “you need to work it out – run 10 kilometers or sweat in the gym for an hour and a half. ” You can train for days, but in the end, energy expenditure and calorie burn are just numbers. The main thing is your diet!

Exercise and training is the best way to burn calories, but you’ll be surprised how much energy your body uses even at rest.

How calories are spent:

Basic metabolism

The body requires a lot of resources to maintain life: the work of organs, heartbeat, brain activity and the preservation of muscle mass. Thus, your body burns calories even when you are resting, for example, sitting on a chair or lying on the couch.

Digestion

The body also needs energy to digest food. Your body spends calories to get new calories.

Physical activity

Movement uses energy: walking, jogging, dancing, housework, exercising, swimming all burn calories. At the same time, your consumption depends not only on the intensity of training, but also on the characteristics of the body.

Thermal effect

This is the energy that the body spends on digesting the product. The higher the thermal effect, the more energy you will need. For example, 30% of the calories in protein go to digestion.

Thermoregulation

Your body also expends energy on heat exchange (thermoregulation), maintaining body temperature in various conditions. For example, when you are cold, your body uses more energy to keep warm.

Which exercise burns more calories?

• Rope
  At a pace of 100-130 jumps per minute, you can burn 14-15 kcal.
• Squats
  20 sec squat, 10 sec rest, 8 reps. If you do everything right, you will spend 53.6 kcal in 4 minutes.
• Burpees
  One burpee (bouncing push-ups) consumes 1.40 kcal
• Cindy and Mary
  A set of exercises from 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats. With an average pace and short breaks, you can burn about 13 kcal per minute.
• Gireyi
  burn about 20 kcal per minute
• System for rowing ,
  in 30 minutes “burns out” 337 kcal, or about 12 kcal per minute.
• AirDyne Bike
  Progressive trainer. Burns 87 calories per minute!
• Fat bike – riding bicycles with large wheels. For an hour of riding such a bike, 1500 kcal or 25 kcal per minute are burned.
• Skiing allows you to burn more than 12 calories per minute.

A few facts about burning calories:

• The simplest yet most effective physical activity is walking.
• When laughing, a person burns about 30 calories.
• As you move, your body learns to use energy more efficiently. If you train constantly, then you spend not the amount of energy that is written in the tables.
• Singing will burn an additional 10-20 calories per song, depending on the volume and pitch of the voice. If you sing while exercising, you will burn more calories.
• The error in calculations according to tables and formulas can be 20-30%.
• During sex, you can burn approximately 200 calories in 30 minutes.
• If you’re nervous, you can burn about 400 calories a day.
• On a calorie deficit, people move less, resulting in less consumption and less weight loss.
• When you eat celery, you burn more calories than you consume.

How do you know the exact number of calories you burn during physical activity?

There are many ways to find out how many calories you burn during physical activity. All these methods come down to statistical tables, calculations and formulas. Unfortunately, this information cannot be accurate, since the calculations do not take into account the individual characteristics of the organism. Without special equipment, it is impossible to calculate the exact calorie consumption. This will become an incredibly boring, monotonous activity for you.

It’s not the burning of calories that brings results, but the control of nutrition!

It is the control of the caloric content of the diet, and not exercise, that is the surest means in maintaining or reducing weight.

Most fitness trackers lie

In calculating the calories burned, conventional fitness trackers are guided by steps, or heart rate. Unfortunately, this approach leads to inaccurate readings.

For example, the heart may beat faster from stress, but this does not mean that you are burning calories at this moment, as in a shuttle run. As a rule, heart rate measurements make sense at the time of an intense workout, but with less difficult workouts, the accuracy of the calculations decreases.

Step counting works if you are walking or running, but does not reflect the actual calorie consumption during squats and other physical exercises. If you’re not going anywhere, regular fitness trackers may not register activity.

The HEALBE GoBe smart bracelet helps you manage your daily energy balance and 100% automatically calculates the number of calories digested during food and spent during physical activity.

Why is the HEALBE GoBe smart bracelet better than any other fitness tracker?

We use the most advanced technology to provide accurate data to our users.

HEALBE GoBe uses 3 sensors to automatically calculate calories burned:

• accelerometer for activity and movement of the body
• piezo pressure sensor
• galvanic skin reaction sensor

Collecting data from several sensors allows you to more accurately calculate how many calories you burn per day, not only at the time of training. HEALBE GoBe also takes into account basal metabolism, walking, running and routine activities.

When counting calories, the smart bracelet also relies on your individual characteristics: gender, height, weight and age.

How to use HEALBE GoBe to calculate calories burned?

• The data you enter into the app is important when calculating your basal metabolic rate, so if your weight changes, remember to update your profile.

• GoBe will motivate you to burn more calories, walk and eat right, but only you can change your habits!

• If you have a Withings Smart Body Analyzer, you can sync your scale with the HEALBE GoBe app and the data will be updated automatically after each weighing.

All data available in the HEALBE web interface

HEALBE GoBe provides detailed information on how many calories you burn during various types of physical activity and divides the activity into several types:

• Calm
• Routine
• Basal metabolism
• Walking and running

On the Energy Balance chart in the application, you can track how much energy is spent day and night during daily activities, sleep, digestion.

The HEALBE GoBe smart bracelet counts steps and distance traveled, calculates the time you spent sitting or standing, knows how many calories you burned in the process, and provides a complete report. With this information, you can easily determine what lifestyle changes you need to make to burn even more calories or gain weight.

Why do you need HEALBE GoBe?

GoBe will help you control your nutrition and physical activity, get the body of your dreams and feel healthy, strong and fit!

HEALBE GoBe3

The world’s only smart bracelet with a unique automatic calorie counting feature. GoBe also assesses the body’s water balance, stress level and sleep quality, measures heart rate and tracks physical activity.

• Free UK Shipping
• 30 Day Money Back Guarantee
• 1 Year Warranty

Please note that HEALBE Corp. is not responsible for information that may be used as the basis for medical advice or fitness, exercise or diet. Always seek the advice of a physician with any questions you may have regarding a health condition before starting a diet or during physical activity.

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How many calories a person spends per day – what does the bulk of the volume go to and how to increase consumption

Calories are units of energy that enter our body with food. Depending on the lifestyle, they are either consumed or deposited in the fat layer. Knowing about calories will help you if you want to lose weight, gain weight or keep the weight in the same value. If you are striving for one of the listed goals, but it doesn’t work out in any way, then counting calories will help you. After all, as nutritionists assure, this process is the key to an ideal figure.

The calculation of energy units is not difficult, only a few parameters will have to be taken into account. We will talk about this in this article.

The term “calorie” was introduced in the middle of the 18th century by the Swedish physicist Johann Wilke. From Latin it is translated as “warmth”.

Why count calories?

As we have already said, calories enter our body with food. It is they who give us the opportunity to live and carry out our plans. The catch is that not everyone knows their daily energy intake. This results in overweight and health problems. After all, the calculation of energy is not only about losing weight, but also about a healthy lifestyle in general.

There are certain rules for calculating calories in relation to weight and height, compliance with such norms is necessary for the body to be in balance. Obesity or anorexia is always negative for a person’s health, so counting calories will give you some benefits. If you want to manage your body weight, then for the first time you should accurately calculate the calories consumed.

Important points to consider:

• The same ratio of calories consumed and energy expenditure will help maintain a stable weight.
• When the amount of energy consumed is greater than its consumption, the weight will increase. Excess energy is converted over time and stored as fat.
• If the energy expenditure is greater than the nutritional value consumed, then weight is lost.

Well, and most importantly, if you consume even 100 kcal more calories than necessary, then in about a year you will feel them on your sides, stomach and hips.

How to determine the daily calorie intake per day?

The number of calories you need to consume per day varies from person to person. To find out your daily allowance, you must first find out how much you consume, and then how much you spend. For this component, it is necessary to take into account some parameters:

• gender;
• age;
• lifestyle;
• physical activity.

The main role here is played by lifestyle, how active you are during the day, whether you go in for sports, features of work. The total number of calories received is the sum of the value of the foods that are consumed during the day. Just pay attention to the packaging, they always write the nutritional value per 100 g of the product. Add them up and get the amount of energy consumed.

Simple calculations

Daily calorie intake is the sum of three calculations:

1. Basal metabolic rate (BMR).
2. Physical activity coefficient (CFA).
3. Thermal effect of food.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR)

There are several ways to calculate BMR. The simplest and most accurate method is the Harris-Benedict formula.

• Women: 65.5 + (9.6 x body weight in kilograms) + (1.8 x height in centimeters) – (4.7 x completed years in years). As a result, you will get a figure, subject to which your weight will remain constant.
• For men: 66.5 + (13.8 x body weight in kilograms) + (5 x height in centimeters) – (6.8 x completed years in years).

If you want to lose weight, then 10-20% should be subtracted from the received daily allowance. Here you should not take risks and make the numbers smaller, otherwise you will harm your health. And if you want to get better, then add 10-20% to the daily allowance. But here it is important to consider what foods you will get calories from.

There is another simple way of calculating physical activity. It is necessary to multiply the number of calories by the available weight:

• For people with a sedentary lifestyle or with minimal physical activity – 26-30 kcal.
• For people involved in physical activity 3-5 times a week – 31-37 kcal.
• For people with high physical activity – 38-40 kcal.
• For those who are engaged in strength training for more than 15 hours a week – 41-50 kcal.

Physical activity coefficient (CFA)

Formulas can give different values, so you can calculate the ratio from multiple formulas and calculate the arithmetic mean. Further, the result should be multiplied by the coefficient of physical activity:

• with low physical activity CFA is 1.1-1.3;
• with moderate activity – 1.3-1.5;
• with high activity – 1.5-1.7;
• at very high activity – above 1.8.

To facilitate the counting process, online calculators, gadgets and spreadsheets were invented. Using them, you can find out the exact data for weight loss or weight gain.

Thermic effect of food

The thermic effect of food is the amount of energy that is used to digest food and break it down in the body. To calculate it, it is necessary to multiply the obtained value of the daily norm, taking into account the coefficient of physical activity, by 0.10 or 10%.

Taking into account all three steps, you will get the daily calorie requirement that your body needs. It is good if you keep a food diary and write down in it in detail what you eat, drink, what physical activity you did, as well as your weight. At the end of the week, you will clearly see the result and know where to make adjustments.

Calories burned per day

Whatever activity you do, any movement requires the expenditure of energy. This table shows the approximate calorie expenditure per day for men and women.

If you have an eight-hour working day, then the costs will be taken into account by profession. Examples:

• office workers (lawyers, designers, programmers, etc.) – 550 kcal;
• education and service workers (teachers, salespeople, managers, etc.) – 1050 kcal;
• workers who have moderate physical activity – 1500 kcal;
• employees with heavy physical load – 2050 kcal.

All calories are approximate, depending on weight, gender and height. The heavier the person, the more energy he takes.

When doing household chores

Household chores are an integral part of our lives, they should not be deleted from the list. Any work done around the house requires energy. The table shows the calculations taking into account the performance of work within 30 minutes.

When playing sports

Playing sports is the best way to part with a lot of calories. Therefore, if you have a sedentary lifestyle, then you should devote at least 1-2 times a week to physical activity. With little activity and at rest, only 20% of the energy of the total amount of food consumed is consumed. Men and women burn different amounts of calories. As a rule, this figure is always lower for women.

Are calories lost during sleep?

During sleep, the human body continues to work and expend energy.