How Many Calories Do I Need?

Let’s be honest, information about nutrition is everywhere and it is confusing.

We have the option of set diets, personalised diets, intuitive eating, low calorie, low carb, no meat, clean eating, etc. etc.

I’ll be honest with you, whether you are looking to gain, lose or maintain weight; it comes down to calories in vs calories out. But it takes more than just the humble calorie to maintain your chosen goal.

Have you noticed that ALL the fad diets work at first?

Of course they do (people wouldn’t do them otherwise!) because they are lower in calories than your usual diet. However, most of the time they are simply not sustainable because they do not fit into your lifestyle and so you return to your previous weight. This is start of the yo-yo dieting cycle.

Recent research shows that this yo-yo dieting can actually have a detrimental effect on your gut bacteria and it can lead to even more weight gain than you started with!

The number of calories we need is individual to us. It depends on our age, height, weight, activity level and gender. First we work out our resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories we need at complete rest) and then multiply it by a physical activity level.

Luckily for you, I have a nifty little way of working this out:

(w) = bodyweight in kg

Males

Age 18-30 Calculation = 0.0669 x (w) + 2.28 x 1000

Age 30-60 Calculation = 0.0592 x (w) + 2.48 x 1000

Age 60+ Calculation = 0.0563 x (w) + 2.15 x 1000

Females

Age 18-30 Calculation = 0.0546 x (w) + 2.33 x 1000

Age 30-60 Calculation = 0.0407 x (w) + 2.90 x 1000

Age 60+ Calculation = 0.0424 x (w) + 2.3 x 1000

Once you have the answer from your calculation, divide your answer by 4.184

This is the total number of calories your body needs at rest.

Finally we need to multiply this number by your PAL number (physical activity level) using the following data…

How physically active are you? (Be honest!)

Sedentary

(Spend majority of time in and outside of work physically inactive)

👨Male (PAL 1.3)

👱‍♀️Female (PAL 1.3)

Lightly Active

(Daily routine includes walking or intense exercise a couple of times a week)

👨Male (PAL 1.6)

👱‍♀️Female (PAL 1.5)

Moderately Active

(Intensively exercising at least 3 x week or a moderately active job)

👨Male (PAL 1.7)

👱‍♀️Female (PAL 1.6)

Very Active

(Intense exercise for at least 1 hour per day, or a heavy physical job, or an athlete in training)

👨Male (PAL 2.1)

👱‍♀️Female (PAL 1.9)

Extremely Active

(An athlete on a continuous training schedule or a very demanding job such as the armed forces)

👨Male (PAL 2.4)

👱‍♀️Female (PAL 2.2)

If you feel you are somewhere in between, for example you are male with a sedentary job but go to the gym once a week, choose a number such as 1.4.

Voila! Now you have your own personal calorie requirements!

Consuming this amount of calories per day will maintain your current weight.

If you are looking to gain weight, adding 500 calories per day should equate to around 1lb/0.5kg per week weight gain.

To lose weight, subtracting 500 calories per day equates to 1lb/0.5kg per week weight loss.

Important - never drop below 1200 calories per day unless extreme circumstances dictate (such as being advised by a qualified health professional) as this can be harmful to health and unsustainable.

Remember - calories are the starting point but how your diet is made up is the key to long lasting weight gain or loss.

Study after study has shown that a diet high in fibre (wholegrains, fruit and vegetables), lean protein (chicken, fish, plant based protein) and healthy fats (nuts, seeds, avocados, olive/rapeseed oil) and low in saturated fats (butter, hard cheese, red meat), free sugars (cakes, biscuits, sweets), salt and processed foods, is the healthiest way to fuel the body.

Notice how we use the words high and low - no food is out of bounds, but instead we can have a healthy relationship by opting to consume smaller amounts of the foods which do not serve our health.

Food diary apps are a great way of keeping track of your calorie intakes, as well as keeping an eye on your total fat, sugar and fibre intakes.

If you have any questions on your calorie needs, please feel free to email me at thequalifiednutritionist@gmail.com