A while back I bought the book Dieting for Dummies, out of all the books I have bought on diet and weight loss it is the only one I read cover to cover and still use as a reference.  Can’t say the same for The Zone.

One of the things I used quite often is the formulas to calculate how many calories you really need to eat to lose and/or maintain your weight. I had an entire chart written out for myself and Big Daddy and would do the same for friends when they expressed their diet woes.  Not that I ever actually followed it, but it felt like I was doing something proactive about losing weight other than just complaining about it.

Their are many factors that contribute to your caloric needs such as:

• Age
• Gender
• Metabolism
• Genetics
• Body Shape
• Activity Level

All of which should come as no surprise.

To estimate your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate, what your body needs just to breathe and exist, you can use one of two formulas. Your current weight in pounds multiplied by 10 (11 if you’re a man).  Example 184 x 10= 1,840 calories or use the formula below.  (Or use this BMR calculator)

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age in year )
This isn’t the formula in the book, I tried looking around online for the formula because I’m too lazy to type it out.  The book has different formulas for different age groups.

My BMR  for 184 pounds, 5′6″ and 37 years old= 1,591.70

Next you determine your activity level. 

Sedentary = BMR X .2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X .3 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X .4 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X .5 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)

1591.7 x .2 = 318.2

Next determine how many calories are needed just to digest and absorb your food.  Which is 10% of your caloric need. (BMR + activity cal) x 10% = calories for digestion.

(1591 + 318) x 10% = 190.9

Your total calorie needs:

BMR + Activity + Digestion = Total Calories

1591 + 318 + 190 = 2,099 Calories per day is what my body needs just to go about my daily activities. 

To lose 1 pound a week you need to cut 500 calories; 1.5pounds = 750; 2 pounds= 1000. 

Once you lose weight and your BMR drops to a level where cutting 500-750 would put you in a calorie range below 800-1000 calories a day the 20% rule is safer to follow. Someone with a BMR of 1800 calories can  safely cut 360 calories and continue to lose 1/2 to 3/4 pounds a week.

My average meal at the Golden Arches is 1,300 calories alone.  I know! I KNOW!

It’s quite eye opening.