Calorie requirement calculator

Calorie requirement calculator

Our calculator quickly and easily calculates your personal calorie requirement. This allows you to adjust your diet to your weight goals. It doesn't matter whether you want to lose weight reliably or build muscle. In addition, our calculator tells you how many calories you should eat to achieve the desired weight change. In addition to your calorie requirement, we will therefore calculate for you which calorie target you can use to build muscle and lose fat.

‍

Lose weight with our calorie calculator

To lose weight sustainably, you must consume fewer calories than you burn over a longer period of time. So you have to stay in a calorie deficit. To lose fat, we recommend a daily calorie deficit of between 300 and 500 kcal. Since one kilogram of fat has around 7000 calories, a deficit of 500 calories per day would therefore result in half a kilogram of fat loss per week. It is important to know that your overall weight loss is likely to be higher. Especially at the start of a diet, you will lose not only body fat but also water and glycogen. Too large a calorie deficit leads to hunger, loss of performance and the well-known JoJo effect. It is therefore usually not sustainable and therefore not a good strategy for losing weight quickly.

‍

Build muscle with our calorie calculator

If you want to build muscle as a beginner, it is also important to know your calorie requirements. This ensures that you neither eat too much and gain body fat, nor do you consume too few calories. In order to build muscle reliably, a few factors are relevant:

• moderate calorie surplus
• high protein consumption
• intensive strength training

‍

How our computer works

Calorie requirements vary from person to person (interindividual) — the amount of calories your body needs to function at rest. Start by giving the calorie calculator some basic information: gender, weight, age, height and body fat percentage (KFA).

‍

Determine everyday activity

Select your level of activity in everyday life. This is about how you spend a large part of your day. If you travel a lot and work physically, this significantly increases your calorie consumption. If you travel a lot in the car and do an office job, your calorie requirement will be lower.

‍

Set a goal

In the last step, you specify how you would like to change your weight in order to achieve your desired figure. If you want to lose fat, we'll include a moderate calorie deficit for you. If you want to build muscle, the specified requirement includes a slight excess of calories.

‍

Important to know

We do not include sports activities in our calorie calculator. If you exercise regularly, you can simply add the calories you burn there to the result of our calorie calculator.

‍

What is the basal metabolic rate

The basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories that your body consumes at complete rest to maintain vital functions. Breathing, brain activity and heartbeat account for a large proportion of the basal metabolic rate.

‍

Basal metabolic rate formula

Formula for men:

basal metabolic rate (kcal/day) = 66.47 + (13.7 × weight in kg) + (5.0 × height in cm) − (6.8 × age in years)

Formula for women:

basal metabolic rate (kcal/day) = 655.1 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) − (4.7 × age in years)

‍

Performance turnover

Power turnover is the amount of energy that your body needs for physical and mental activities in addition to the basal metabolic rate.

Formula:

Power turnover = basal metabolic rate × PAL value

Physical activity level (PAL) values:‍

• 0.95: Sleep

• 1.2: Only sitting or lying down (frail people)

• 1.4 - 1.5: Sitting, barely any physical activity (office work at a desk)

• 1.6 - 1.7: Mainly sitting, walking and standing (students, pupils, taxi drivers)

• 1.8 - 1.9: Mainly standing and walking (salesman, waiter, craftsman)

• 2.0 - 2.4: Physically demanding work (farmers, top athletes)