FITNESS ABCs

DAILY CALORIC REQUIREMENTS

A pound is equivalent to 3500 calories. To over simplify, if you want to lose one pound per week, reduce
your caloric consumption by 3500 calories per week. Consuming less than 1500 calories per day on a
regular basis reduces the basal metabolic rate. When the metabolic rate is reduced, fewer calories can
be consumed. Excess calories will be stored as fat. This is why it's important to combine exercise with
diet in order to affect weight loss.

Your basal metabolic rate is the basic minimum number of calories that are required to maintain your body
weight based on average body composition. To calculate your basal metabolic rate:

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) = 24 * Weight (lb)/2.2

OR

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) = 24 * Weight (kg)

The BMR is then multiplied by a number representing the individual’s activity level:

Sedentary

Light

Medium

Heavy

BMR * 1.45

BMR * 1.60

BMR * 1.70

BMR * 1.88

Generally, eating more than this number of calories increases weight and less than this number allows
weight reduction. However, BMR does not take into account extremes of activity or inactivity. Therefore,
BMR should be used as an approximation. Various activities will increase caloric requirements above the
BMR. The following table shows the approximate amount of calories required for a 135-pound individual
performing the following listed activity for 1 hour:

Activity

Calories Expended

Activity

Calories Expended

Aerobics 620 Bicycling 12mph 620

Running 5mph 500 Ski Machine 550

Walking 4mph 230 Swimming 470

Soccer 370 Stair Master 350

PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATE AND FAT DIETARY REQUIREMENTS

Proper nutrition requires a balanced intake of Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat. Protein and Carbohydrates
are both 4 calories per gram. Fat is 9 calories per gram. An example follows for a daily caloric
requirement of 2000 calories. The amount of grams of each will vary according to your daily caloric
requirement (based on BMR). However, the percentages should remain the same for all. The following
example is for a daily caloric requirement of 2000 calories:

• Protein 4 cal/g 30% of total = 600 cal (protein) = 150g


• Carbohydrates 4 cal/g 60% of total = 1200 cal (carbs) = 300g


• Fat 9 cal/g 10% of total = 200 cal (fat) = 22g