You are what you eat, do you know how many calories your body needs?

Last week we are in our third Exercise is Medicine program where we calculate how many calories you need for your body. As many people have experienced before, you start your healthy lifestyle journey with a bang and soon begin to fade. Typically this is because people are starving themselves and/or exercising too much in too little time. When you don’t give your body enough calories and just enough to function, you feel lethargic, even angry. Most of the time, your body wants to keep fat and get rid of muscle because it burns so many calories. Every body needs a minimum amount of calories to survive. This is called resting metabolic rate (RMR).

Crazy diets often completely mess up our system and yes you may lose weight but is it sustainable? Most people have experienced diets where they lost weight and then gained most or more of it back. As I mentioned before, people look at their cars more than their bodies. When you don’t put gas in, your car definitely won’t start, but our body continues to figure out how to keep going. The following includes mathematics; If this is a challenge, ask one of your family members or friends to help you with the following.

You need to know: gender, age, weight in kilograms (divide your pounds by 2.2 to calculate kilograms) and height in centimeters (your height in inches x 2.54).

If you are male: RMR = 66 + (13.75 x your weight in kilograms) + (5 x your height in centimeters) – (6.8 x your age in years)

Female: RMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilograms) + (1.8 x height in centimeters) – (4.7 x your age in years)

So for me it would be: 665 + (9.6 x 61 kilograms = 586 rounded up) + (1.8 x 170 = 306) – (4.7×58 = 272 rounded down). 665+586+306-272= 1,285. So my resting metabolic rate is 1,285 calories per day just when I’m productive, doing nothing, staying awake. The next step is to see where your activity level is and calculate our TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure – the calories you need to live and move. Below is the number you should choose which best suits your daily activity level.

1.1 = You do not exercise at all or very rarely, 1.275 = You are somewhat active and exercise 1 or 3 times a week, 1.35 = You exercise 3 to 5 times a week, 1.525 = You are very active and exercise almost every day.

And you’re right, for my TDEE I need to multiply my daily calorie intake by my activity level, RMR = 1285x 1,525 = 1,960 (rounded). I am around this number and feel good and fit. I eat because I need calories. When I wait until I’m hungry, I actually get “hungry.” When I’m hungry, my food choices are usually not good. I buy what I can find, and quick, unplanned choices are often unhealthy and low in nutrition.

This third EIM program ends on 21 November. We plan to start with another 12-week session at the beginning of 2025. (EIM is Exercise Medicine, a doctor-prescribed, medically based exercise program administered by qualified EIM personnel.)

Log all your food intake for 3-7 days to see where your calorie intake is now. Personally, I like to record something over seven days because this will include the weekends when I usually eat a little differently.

And I like this quote from Google: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Ester H. Marsh is assistant executive director and director of wellness at the J.F. Hurley Family YMCA.

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