Your BMR is the number of calories you'd burn over 24 hours while lying down but not sleeping. Your actual metabolic rate is estimated by adding the caloric cost of all the activities you engage in throughout the day to your BMR.

Men's BMR = 1 X Body weight (kg) X 24
Women's BMR = .9 X Body weight (kg) X 24

These formulas are reasonably accurate for people with average levels of body fat (i.e., 20% and 28% for men and women, respectively). One kg (kilogram) equals 2.2046 pounds. The higher your body fat percentage, the fewer calories you'll burn (lower activity level, and less muscle to burn calories). The lower your body fat percentage, the more calories you'll burn (bigger muscles burn more calories than little ones).

Thus, it becomes much easier to get rid of fat permanently by increasing your metabolic rate. You do this by increasing both your muscle mass and your activity level. You can (and SHOULD) gain muscle mass and lose fat at the same time. Never sacrifice muscle tissue during the fat loss process. Instead, build more muscle to burn more calories. You'll lose more fat faster, and you'll be more likely to keep it off.

Your actual daily calorie needs may vary slightly from the tabled values. To obtain a more accurate estimate, ask an ISSA-certified fitness trainer to assist you.

KEY TO READING THE CHARTS BELOW

	Lean  		Clinical	Percent Body Fat Levels
  	Factor  	Description	Multiplier
____________________________________________________________________

	1  	"Lean" 			Men - 10% -- Women - 14%
	2  	"Normal" 		Men - 14% -- Women - 18%
	3  	"Clinically Obese" 	Men - 20% -- Women - 28%
	4  	"Chronically Obese"	Men - 28% -- Women - 38%

Average Daily Activity Level

To estimate your average activity level for a 24 hour period, read the INSTRUCTIONS below. You will easily be able to approximate the percentage that most closely describes your lifestyle. This percentage is used in the daily caloric expenditure charts below.

Instructions
For each of the 24 hours in one of your "average" days, determine your energy expenditure by reading the descriptions below. Then, multiply your hourly BMR (BMR divided by 24) times your energy expenditure. Then multiply that figure by your lean factor multiplier (see the table above). For example, if you are male and your hourly BMR equals 85 calories, and your activity level during that hour was light (300 % for men), then you simply multiply 85 times 3. Assuming your lean factor is 2 for Normal (see above), you then multiply 255 times .86. Your hourly caloric expenditure equals 219.3 calories.

Do this for each hour of the day, add all of them together, and that is your daily caloric requirement. Be SURE to apportion your daily calories over at least five meals, with each meal reflective of your UPCOMING caloric needs. For example, if you expect to train eat more; if you expect to take a nap, eat less.

If you really want to get sophisticated, here is an example of how it's done hour-by-hour for a male weighing 203 pounds with a lean factor of 2.

All of the values tabled below are based on the conventional method of estimating caloric requirements except that your day's AVERAGE activity level and your body fat percentage is factored into the calculation process (not simply total body weight), and may vary between individuals. Also, slight rounding error may occur.

YOUR DAILY CALORIE REQUIREMENT GUIDE

	Total   Your			Average Daily Activity Level
	Weight 	Lean
	& BMR 	Factor   30%	  55% 	  65%		  100% 	  130%
____________________________________________________________________________________________

		M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F	M	F
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 100	1  	1418	1277	1691	1522 	1800	1620	2182	1964	2509    2259
    	2  	1347	1213	1606	1446	1710	1539	2073	1866	2384	2146
M=1091	3  	1276	1149	1521	1370 	1620 	1458	1964	1768	2258	2033
F= 982	4  	1205	1085	1437	1294	1530 	1377	1858	1669	2133	1920
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 110	1  	1560	1404	1860	1674	1980	1782	2400	2160	2760	2484
	2  	1482	1334	1767	1590	1881	1693	2280	2052	2622	2360
M=1200	3  	1404	1264	1674	1501	1782	1604 	2160	1944	2484	2236
F=1080	4  	1326	1193	1581	1423	1683	1515	2040	1836	2346	2111
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 120	1  	1701	1531	2029	1826	2160	1944	2618	2356	3010	2709
	2  	1616	1454	1928	1735	2052	1847	2487	2238	2860	2574
M=1309	3  	1531	1378	1826	1643	1944	1750	2356	2120	2709	2438
F=1178	4  	1446	1301	1725	1552	1836	1652	2225	2003	2559	2303
____________________________________________________________________________________________
130	1  	1843	1659	2198	1978	2340	2105	2836	2552	3261	2935
	2  	1751	1576	2088	1879	2223	2000	2694	2424	3098	2788
M=1418	3  	1659	1493	1978	1780	2106	1895	2552	2297	2935	2641
F=1276	4	1567	1410	1868	1681	1989	1789	2411	2169	2772	2495
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 140	1	1985	1788	2367	2131	2520	2269	3054	2750	3512 	3163
	2  	1886 	1699 	2249 	2024 	2394 	2156 	2901 	2613 	3336 	3005
M=1527	3  	1787 	1608 	2130 	1917 	2268 	2041 	2749 	2474 	3161 	2847
F=1375	4  	1687 	1520 	2012 	1811 	2142 	1929 	2596 	2338 	2985 	2689
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 150	1  	2127	1915	2536	2283	2699	2430	3272	2946	3763	3388
	2  	2021 	1819 	2409 	2169 	2564 	2309 	3108 	2799 	3575 	3219
M=1636	3  	1914 	1724 	2282 	2055 	2429 	2187 	2945 	2651 	3387 	3049
F=1473	4  	1808 	1628 	2156 	1941 	2294 	2066 	2781 	2504 	3199 	2880
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 160	1  	2269 	2042 	2705 	2435 	2879 	2592 	3490 	3142 	4014 	3613
	2  	2156 	1940 	2570 	2313 	2735 	2462 	3316 	2985 	3813 	3432
M=1745	3  	2042 	1838 	2435 	2191 	2591 	2332 	3141 	2827 	3613 	3251
F=1571	4  	1929 	1736 	2299 	2070 	2447 	2203 	2967 	2671 	3412 	3071
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 170	1  	2412 	2170 	2875 	2587 	3061 	2754 	3710 	3338 	4267 	3839
	2  	2291 	2062 	2731 	2458 	2908 	2616 	3525 	3171 	4054 	3647
M=1855	3  	2171 	1953 	2588 	2329 	2655 	2479 	3339 	3005 	3840 	3456
F=1669	4  	2050 	1845 	2444 	2199 	2602 	2341 	3154 	2837 	3627 	3263
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 180	1  	2553 	2297 	3044 	2739 	3241 	2916 	3928 	3534 	4517 	4064
	2  	2425 	2182 	2892 	2602 	3079 	2770 	3732 	3357 	4291 	3861
M=1964  3  	2298 	2068 	2740 	2466 	2917 	2625 	3535 	3182 	4065 	3659
F=1767	4 	2170 	1952 	2587 	2328 	2755 	2479 	3339 	3004 	3839 	3454
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 190	1  	2694 	2425 	3213 	2891 	3420 	3077 	4146 	3730 	4768 	4290
	2  	2559 	2304 	3052 	2746 	3249 	2923 	3939 	3544 	4530 	4076
M=2073	3  	2424 	2183 	2892 	2603 	3078 	2770 	3731 	3358 	4291 	3862
F=1865	4  	2290 	2061 	2731 	2457 	2907 	2615 	3524 	3171 	4053 	3647
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 200	1  	2837 	2553 	3382 	3044 	3600 	3241 	4364 	3928 	5019 	4517
	2  	2695 	2425 	3213 	2892 	3420 	3079 	4146 	3732 	4768 	4291
M=2182  3  	2553 	2298 	3044 	2739 	3240 	2916 	3928 	3535 	4517 	4065
F=1964	4  	2411 	2170 	2875 	2587 	3060 	2755 	3709 	3339 	4266 	3839
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 210	1  	2978 	2681 	3551 	3196 	3780 	3402 	4582 	4124 	5269 	4743
	2  	2829 	2547 	3373 	3036 	3591 	3232 	4353 	3918 	5006 	4506
M=2291	3  	2680 	2412 	3196 	2876 	3402 	3062 	4124 	3711 	4742 	4269
F=2062	4  	2531 	2279 	3018 	2717 	3213 	2892 	3895 	3505 	4479 	4032
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 220	1	3120 2808 	3720 	3348 	3960 	3564 	4800 	4320 	5520 	4968
	2  	2964 	2668 	3534 	2668 	3762 	2668 	4560 	4104 	5244 	4720
M=2400	3  	2808 	2527 	3348 	3023 	3564 	3207 	4320 	3888 	4968 	4471
F=2160	4  	2652 	2387 	3162 	2846 	3366 	3029 	4080 	3672 	4692 	4223
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 230	1  	3262 	2935 	3889 	3500 	4140 	3726 	5018 	4516 	5771 	5193
	2  	3099 	2788 	3695 	3325 	3933 	3540 	4767 	4290 	5482 	4933
M=2509	3  	2936 	2642 	3500 	3150 	3726 	3353 	4516 	4065 	5193 	4674
F=2258	4  	2603 	2495 	3306 	2975 	3519 	3167 	4265 	3839 	4905 	4414
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 240	1  	3403 	3063 	4058 	3652 	4320 	3887 	5236 	4712 	6021 	5419
	2  	3232 	2910 	3855 	3469 	4104 	3693 	4974 	4476 	5720 	5148
M=2618	3   	3063 	2756 	3652 	3287 	3888 	3499 	4712 	4241 	5419 	4877
F=2356	4  	2893 	2604 	3449 	3104 	3672 	3304 	4451 	4005 	5118 	4606
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 250	1  	3545 	3192 	4227 	3805 	4500 	4051 	5454 	4910 	6272 	5647
	2  	3368 	3032 	4016 	3615 	4275 	4285 	5181 	4665 	5958 	5365
M=2727	3  	3191 	2971 	3804 	3424 	4050 	3645 	4090 	4418 	5645 	5080
F=2455 	4  	3013 	2713 	3593 	3234 	3825 	3443 	4636 	4174 	5331    4800
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 260	1  	3687 	3319 	4396 	3957 	4679 	4212 	5672 	5106 	6523 	5872
	2  	3503 	3153 	4176 	3759 	4445 	4001 	5388 	4851 	6197 	5578
M=2836	3  	3318 	2986 	3956 	3561 	4211 	3790 	5105 	4594 	5871 	5284
F=2553	4  	3134 	2821 	3737 	3363 	3977 	3580 	4821 	4340 	5545 	4991
____________________________________________________________________________________________
 270	1  	3829 	3446 	4565 	4109 	4859 	4374 	5890 	5302 	6774 	6097
	2  	3638 	3274 	4337 	3904 	4616 	4155 	5596 	5037 	6435 	5792
M=2945	3  	3446 	3101 	4109 	3698 	4373 	3936 	5301 	4771 	6097 	5487
F=2651	4  	3255 	2929 	3880 	3493 	4130 	3718 	5007 	4507 	5758 	5182