A question!

[Revolutionary]

Can anyone tell me what the formula is to find out how many calories you are burning a day while at rest??? Im trying to get my diet down straight and I need to know how many calories I need to take in a day.

[moonboy10]

There are a few methods to calculate how many kcals you are burning a day. I personally use the Katch-McArdle formula because it throws your LBM into the equation so it's a little more accurate. To calculate your lean body mass, find your fat % (I use an accu-measure body fat caliper, you can buy em online for cheap compared to other fancy calipers) then multiply your body fat percentage by your overall body weight. Here's an example..

I weigh 172 and have a body fat perc of 9%.
.09 x 172 = 15.48 lbs of fat

Now I subtract 15.48 from my overall bodyweight..
172 - 15.48 = 156.52

So my LBM is about 157 lbs.
You use your LBM for the Katch-McArdle formula below..
~~~
1 lb = 2.2kg

BMR = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

Using my information it would look like this...

BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 71kg)
BMR = 1904 kcals

Then you multiply your calculated BMR by one of these activity factors...
~~
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra. Active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job)
~~

So if I'm mod. active...
1904 X 1.55 = 2951.2
That's 2951 kcals to maintain my weight. This figure is called your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

For weight gain, add 500 kcals to your TDEE.
If weeks go by and you're not seeing any gains, up your calories by 10%.

Hope that helps.

[WaNNaBeSoLDieR]

How accurate is the Katch-McArdle for females??

I've heard that formulas like the Harris-Benedict aren't too accurate when used for females...the K-A seems similar to the H-B, so I was wondering if the same holds true or if there's a variation of the K-A for females?

[Kiwi129]

I hate those formulas they all tell me different stuff. I think if you're between 140 and 180ish lbs, 2500 is a real safe number to start a bulk on (if you're paranoid about getting fat). You might make some initial gains on it but it's easy to just bump it up rather than to start too high and have extra fat in the FIRST week that you'll have to carry around for the whole process.

[moonboy10]

Yeah, the KA formula works perfect for females. It is the only one that will work for both male and female without having to change any numbers in the formula. I would highly recommend using a formula instead of trying to guess your kcals, especially if you are on an extreme end of the spectrum (more muscular than avg or holding more fat than avg). There is just no reason why you should have to guess. The Katch-McArdle formula is the MOST accurate formula to go by, male AND female.