Saturday, August 7, 2010

How Many Calories Do You Burn in a Day?

If you go through the entire day just sitting, doing no exercise, you still burn calories.  To calculate how much, follow these steps:

1.  Multiply your weight by 10 - this is how many calories your body needs for basic metabolic processes.

2.  Factor in your activity level:

     Sedentary: 20% (Sitting most of the day)
     Lightly Active: 37.5% (Walking here and there; daily chores)
     Moderately Active: 40% (Constantly moving around; daily exercise)
     Very Active: 50% (Heavy exercise for prolonged periods of time, such as training for a sport)

     Take the answer to #1 and take the corresponding percentage - this is how many calories you need to go about a typical day.

3.  Figure the energy used in digestion: #1 + #2 * .1

4.  Add #1, #2, and #3 together.  This is how many calories you burn in a day.