The Importance of Knowing Your Active Calories Needs
Calories are the energy we obtain from food and nutrients to fuel our bodies. The calories our body uses for functions and physical activity are known as active calories, and the amount of calories our bodies need depends on various factors, including age, sex, body composition, and activity level.
Consuming too few calories can leave us undernourished, whilst consuming more calories than we burn leads to additional calories being stored as fat within the body. Understanding our active calorie needs and determining our health and energy goals is crucial for our continued well-being and reaching our life goals.
Understanding Active Calories
Active calories are the calories burned through physical activity or engaged movement, as opposed to those burned by the body's basic functions like breathing and digestion. These two categories are known as TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) for bodily calories and active calories, and BMR (basal metabolic rate) for the calories required purely for essential bodily functions.
Physical activities in the definition of active calories or TDEE can include set periods of physical movements, such as running, swimming, or an intense gym session - but can also include activities we may forget, like household chores or traveling throughout the day.
Factors Influencing Daily Active Calorie Burn
There is a huge range of factors that influence our burn of active calories. Let's explore a few to get a greater understanding of whereabouts on the energy-burning spectrum your active calorie requirements may sit.
Age and Metabolism
Our metabolic rate determines the rate of calories we need to burn for our energy needs. Metabolic rate generally declines with age, which means that older adults might need to engage in more physical activity to burn the same number of active calories as younger individuals.
Body Composition
Muscle mass and overall body composition are other elements that influence metabolism and active calorie needs. More muscle mass leads to a higher calorie expenditure, even at rest, whilst the ratio of muscle to fat, in particular, can have a notable influence on the number of active calories burned daily.
Activity Level
Individuals with less active, more sedentary lifestyles will burn fewer active calories, whilst those who engage in a lot of physical activity or are often on the go will burn more active calories. Intense or prolonged physical activity that's consistent is a simple way to increase active calories burned.
Calculating Daily Active Calorie Burn
Now you have an understanding of the factors affecting your active calorie need; how do you determine your actual active calorie requirement to ensure you're meeting your daily energy needs and working towards your health goals? There are several formula options or online calculators that can help you determine this; let's break the basics down below.
We mentioned above your TDEE or total daily energy expenditure. This includes your BMR, plus calories burned through physical activity. The Harris-Benedict equation, amongst others, can help you calculate your BMR from figures around your weight, height, age, and sex. From this figure, you can then apply an activity multiplier formula to determine your TDEE.
You can try this BMR calculator, then multiply that figure by the formulas below:
1. Sedentary: BMR × 1.2
2. Lightly Active: BMR × 1.375
3. Moderately Active: BMR × 1.55
4. Very Active: BMR × 1.725
5. Super Active: BMR × 1.9
Recommended Active Calories Burn by Goals
Once you know your TDEE figures, you can review your caloric intake to ensure you're hitting your health and energy goals. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, a deficit of around 300 to 500 calories a day is a good target to start with. For example, if your TDEE calculates as 2,170 calories a day to maintain your body weight, consuming 1,870 to 1,670 calories a day whilst maintaining activity levels could see you begin to lose body weight.
If your goal is to gain body weight, you will need to consume more calories than your body is burning. If your TDEE is 2,170 calories a day at a certain activity level, you might want to start with a calorie target of 2,370 calories a day whilst maintaining your activity level. This small increase of 200 calories a day over your active calories burning figure will quickly add up and you will see an increase in body weight. For example, it takes an extra 3,500 calories to gain 1lb of body weight, so calorie intake at the rate of the example above could see you gain 1lb in a little over 2 weeks.
Understand Your Active Calories Needs and Optimise Your Health
The number of active calories you should burn daily varies broadly depending on personal factors and goals. Understanding your body's needs and setting realistic, sustainable targets are key to optimizing health and fitness, whilst taking control of your health and wellbeing can boost your overall confidence and commitment to progress.
Achieving your calorie intake and health goals takes a little planning and some consistent effort. Keeping realistic about your progress with manageable targets whilst incorporating an engaging range of different exercises can help you keep active, inspired, healthy, and energized, whatever your goals are.
