How Many Calories Does a Body Burn Daily?

When it comes to how many calories the body burns in a day, many variables are involved. It depends on your age, your gender, your occupation, your activity levels and your current size. Some people are naturally more efficient at burning calories than others. To put all of this into perspective, your body is always burning calories, 24 hours a day. But the amount of calories being burned varies.

  1. Significance

    • Weight goals are a very important part of life. There are some people who are trying to lose weight for health reasons, there are some people who are trying to bulk up for sporting events like mixed martial arts, then there are people who just want to maintain their current weight. In all of these situations, knowing your daily caloric expenditure can give you a good starting point so you can plan where to go with your diet and exercise regimen.

    BMR

    • When it comes to the amount of calories you burn in a day, it depends on three different variables. The first variable is called your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Your BMR is the amount of calories your body burns while doing nothing at all. For example, your body burns calories to keep your heart beating, and body temperature regulated even when you're watching television or reading a book. There are many complicated equations and formulas for getting your BMR but there is an easier equation that can also be used.

      For males, multiply your weight times 10, then add double your weight. For example 180 x 10 = 1800 + (2 x 180) = 2160 calories.

      For women it's even easier. Multiply your weight times 10, then just add your weight to this number. For example, 110 x 10 = 1100 + 110 = 1210 calories.

    Activity

    • Physical activity is the next part of the caloric equation. This is the amount of calories you expend during daily activities that are job related, sport related, exercise related or just recreational. To get this number, you can use a website that calculates the calories burned for various activities. You punch in what you are doing, your weight and the time frame that you do the activity, and it gives you your caloric expenditure (see References).

    TEF

    • Whenever you eat, various metabolic processes take place in your body. The food gets digested, nutrients get absorbed and the body eliminates waste that is not utilized. All of these actions burn calories and make up what's called the thermic effect of food (TEF), which is the final piece of the equation. The way to figure out the TEF is by simply multiplying the amount of calories you eat through the course of the day by 10 percent. An example would be 2200 x 10% = 220 calories (see Resources).

    Identification

    • Now add all of the numbers together to get your daily caloric needs. For example a 36 year old, 190 pound male who jogs 60 minutes and eats 2500 calories a day would look like this:

      BMR= 2280 calories.
      Calories burned through activity = 1077 calories
      TEF = 2500 x 10% = 250 calories
      2280+1077+250 = 3607 total daily calories.

      Another quick estimate can be done to determine your overall caloric needs based on your level of activity. Multiply your weight by a specified number. If you are sedentary multiply by 14, if you are moderately active multiply by 17, and if you are active multiply by 20 to get your average daily caloric needs.