calculate your ideal calorie intake

The diet plans on these pages are for guidance only. It is recommended that you consult your doctor before you drastically change your diet.

First of all you need to know roughly how many calories a day you need for your body to be able to cope with the amount of training and other daily activities you have to deal with. Follow these steps to calculate your daily calorific requirements, and then select an example menu from the bottom of the page.

Step one - calculate your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

Age	Male	Female
10-18yrs	(body weight in kg x 17.5) + 651	(body weight in kg x 12.2) + 746
19-30yrs	(body weight in kg x 15.3) + 679	(body weight in kg x 14.7) + 496
31-60yrs	(body weight in kg x 11.6) + 879	(body weight in kg x 8.7) + 829

Step two - multiply this by the appropriate factor:

x 1.4 (if you are mostly sedentary, i.e mostly seated or standing activities during the day)
x 1.7 (if you are moderately active, i.e regular brisk walking or equivalent during the day)
x 2.0 (if you are very active, i.e generally physically active during the day)

Step three - estimate the amount of calories you expend during exercise

Running at 15.8kph burns approximately 1000Cals per hour for a 65kg person
Running at 10.7kph burns approximately 615Cals per hour for a 65kg person
The easiest (and most accurate) way of estimating your calorie expenditure during exercise is to wear a heart rate monitor that has a function allowing you to monitor calories burned.

Step four - add these figures together (Step two and Step three)

This figure is your maintenance calorie intake, i.e the amount of energy you need to consume to maintain the same body weight.

If your goal is to lose weight, reduce this maintenance calorie intake by 15%. If you simply want to consume sufficient energy to sustain your activities, leave it as it is.