Calories Burned in a Day: How to Reach Your Target
Medically reviewed by Karina Tolentino, RD
Weight loss is a very personal journey. Many people try to simplify it by saying it's all just a matter of calories in vs. calories out. However, the amount of calories you need to burn to promote weight loss—and the best ways to do it—depends on several factors.
For example, an active young adult male might require 2,500 calories daily to lose weight, while an older adult woman may need just 1,500 calories to support her weight and activity goals.
This article examines the many factors in determining the number of calories you should burn to promote weight loss.
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Calorie
A calorie is a unit of energy commonly used to measure the energy content of food and beverages. Specifically, it represents the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
Related: What Are Calories?
Calories Burned in a Day Without Exercise
The number of calories burned in a day without intentional exercise depends on several factors, such as:
Basal metabolic rate (BMR): Your BMR is the energy your body expends to maintain your essential daily metabolic functions. For instance, your BMR includes circulating blood, regulating body temperature, and breathing.
Age: Our BMR typically decreases as we age due to lean muscle mass loss and decreased metabolic activity.
Sex: Your sex affects BMR primarily due to typical differences in body composition and hormonal levels. On average, people assigned male at birth tend to have higher BMRs than those assigned female. Males generally have more lean muscle mass that requires more energy to maintain and higher levels of testosterone, which can increase metabolic rate.
Body composition: People with more muscle mass burn more calories per day than someone with less muscle mass and a higher body fat percentage.
Activity level: In addition to movements like walking, standing, and fidgeting—all of which contribute to your calorie expenditure—the number of calories you burn daily is impacted by the intentional exercise you do. For instance, someone who leads a sedentary (inactive) lifestyle burns fewer calories per day than someone who is training for an athletic event.
While the exact amount varies widely among individuals, on average, an inactive person may burn between 1,200 and 2,400 calories per day solely through these basic metabolic processes.
Related: How Many Calories You Need Daily
Calories Burned in a Day With Exercise
The number of calories you burn daily increases with activity. In other words, someone who exercises regularly burns more calories than someone who leads a sedentary lifestyle. Still, multiple factors are involved in determining the amount of energy expenditure affected by exercise.
Based on Type of Exercise
You'll burn more calories in a day when you exercise vs. in a day when you don't. Still, the amount varies significantly based on the type, intensity, duration, and frequency of exercise.
Engaging in structured exercise routines such as cardio, strength training, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can significantly increase calorie expenditure beyond your basal metabolic needs. This is why regularly exercising is vital for healthy, long-term weight loss.
Regular exercise (especially HIIT) burns calories during your workout and increases your metabolic rate for hours afterward. This means you continue to burn calories at a higher rate than your BMR after a workout.
It's helpful to rotate various exercises into your workout routine to keep you from getting bored. Mixing up your workouts can boost energy expenditure by preventing metabolic adaptation.
This might include a mixture of yoga, swimming, taking a cycling class, lifting weights, jogging, or playing basketball throughout the week.
Factors Affecting Calories Burned
Many things can influence how many calories you burn in a day, such as:
Age
Sex
Type, intensity, and frequency of exercise
Starting weight and body composition
Nutritional quality and calorie content of your diet pattern
How to Calculate Calories to Lose Weight
Consider the following steps when determining how best to lose weight.
Step 1: Determine Your BMR
Use the Harris-Benedict equation to determine your BMR—the number of calories your body needs to maintain its basic functions at rest. This formula accounts for sex, age, weight, and height.
Here's an example using a 35-year-old female who weighs 150 lb (68.2 kilograms [kg]) and is roughly 5 feet, 5 inches tall (165 centimeters [cm]). Below is the Harris-Benedict equation template for females:
BMR = 655 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) - (4.7 × age in years)
Inserting numbers to determine the BMR of the subject would look as follows:
BMR = 655 + (9.6 × 70) + (1.8 × 165) - (4.7 × 30)
This gives a total BMR of 1,483 calories per day.
Step 2: Factor in Your Activity Level
After determining your BMR, factor in your average daily activity level by choosing one of the following:
Sedentary (little to no exercise, desk job): 1.2
Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1–3 days a week): 1.375
Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3–5 days a week): 1.55
Very active (hard exercise/sports 6–7 days a week): 1.725
Extra active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job or training twice a day): 1.9
If you're active, you'll add to your BMR by multiplying it by an activity factor to determine your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
TDEE = BMR x activity factor
For example, if the 35-year-old female subject in the example falls in the moderately active category, she would multiply her BMR (1,483 calories) by an activity factor of 1.55.
This gives a TDEE of 2,300 calories per day.
Step 3: Consider Your Calorie Deficit
From here, experts recommend creating a 500-calorie deficit per day to promote a safe and sustainable weight loss pattern of 1–2 pounds per week.
For our example, this would be a goal of consuming 1,800 calories daily for weight loss.
Keep in mind that while helpful, these calculations provide an estimate. Everyone has unique metabolisms, health, and body compositions, all of which influence calorie needs.
Consult a healthcare provider or registered dietitian to determine an appropriate calorie intake based on your health status and personal goals.
Not Burning the Calories You Want?
If you're not burning the calories you want and not seeing the weight loss you hoped for, several factors could be at play.
For instance, you may overestimate the calories you burn during exercise. Or, you might be underestimating the calories you're eating (and drinking). It's also crucial to fuel your body with nutrient-rich food to support your health.
Furthermore, your body may have adapted to your current workout routine, resulting in fewer calories burned over time. This can lead to a weight loss plateau and is common around the six months into your weight loss plan.
Consider adjusting your exercise routine to include different activities and intensities to address this. Also, track your food intake accurately and ensure you're eating a balanced diet to fuel your workouts effectively.
Rather than guessing what's wrong or what to do, consult with a healthcare provider and a fitness professional or registered dietitian. They can help evaluate your current activities and diet pattern and provide personalized guidance tailored to your goals and needs.
This might include creating a brand-new fitness and nutrition plan.
Related: Dietitian vs. Nutritionist: Similar But Different
Summary
Embarking on a weight loss journey can feel overwhelming at first. It can be easy to go down the rabbit hole of calculating calories and tracking your exercise and food intake. What's most important is figuring out a routine that works well for you, and you can sustain.
It can be helpful to determine your BMR and estimated daily calorie needs to promote a healthy amount of weight loss. Working with a registered dietitian and fitness professional is also valuable to help you outline your personalized plan for success.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
