As busy professionals, it can be very difficult to find time to eat a meal, much less how to figure out how many calories and the best proportion of macronutrients! Well, I’m here to help you! Before I start outlining strategies for meal prepping and providing tasty nutritious recipes to help you lose weight, let’s first dive into calculating just how many calories via macronutrients you should consume on a daily basis.
The formula begins with calculating your BMR. BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the number of calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day. In other words, your BMR is the total calories burned from sleeping and breathing while sustaining your bodyweight. Here is the link to calculate your BMR: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
Once you have your BMR, you can now customize your total daily calorie needs via the Harris Benedict Formula below.
| Harris Benedict Formula |
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To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:
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After using the formula above, you should all now have a TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) that takes into account both your BMR and activity level. Now that we have this number, let’s breakdown how to reach our goals.
In order to lose weight, you must be in a caloric deficit (you are consuming less calories than you are burning). By consuming 500 calories less than your TDEE or burning an additional 500 calories through exercise each day, at the end of the week, you will have lost 1 pound. How did I come to this conclusion you ask? Simple: 1 pound = 3500 calories. Get it? So if you want to be more aggressive and lose 2 pounds per week, simply make sure you are 7ooo calories below your weekly TDEE totals.
If you wanted to gain 1 pound per week, you would consume 500 calories each day above your TDEE.
Hopefully this is not too confusing! If you have a good understanding of the above calculations, you are now ready to figure out your daily macronutrient breakdown.
Daily Macronutrient breakdown???? I can already see some rolling your eyes wondering what this is….. Well, first of all congratulate yourself if you figured out your TDEE and understand how you apply that number to your weight loss/gain goals.
In the next blog, I will guide you on the appropriate macronutrients you should be consuming to reach your daily calorie needs. Also, some homework before my next blog: Download the MyFitnessPal app! https://www.myfitnesspal.com
Just trust me, it will be very helpful!
Until next time, be fit!
Brian