Click Here For Your Free Health and Fitness Magazine Subscription

Free Calorie Requirements Calculator

How many calories do you need each day? Use this free calorie calculator to estimate your daily calorie needs based on your age, sex, height, weight and activity levels.

Estimated Calorie Requirements

Male Female Sex Age Pounds Kilograms Weight Inches Centimeters % Body Fat Ht or BF

Resting Very Light Light Moderate Heavy Total (24 hrs)

BMR (Calories) Activity (Calories) Total Calories

Directions

Fill first column with age in years, weight, and height (inches or centimeters) or percent body fat (eg: 21.2); select appropriate menu options. Fill the number of hours spent on respected activity levels considering the example activities below. Decimal values are allowed (e.g. 2.5, 0.25). The total must equal 24 hours; "Total" is not a required entry. Use weighted average values since activity levels probably vary from day to day. Keep in mind, most people over estimate their activity level. Click "Calculate" when complete.

Resting

Sleeping, reclining

Very light

Seated and standing activities, painting trades, driving, laboratory work, typing, sewing, ironing, cooking, playing cards, playing a musical instrument

Light

Walking on a level surface at 2.5 to 3 mph, garage work, electrical trades, carpentry, restaurant trades, house cleaning, child care, golf, sailing, table tennis

Moderate

Walking 3.5 to 4 mph, weeding and hoeing, carrying a load, cycling, skiing, tennis, dancing, weight training including rest between sets.

Heavy

Walking with load uphill, tree felling, heavy manual digging, basketball, climbing, football, soccer

Basal Energy Expenditure (BMR) calculated using the Harris Benedict Equation (Height, Weight, and Sex) or Katch-McArdle Formula (Body Composition).

Harris J, Benedict F. A biometric study of basal metabolism in man. Washington D.C. Carnegie Institute of Washington. 1919.

Katch, Frank, Katch, Victor, McArdle, William. Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance, 4th edition. Williams & Wilkins, 1996.

Activity levels based on values reported by WHO (1985) and Durnin and Passmore (1967).

Click Here For Your Free Health and Fitness Magazine Subscription