First of all, you will need to eat the appropriate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, and a good general rule is 1 part fat, 2 parts protein, and three parts carbohydrates. If you are using a gram/ounce scale to measure your food, you can tell how many calories you are eating by referring to the chart below. Click here for healthy food calorie chart.
Also, if you are working out to build muscle, in order to maintain and grow muscle, your body needs about .9 grams of protein per day, per pound of body weight. For a more muscular male body builder, it would be more like 1.4 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day. But for the average active person, around .9 grams is adequate. For example, I weight 127 pounds. 127 x .9 = 114.3 grams of protein per day. Being that a 6 ounce chicken breast has about 48 grams of protein, this isn't that difficult to achieve.
Here is a formula based on averages that you can use to figure out how many calories you need per day. Everyone is different, so the result is not cut in stone. However, this is an excellent general guideline.
- Convert your bodyweight from pounds to kilograms by dividing your weight by 2.2. My weight is 127.
127 / 2.2 = 57.73 - Calculate equation from step 1.
Men: 1.0 x bodyweight in kilograms x 24
Women: .9 x bodyweight in kilograms x 24 (that would be me)
.9 x 57.73 x 24 = 1247 - Based on your gender and body fat percentage, determine your lean factor. Last time I check, my body fat was at 20%. Here is a table to determine your lean factor (See Table 1 at the end of the page). My lean factor according to Table 1 below is .95.
- Calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This is how many calories you burn while lying down in a 24 hour period. Do this by multiplying the number from step 2 (mine is 51.96) by your lean factor multiplier. So
1247 x .95 = 1184.7 (BMR). - Determine your daily activity multiplier. Mine is 1.65, working out 3-4 times per week.
- 1.30 is the couch potato multiplier.
-1.55 is the non-exerciser but active person multiplier.
-1.65 is the walker, jogger, gardener, tennis player, skiier, cyclist, weight trainer multiplier.
-1.80 is the heavy exerciser like construction worker, rock climber, football player, or soccer player multiplier.
-2.0 is the heavy duty exerciser working out 2-4 hours per day plus 8 hours of heavy activity per day. - Finally, calculate your daily calorie needs by multiplying your BMR (#4) by your activity muliplier.
1184.7 x 1.65 = 1,955 (I rounded up).
So, my daily calorie needs according to my activity level= 1,955 calories. So I need to space out my meals during the day to equal about 1,955 calories, but not more. If I go on vacation for a week without working out during that time, I will need to adjust my calories accordingly. Understandably, making all these calculations can be a pain, but it's great for determining how many calories you need. This table is based on averages from extensive studies per the International Sports Sciences Association.
TABLE 1 - Lean Factor Multiplier
