How to Calculate Maintenance Calories

The amount of maintenance calories is the caloric level required to sustain your body on a daily basis in a complete resting state. It is the break-even level of calories, and often referred to as the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). The main factors in determining a person's maintenance calorie level are age, weight, height, sex and activity level. Knowing the amount of calories needed to sustain a person is the optimal starting place for determining a diet if planning on losing or gaining weight. The BMR is just a general guideline and cannot account for genetic makeup.

Things You'll Need

• Calculator
• Pen
• Paper
• Scale
• Measuring tape

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Instructions

• 1

  Determine your exact weight and height. This information is imperative to calculating maintenance calories, so use a scale and measuring tape.

• 2

  Multiply your height in inches by 12.9 if you're male, 4.7 if you are female. The result of this equation equals A.

• 3

  Multiply your weight in pounds by 6.3 if you're male, 4.3 if you are female. The result of this equation equals B.

• 4

  Multiply your age by 6.8 if you're male, 4.7 if you're female. The result of this equation equals C.

• 5

  Use the results achieved in Steps 2-4 in the following calculation: A + B - C. Add 66 to the answer if you are male, if you are female add 65. The sum of this equation is the base of your daily caloric maintenance level.

• 6

  Determine the type of lifestyle you lead; are you are mostly sedentary or extremely active? If you are sedentary, the multiplier is 20 percent. Lightly active is 30 percent, moderately active is 40 percent, and very active and extremely active are 50 and 60 percent, respectively. Multiply the base number achieved earlier by the percentage corresponding to your activity level, take the product of that equation and add it to the base number. For example, if the base number achieved earlier is 2,000 and you are moderately active, you would add 2,000 + 800 to achieve a caloric maintenance level of 2,800 calories a day.

• 7

  Using the break-even caloric level, if you are looking to safely and effectively lose weight, cut 500 calories out of that daily level in order to achieve a weight loss of roughly one pound per week. Alternately, if you are looking to gain weight, you add an additional 500 calories a day in order to achieve a weight gain of roughly one pound per week.