Calculate Your Calorie Demand
Our daily energy consumption is composed of the resting energy consumption and the performance consumption.
Rest energy consumption (BMI 18.5 - 24.9)
The resting energy consumption is the amount of energy that our body uses during physical and mental rest. Gender, age, body weight and a number of calculation factors serve as the basis for calculating resting energy consumption, taking into account food-induced thermogenesis (the energy that our body has to use to digest food).
Men: (0.047 x weight in kg - 0.01452 x age in years + 4.219) x 239
Example: A 70kg man aged 31 has a resting energy consumption of:
(0.047 x 70 kg - 0.01452 x 31 years + 4.219) x 239 = 1,687 kcal / day
Women: (0.047 x weight in kg - 0.01452 x age in years + 3.210) x 239
Example: A 70kg woman at the age of 31 has a resting energy consumption of:
(0.047 x 70 kg - 0.01452 x 31 years + 3.210) x 239 = 1,550 kcal / day
Performance consumption
Any stress on body functions that goes beyond this resting energy consumption means an additional energy requirement. This additional energy is the power turnover. How high a person's total energy requirement is depends on his resting energy consumption and his physical activity. For this purpose, the resting energy consumption is multiplied by an activity factor, the so-called PAL factor. PAL stands for "physical activity level", it is the measure of physical activity.
Exclusively sedentary or lying lifestyle, PAL Factor: 1.2 - 1.3
Examples: Frail, immobile, bedridden people
Only sedentary work with little or no strenuous leisure activity, PAL Factor: 1.4 - 1.5
Examples: Office workers, precision mechanics
Sedentary work, occasionally additional energy expenditure for walking and standing activities, little or no strenuous leisure activity, PAL Factor: 1.6 - 1.7
Examples: Laboratories, students, assembly line workers
Mostly walking and standing work, PAL Factor: 1.8 - 1.9
Examples: Sellers, waiters, mechanics, artisans
Physically demanding professional work or very active leisure activities, PAL Factor: 2.0 - 2.4
Examples: Construction workers, farmers, forest workers, miners, competitive athletes
Total energy consumption / calorie requirement
Example: A man (or a woman) with a basic metabolism of 1,687 kcal / day and a PAL factor of 1.8 has a total energy requirement of:
1,687 kcal / day x 1.6 PAL factor = 2,699 kcal / day
So now we know how to determine our energy consumption. I explain the calculation of our energy intake in the article "Calculate calorie intake".
Want to learn more about healthy eating? The Information Package gives you everything to start. In addition, I offer professional nutritional counseling that will help you improve your diet and thus your health. The focus is on you, your daily routine and your current diet. Step by step we build healthy elements into your diet so that it is easy for you to implement them permanently. Your health is important. It is one of those things that you take for granted and only miss when it is gone.
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