Calculating Daily Caloric Needs & Calorie Deficit
(This is for the rest of the math geeks in the audience)
Hi, all. I just attended a corporate seminar on "Weight Management" and have come back with some formulas that some of you may find interesting. Below, a formula on calculating your daily caloric needs and a mathematical way to plan your weight loss, based on time/weight goals.
Daily caloric needs
Take your current weight in pounds. Multiply it by ten. Call this "Number A."
Determine which of these percentages most accurately describes your activity on a daily basis:
20% - sedentary, not very active at all
30% - light activity, maybe a gym visit for 2 hours or less
40% - moderate activity
50% - high activity - you have a job with great physical demands or compete in & train for sports regularly
Now take that % and multiply it by Number A. The result is Number B.
Add Numbers A + B together, and multiply THAT by 10%. The result is Number C.
Now, add numbers A + B + C together. This is your caloric daily need, based on your typical activity level. In other words, this is the amount of calories your body needs per day. To maintain your current weight at your current level of activity, you must consume this many calories daily
Planning your Weight Loss through Math
Each pound of fat in our bodies represents 3500 calories. To get rid of that pound of fat, we must create a 3500 calorie deficit between the calories our body is using (see above) and the calories we're putting in. To figure out how to plan your daily caloric intake around your personal weight loss goals, do the following:
1. Determine how much weight you want to lose.
2. Determine your goal date for when you'd like to lose those pounds. Figure out the number of days between now and then.
3. Multiply your desired pounds lost by 3500. This is your goal calorie deficit.
4. Divide your goal calorie deficit by the number of days between now and your goal. This will give you your daily caloric deficit goal to reach your weight loss goal on the date specified.
5. Finally, take your daily caloric deficit goal, and subtract it from your daily caloric need, calculated above. This is your target calories per day to reach your stated goal.
It's a bit complicated, especially if you're not a fan of math and word problems, so I'll give you an example from my own life:
Current weight: 286 pounds
Current activity level: light (30%)
286 x 10 = 2860 (number A)
2860 x 30% = 858 (number B)
(2860 + 858) x 10% = 372 (number C)
2860 + 858 + 372 = 4090 (my daily caloric needs at a light activity level)
Goal: 36 pound loss by June (family reunion on the 23rd)
Days between now & the goal: 158
Goal calorie deficit = 36 * 3500 = 126,000 calories
Daily caloric deficit goal = 126,000/158 = 797.5 calories/day
Target calories per day = 4090 - 798 = 3292 calories/day
Things to keep in mind:
* Your daily calorie needs should be regularly re-calculated when (1) your activity levels change and (2) your weight drops by 20-30 pounds (as your needs will change when either happens)
* It's not recommended to have a deficit of 1000 or more calories between what your body needs and what you're putting in to it.
.. having said that, I've been keeping at 2100 or a little lower, and my caloric needs are at just over 4000. I may try upping my caloric intake to about 2800 or so and see if this allows me to lose weight faster -- if you are starving your body, as we know, you'll be doing more damage by dieting than promoting a healthy weight loss. I told the fitness chica who gave me this formula at the class today that I was eating around 2100 lately, and she told me that was far too low. I suppose that might explain the headaches I've been having for the past 5 days or so. Yikes.
X-posted: dietingsupport, 100pluswl, my own journal
Hi, all. I just attended a corporate seminar on "Weight Management" and have come back with some formulas that some of you may find interesting. Below, a formula on calculating your daily caloric needs and a mathematical way to plan your weight loss, based on time/weight goals.
Daily caloric needs
Take your current weight in pounds. Multiply it by ten. Call this "Number A."
Determine which of these percentages most accurately describes your activity on a daily basis:
20% - sedentary, not very active at all
30% - light activity, maybe a gym visit for 2 hours or less
40% - moderate activity
50% - high activity - you have a job with great physical demands or compete in & train for sports regularly
Now take that % and multiply it by Number A. The result is Number B.
Add Numbers A + B together, and multiply THAT by 10%. The result is Number C.
Now, add numbers A + B + C together. This is your caloric daily need, based on your typical activity level. In other words, this is the amount of calories your body needs per day. To maintain your current weight at your current level of activity, you must consume this many calories daily
Planning your Weight Loss through Math
Each pound of fat in our bodies represents 3500 calories. To get rid of that pound of fat, we must create a 3500 calorie deficit between the calories our body is using (see above) and the calories we're putting in. To figure out how to plan your daily caloric intake around your personal weight loss goals, do the following:
1. Determine how much weight you want to lose.
2. Determine your goal date for when you'd like to lose those pounds. Figure out the number of days between now and then.
3. Multiply your desired pounds lost by 3500. This is your goal calorie deficit.
4. Divide your goal calorie deficit by the number of days between now and your goal. This will give you your daily caloric deficit goal to reach your weight loss goal on the date specified.
5. Finally, take your daily caloric deficit goal, and subtract it from your daily caloric need, calculated above. This is your target calories per day to reach your stated goal.
It's a bit complicated, especially if you're not a fan of math and word problems, so I'll give you an example from my own life:
Current weight: 286 pounds
Current activity level: light (30%)
286 x 10 = 2860 (number A)
2860 x 30% = 858 (number B)
(2860 + 858) x 10% = 372 (number C)
2860 + 858 + 372 = 4090 (my daily caloric needs at a light activity level)
Goal: 36 pound loss by June (family reunion on the 23rd)
Days between now & the goal: 158
Goal calorie deficit = 36 * 3500 = 126,000 calories
Daily caloric deficit goal = 126,000/158 = 797.5 calories/day
Target calories per day = 4090 - 798 = 3292 calories/day
Things to keep in mind:
* Your daily calorie needs should be regularly re-calculated when (1) your activity levels change and (2) your weight drops by 20-30 pounds (as your needs will change when either happens)
* It's not recommended to have a deficit of 1000 or more calories between what your body needs and what you're putting in to it.
.. having said that, I've been keeping at 2100 or a little lower, and my caloric needs are at just over 4000. I may try upping my caloric intake to about 2800 or so and see if this allows me to lose weight faster -- if you are starving your body, as we know, you'll be doing more damage by dieting than promoting a healthy weight loss. I told the fitness chica who gave me this formula at the class today that I was eating around 2100 lately, and she told me that was far too low. I suppose that might explain the headaches I've been having for the past 5 days or so. Yikes.
X-posted: dietingsupport, 100pluswl, my own journal