How to Calculate Calories Burned

If number of calories is important to you, then you should be counting it! Some people like seeing their calories disappear right in front of them. Others like the blind approach of working out and eating right and then checking to see if there is any reduction. Fat, calories and weight are three interrelated yet completely different things. Fat is what is stored under your skin, calories are what you put on by overeating or eating the wrong foods and weight can be any form of weight ranging from bone weight to muscle mass. 

After getting these facts straight, you need to be sure that you mean calories and not the others! If yes, then start counting. There are several methods to do this, based on different variables such as body mass, height, gender and age. Read on to find out more about the ways to calculate the calories that you have burned (after a tough day’s eating!).

Calories Burned Formula

Based On Body Weight

There are many online calculators that you can use. They simply calculate the calories burned based on the initial and final weight and thus measuring the calories lost. You can also keep a diary where you mention the quantity and calorie content of each food that you consumed during the day. For men, 2700 calories a day are a must. For women, around 2000 calories are necessary. 

Based On Activity And BMR (Body Metabolic Rate)

This method takes into account the type of exercise you do on a daily basis. If you want to do this by yourself, then most of the cardio exercises work by burning 1 calorie per minute. When computer generated, the concept used is MET (Metabolic Equivalent), which is specific to the type of activity.

Total calories burned = duration in minutes x {MET (3.5 x weight in kg / 200)}

The equations given here might seem a bit complicated, but for an accurate way to calculate the calories burned, it’s still quite a deal.

For men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kg) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

For women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

Ideal BMR varies person to person since it the amount that one can burn depending on your body and the environment.

For example,

If a male weighing 70 kilos, 50 years old and about 170cm tall, calculated his BMR, it would be: 66 + 959 + 850 – 340 = 1535 calories/day

This means that to stay fit, this particular male must burn at least 1535 calories per day.

Activity Multiplier

Based on the BMR, you calculate the amount of activity by the activity multiplier.

Sedentary (if you have a desk job or do no exercise at all) – BMR x 1.2

Lightly active (climbing stairs, moving around) – BMR x 1.375

Moderately active (sports 3-5days a week) – BMR x 1.55

Very active (sports 7 days a week) – BMR x 1.725

Extremely active (training with sports all day long, physical job) – BMR x 1.9

Lean Body Mass

This is a more accurate way of counting the calories as it takes into account, the gender of the person (not total body weight) and is in relation to the BMR. It is calculated together for men and women because males have a high lean body mass than women and it is integrated into one for both to follow:

For men and women: BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg).