Here is one of the most popular questions around the world:
How Many Calories Do I Need?
If you read from Forbes, Mayo Clinic or Harvard Health, you will find that "you" (meaning the entire world) should eat about (because there is no way for them to know since they do not know your daily routine and body composition) 2,000 calories daily. And, in truth, all 3 of those highly authoritative entities will state you should be well "over" 2,000 calories daily. For younger people, that's fairly close to correct, although it's still a "shot in the dark".
To arrive at that 2,000 calories per day for people to consume, the U.S.R.D.A. determined that a healthy, 23 year old male should be the test subject used to determine a "general guideline" for everybody. So how does a 70 year old female who struggles to walk fit into that description?!
That is never going to work for you, me or anybody else. The only way to know the number of calories for you - meaning you who are reading this information - daily is to know the 2 very important bits of information:
- Your body weight
- Your daily activity
Because none of the other places you read anything about the number of calories you need daily - or how many you burn daily - provide correct information for your specific body, the calculations vary greatly from what you "actually" need and leave you guessing. It's no wonder people everywhere are struggling to find that "magic pill" to do it for you.
None of the other "trusted" businesses provide accurate calorie requirements for "you". Calories you need must be based on your age, weight and activity. How do I know? "I" have personally used the calculators and / or math equations they provide to know how many calories they suggest for a 69 year old male who has worked out in gyms since he was 16, and, was body-building throughout the 90's. But I can tell you this. I "used to" eat more than 4,000 calories daily when I was body building. And I lost a lot of fat.
At 69, there is way I could eat 2,000 calories daily. I would like to, but anything over 1,500 calories is too much and I start gaining fat. Be sure you understand that "weight" is not the same as "fat". Weight is the total mass of your body. Fat weight can only be determined in two ways with any accuracy. 1 method is using skin calipers. The person measuring your body fat must need to be trained how to use them. The second method is the most accurate - to within 1% - is a "dunk tank". Usually you can only find a dunk tank in a hospital, but not all have them. Any other device or calculation to determine your body fat, including scales that provide that information, are all very "inaccurate". Meaning, they can be anywhere from 5% to 20% off your actual body fat percentage.
If you don't know your body fat, you would be doing yourself a favor to find out so that you know whatever exercise or program you are considering (or using) is only losing fat. You never want to burn off muscle!
When working at the gym in the 90's I was also rarely sitting down, worked all day in the gym then worked out at night, and played several games of racquetball most every weekday.
I used the Harvard Health information which determined through their math - since they do not provide a calculator - that I should be eating 2,700 calories daily. That is 1,200 calories more than what I already know for a fact that my body requires. Generally I shoot for 1,400 calories daily because my main activity is going to the gym in the morning. I sit behind a computer the rest of the day, and then watch T.V.
My work has me sitting behind a computer from about 9 in the morning until 6 in the evening with a few breaks. I get up just after 5 in the morning to go to the gym - for a little more than 2 hours. What am I doing in that time? I walk at my normal pace on a treadmill at level 4 incline for 15 minutes or 30 minutes, depending on the exercises I'll be performing that day. From the 15 minute walk I burn 125 calories. From the 30 minute walk I burn 250 calories. That doesn't sound like a lot, but you have to remember that I'm going to then lift weights for a little more than 90 minutes. I'm not talking small weight either. I'm building muscle which requires heavy weight. So it would be logical to say that I burn about 500 to 600 calories when I'm in the gym. Combine that with how many calories I burn while working on the computer, housework, driving and all the other activities that most people thing do not burn calories and you can quickly understand why it's critical to know (within 100 calories) the number of calories "you" burn daily.
So where can I get the "number" that's right for me?
Right here - Garrison Body Calorie Calculator.
What makes this one different? Because it requires your body weight, each activity you performed during 1 24-hour day, and, the number of calories you ate during that same 24-hours. Unless there is some method to determine who is using the calculator by how much activity you had for that day and your body weight, then there would be no way to get anywhere close to the amount of food you require for the day.
Why should you believe this information?
Because it's what I've researched and tested for nearly 50 years!
I've watched the number of calories I burn, documented the number of calories I eat, learned which scales are better than others and why "guessing" doesn't work. I've studied with my brother, Robert H. Garrison, Jr., for many year before his passing in 2007. I continue to study to this day. I'm constantly looking for any new information that would be good for the general public to know. That is the reason I created Garrison Body - "Fortify Your Future" - in 1996 - and continue to update the site.
Side Note: Garrison = A body of troops stationed at a particular location (usually a fort or fortified building).
Is it any wonder why I use my last name for this Web site full of information for everybody to get healthy?
During my research and through most of my adult life, I've found that calculating calories mandates more than simply making a "blanket statement". I'm not build like you and you are not built like me. So why in the world would you "assume" you need the same number of calories as the person standing next to you?
While I was body-building in the 90's I was also a Personal Trainer. I not only practiced what I preached, but I taught others a lot of what I know so they could attain their goals - not mine...theirs.
I don't burn that many calories daily.
That statement is very typical for most people. Hold on to your seat, folks. Here is some very, very important information that most people don't realize.
You burn calories 24 hours a day!
You burn calories when you sleep! You burn calories when you watch T.V. You burn calories when you are eating.You burn calories while you are driving. EVERYTHING you do in a day burns calories. You don't burn at the same rate all day, but you do burn calories 24 / 7 / 365. Think of burning calories like your heart - it never stops....until it does and that's our end.
What does it mean to "burn calories"?
Because you now know you burn calories every minute of the day, what that means to you is that your body limbs, organs everything in your body are performing some function that keeps you alive. All that activity requires "fuel". We know that fuel for our body is food. So every time we eat we are providing fuel to our body so it can keep going.
Activity you perform daily requires the body to do something. Everything you do burns calories, which means your body is using energy. When your body has used a lot of energy you eat - add fuel to the tank - in order to continue with your day.
If you are at a gas station in your car, do you think about how far you are going to drive then only buy enough gas to get you there - but not home? Or, do you fill up the tank so you don't have to stop at every gas station in town because you realize you need to make 1 more stop, and another stop, and another stop that you remember each time you stop for gas?
And, there is no automatic shut off for our bodies like there is for a car. You put the nozzle in the tank and expect the pump to "know" when to shut off. That's nice, and it would be a good idea for someone to invent that auto-shut-off for our body. Ok...we know that's not going to happen, so we resort to "manual labor" and write down how much we eat daily, how much activity we have had and calculate whether we ate too much, too little, or just right.
How do I know how to calculate how many calories "I" need?
- Details
- Written by: Thomas Garrison
- Category: Calories