Calorie Intake And
The Right Steps Toward
Calculating Your TDEE

Calorie intake is the most important part of an effective, long term weight loss program. And calculating your TDEE will provide you with the optimum amount of calories that you should consume!

The reason for this is simple: If you consume more calories during the day than your body can actually burn -- you will gain weight. And it doesn't really matter if these calories are coming from healthy food/beverages -- or not.

This is why calorie counting is one of the major steps toward creating irreversible, long term weight loss success.

If you truly want to create the body of your dreams in the fastest time possible -- here is the law that you simply "must obey" in order to accomplish this primary objective!

The Law Of Calorie Balance

...If you consume more calories than your body burns during the day, you will store the surplus as unwanted body fat and your total body weight will increase.

...If you consume the same amount of calories as you burn, during the day you will maintain your body weight.

Taking this into account, if your major goal is to create permanent fat loss, you must know exactly how to create a calorie deficit on a regular basis.

Counting calories, using an effective nutrition and an effective exercise strategy will produce the ultimate fat-burning results, especially if you use the right nutrient ratios for the body type that you were born with.

“Does it matter what food the calories come from?” This is one of the most frequent questions that I am asked.

And the answer is this: If you consume the same number of calories that your body burns during the day and if you are talking about strictly body weight, then the answer is no, it does not matter!

To create permanent fat loss you have to know your daily maintenance calorie intake!

The statistics prove this completely. In fact, 99.9% of the people that lose weight re-gain it all within 5 years. Many people re-gain it much faster, but even the most dedicated dieters eventually return to where they started when they began following their diets.

There is one simple reason why knowing your TDEE is so important for creating a lean, healthy body. When you know the amount of calories that your body burns on a daily basis, only then you can create the perfect size meals.

Plus you can adjust them for weight loss, weight gain, or maintenance, when you reach your ideal weight.

Without knowing these numbers, it is very difficult to reach long term results. From my personal experience, very few reach their ideal weight without calculating their TDEE and without knowing exactly how many calories their body can realistically burn during the day.

Of course, a few succeed by getting lucky, but if you want to seriously increase your chances of creating long term weight loss success, I would recommend to calculate your daily caloric needs.

There are a three formulas for determining your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), or daily maintenance level, and in this section we will cover them one by one.

By the way, the last formula using lean body mass will always be more accurate.

This is because if you have more muscle mass, your metabolism will be higher--than a person of the same weight, but with less muscle.

Using lean body mass will always give you the most accurate calculation...

Of course, I suggest that you use the Katch-McArdle formula in this section, using your LBM (lean body mass) for the most accurate calculation of your optimum daily calorie intake.

The formula that I provided in the Weight Loss Tracker page of our Tips and Secrets Section, explains exactly how to calculate your lean body mass (LBM).

Using your LBM to calculate your total daily energy expenditure, will always give you the most accurate numbers, and using them you will always make your ideal size meals.

Your weekly weight loss chart will always show you, if you are eating the right amount of calories. This is your weekly insurance policy, in case you consume too many calories during the week.

Now let's go over all the formulas to calculate your daily calorie intake amounts, and then you can use one of them to figure out your optimum daily calorie intake.

The fastest way to calculate your TDEE

If you have an average amount of muscle mass and body fat, this method can be quite accurate.

To maintain your current weight you multiply your current body weight by 15 calories per pound of bodyweight.

For example 200 pounds multiplied by 15 calories, would give you a maintenance level calorie intake of 3000 calories per day!

If you want to lose weight you would multiply your current body weight by 12 calories per pound of bodyweight.

This would be 200 pounds multiplied by 12 calories, which would give you 2400 calorie intake for weight loss.

This quick formula does not take into account your current body composition or your current activity levels.

But if you want to get a quick ball park figure of your optimum daily calorie intake...it does the job.

Using BMR will be even more accurate

YOUR FIRST OPTION...

The first formula The Harris-Benedict formula can be used if you have not calculated your lean body mass (LBM).

For this formula you use your age, sex, height and weight to determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

It is much more accurate than the quick formula above, but not as accurate as the Katch-McArdle formula below. Here is the formula:

-For Men to calculate BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)

-For Women to calculate BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

...For your weight, 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds

...For your height, 1 inch = 2.54 cm

Example #1: You are a male, 35 years old, 6 foot tall (182.88 cm), you weigh 200 pounds (91 kg). Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will be 66 + 1246.7 + 914.4 – 238 = 1989.1 calorie intake per day!

Example #2: You are a female, 35 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall (170.69 cm), you weigh 132 pounds (60 kg). Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will be 655 + 576 + 307.24 – 164.5 = 1373.74 calorie intake per day!

Once you know your BMR (basal metabolic rate) then use your daily activity factor to get your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE):

-Sedentary................BMR x 1.2 (little exercise)

-Lightly active...........BMR x 1.375 (light exercise)

-Moderately active.....BMR x 1.55 (moderate exercise)

-Very active.............BMR x 1.725 (hard exercise)

-Extremely active......BMR x 1.9 (hard exercise daily)

For example #1... if you are a moderately active male…your TDEE will be 1989.1 calories times your activity level of 1.55 which equals 3083 calories per day.

For example #2... if you are a moderately active female, your TDEE will be 1373.74 calories times your activity level of 1.55 which equals 2129.30 calories per day.

The Harris-Benedict equation has a separate formula for men and women, because as we already mentioned, most men have higher muscle mass and larger bodies.

YOUR SECOND OPTION...

The second formula Katch-McArdle, takes into account your lean body mass (LBM), and will be the most accurate formula that you can use, to get the most accurate total daily energy expenditure.

The formula is BMR = 370 + (21.6 x lean body mass in kg), for both men and women.

Example #1: You are a male, you weigh 200 pounds (91 kg). Your body fat percentage is 20% (40 pounds fat, 160 pounds lean body mass) Your lean body mass (LBM) is 72.72 kg. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will be 370 + (21.6 x 72.72) = 1940.75 calorie intake per day!

Example #2: You are a female, you weigh 132 pounds (60 kg). Your body fat percentage is 20% (26.4 pounds fat, 105.6 pounds lean body mass) Your lean body mass (LBM) is 48 kg. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) will be 370 + (21.6 x 48) = 1406.8 calorie intake per day!

Once you know your BMR then use your daily activity factor to get your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE):

-Sedentary................BMR x 1.2 (little exercise)

-Lightly active...........BMR x 1.375 (light exercise)

-Moderately active.....BMR x 1.55 (moderate exercise)

-Very active.............BMR x 1.725 (hard exercise)

-Extremely active......BMR x 1.9 (hard exercise daily)

For example #1... if you are a moderately active male…your TDEE will be 1940.75 calories times your activity level of 1.55 this will be 3088 calories per day.

For example #2... if you are a moderately active female, your TDEE will be 1406.8 calories times your activity level of 1.55 this will be 2180.54 calories per day.

As you can see the difference between the second and third formula is very minimal.

The Katch-McArdle formula is more accurate when you have an above average muscle mass or above average body fat.

If you want to reach your ideal weight, knowing your daily calorie intake is simply a must. But this is only the beginning, there are so many other elements that create an effective weight loss strategy.

The Ultimate Fat Loss System in the World

In my book The Secret To Permanent Fat Loss you will find a simple, easy to follow "step-by-step" weight loss approach for creating the body of your dreams.

If you want to create irreversible, long-term weight loss success in the fastest time that is humanly possible -- this is the ultimate fat loss system that you will find -- for making this goal a complete reality!

Inside The Secret To Permanent Fat Loss you will discover exactly how you can create the “non-stop” motivation fuel that is necessary for you to use proper nutrition and exercise in order to reach and then maintain your ideal body weight for life!