If your health and wellness goals include losing, gaining, or maintaining your weight, it’s helpful to learn how to calculate your calorie needs. Knowing how many calories you need can help you guide your food and activity choices to reach your goals. This is the idea behind the CICO diet, which stands for Calories In, Calories Out.
The logic behind the CICO diet is that once you know your calorie needs, you can add, subtract or satisfy them to gain, lose or maintain weight.
Continue reading for a step-by-step guide to calculating your calorie needs using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. Plus, you’ll learn how to work with that number once you know it.
Step 1: Calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR)
It all starts with your basal metabolic rate (BMR). That’s how many calories your body burns just to stay alive. (1) Even if you stayed in bed all day, your body would still need energy (aka calories) to breathe, pump blood, produce cells and hormones, etc.
One of the most reliable ways to calculate BMR is to use the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, which takes into account your weight, height, age, and sex. (1, 5)
By plugging your own numbers into this formula, you can get a personalized estimate of how many calories your body burns at rest. I say “estimate” because while this is one of the most accurate ways to calculate your BMR, it is not a perfect science. (More on this later).
Let’s take an example and calculate this together. For example, if you are a 35-year-old woman, 5’4” tall, and weighing 165 pounds, you will first need to calculate your height and weight in centimeters and kilograms.
- Height in centimeters = height in inches x 2.54 or 64 x 2.54 = 162.56
- Weight in kilograms = weight in pounds ÷ 2.2 or 165 ÷ 2.2 = 75
Now, let’s plug these numbers into the BMR equation.
- BMR = (10 × 75) + (6.25 × 162.56) – (5 × 35) – 161
- BMR = 750 + 1016 – 175 – 161
- BMR ≈ 1,430 calories/day
This means that your body needs about 1,430 calories each day just to maintain essential functions. However, since you don’t spend all day lying down, you should adjust your energy needs based on your activity level. (If you prefer to skip the calculations, you can easily calculate your BMR here.)
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Step 2: Adjust BMR based on your activity level
Now that you know your BMR, you can take into account your activity level to get a more accurate idea of how many calories you really need each day. That’s your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). TDEE considers your daily movement and adjusts your caloric needs accordingly. (1) To estimate your TDEE, you can use the following activity level multipliers:
Sedentary (little or no exercise)
Use this activity level multiplier if you engage in minimal activity or movement throughout the day, for example because you drive to work and have a desk job. (1)
Activity multiplier: TMB × 1.2
Lightly active (exercise 1-3 days per week)
It is when you do some activity – like going for a walk – up to three days a week. (1)
Activity multiplier: TMB × 1.375
Moderately active (exercise 3 to 5 days per week)
Let’s say you walk a lot in your daily life and exercise most days; He would be considered moderately active. (1)
Activity multiplier: TMB × 1.55
Very active (exercise 6-7 days per week)
If you do some purposeful exercise (like getting on the elliptical machine) most days, or if you have a physical job, you will be considered very active. (1)
Activity multiplier: TMB × 1.725
Super active (intense exercise or physical work)
You’ll be considered super active if you push yourself hard when you exercise (for example, in a spin class) or if you have an intensely physical job. (1)
Activity multiplier: TMB × 1.9
Going back to our example, if you exercise four times a week, your activity multiplier would be BMR × 1.55. Your BMR was 1430 calories, so the equation looks like this.(1)
TDEE = 1,430 × 1.55 = 2,216.50 calories/day
This means that to maintain your current weight, you would need around 2,215 calories per day. Now, we will adjust this number based on your goals.
Step 3: Set your goal: weight loss, maintenance or gain
Here you will learn how to calculate your calorie needs based on your personal goal.
To lose weight:
The logic behind the CICO diet is that one pound is approximately 3,500 calories. (6) Therefore, to lose weight, you must subtract 250 to 500 calories from your TDEE.
Using our TDEE example of 2215, you can reduce your intake by 500 calories, aiming for a daily intake of around 1715 calories. This should lead to a gradual and sustainable weight loss of about 1 pound per week.
Remember that gradual changes are helpful because they are not overwhelming. Also, keep in mind again that while calorie counting is a useful weight loss tool, it is not a precise science. You may lose more or less weight than expected after calculating your personal calorie needs for weight loss.
To gain weight:
If you are trying to gain muscle or gain weight, you will need to consume more calories than your TDEE. Your calorie needs for weight gain can increase by about 500 calories per day, bringing the total to about 2,715 calories.
A calorie counting tool will come in handy when you focus on adding calories to gain weight. MyFitnessPal can also make it easier to make sure you’re adding calories from nutritious sources.
For maintenance:
To maintain weight, try to match your calorie intake to your TDEE. In our example, that would mean consuming about 2,215 calories per day.
Whatever your goal, making small, gradual adjustments is the best way to ensure long-term success. Extreme caloric deficits or surpluses can be difficult to maintain and can negatively affect your health. A calorie counting app, like MyFitnessPal, can help you follow the CICO diet to gain, lose, or maintain weight.
About the experts:
Samantha Cassetty, MS, RDis a food and nutrition expert, media personality, nutrition consultant and nationally recognized author. Cassetty is the former nutrition director at Good Housekeeping and co-author of the book. sugar crash.
Daisy Mercer, RD, He is the food data curator at MyFitnessPal. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Dietetics from Colorado State University and completed her dietetics internship at the VA San Diego healthcare system.
Macronutrient Balance: Optimizing Your Caloric Intake
The CICO diet can help you control your caloric intake, but macronutrient balance helps you optimize your nutrition.
The three macronutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates. The right balance helps you fuel your body properly for specific goals, whether it’s losing weight, building muscle, or maintaining weight. (You can determine a personal macro goal using this free macro calculator.)
Protein:
Protein is essential for maintaining strength and muscle mass. (7) Protein is also associated with increased satiety, helping you feel full for longer periods after meals. (1) Getting enough protein while losing weight will help preserve muscle mass and improve satiety while you are in a caloric deficit. (6)
Fats:
Fats not only help you absorb nutrients, but they also slow down the rate at which food is digested and metabolized. That means that, like protein, fats can help you feel fuller longer. (8) A beneficial macronutrient balance includes about 30% of your daily caloric needs coming from heart-healthy fats, such as those found in avocados, nuts, seeds, and extra virgin olive oil. (3)
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates are often maligned, especially among those trying to lose weight. However, carbohydrates are the body and brain’s main source of energy, and muscles need carbohydrates to fuel physical activity. (9) The truth is that carbohydrates are a vital part of macronutrient balance. Typically, 40% of your daily caloric needs should come from carbohydrates.(3)
Of course, these are general guidelines and some people prefer to balance their macronutrient intake differently.
Counting calories is not an exact science: other factors to consider
While calorie counting can be a useful tool for weight management, there are other things that influence the body’s ability to lose or gain weight.
That’s why it’s important to be kind to yourself when embarking on a weight management journey. While tracking calories is helpful, there is still some trial and error in the process.
Metabolism:
You don’t have as much control over your metabolism as you think. Each person’s metabolism is unique and age, genetics and gender influence their metabolic rate. (7) Of course, your activity levels (how active or inactive you are) is a factor of your metabolic rate that you can control. (More on this below).
Hormones:
Hormones, particularly those related to thyroid function, can affect weight gain or loss. Hormones related to menopause can also influence your ability to lose weight. Talk to your doctor if you suspect that hormonal imbalances are making it difficult for you to control your weight. (7)
If you have lost weight in the past, the hormones that regulate appetite can make it more difficult to maintain this weight loss because these hormones make you hungrier. (10)
Exercise and muscle mass:
In addition to improving your health and burning some calories, exercise, especially strength training, helps you build more muscle tissue. (5) Muscle burns slightly more calories than fat, even at rest. (5) Therefore, the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism and caloric needs will be.
Conclusion: Understand and Adjust Your Calorie Needs
To optimize your health and achieve your goals, start by calculating your caloric needs using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, adjusting it to your personal activity level. You can then start counting calories to lose, maintain or gain weight. (MyFitnessPal can make this much easier!)
While this is a good start, it’s also helpful to consider macronutrient balance, as some calories are more satisfying and nutritious than others.
Remember, this process is very individual and other factors such as genes, hormones and muscle mass also play a role. With gradual, sustainable changes and a balanced approach to calories and macronutrients, you can make progress toward your personal goals.
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