Determining how many calories you need is important whether you are trying to lose, gain, or maintain weight.

Maintenance calories are determined by a number of factors such as your RMR (calories you burn at rest and are needed to support metabolic/bodily functions), your NEAT (non-exercise energy expenditure) and your physical activity level. This number is not a set number either, more like a range (ex. 2000-2100 calories). It is also important to keep in mind that people’s maintenance calories are NOT set in stone. This number will fluctuate depending on things such as age or an increase/decrease in activity. Generally average males will be in the 2000-3000 cal range and average females will be 1600-2400 cals. The more active an individual is or the more muscle mass they have the higher their maintenance calories will be.

The easiest way to calculate your maintenance calories is by using a fitness watch or an online calorie calculator. There are many different online calorie calculators, and many of them will give you different maintenance calories, some being too low and some too high. The safest bet would be to use a couple different calculators, calculate the average of those numbers and start with that number.

If your goal is to lose or gain weight, you can do so by adjusting your maintenance calories. 1 pound of fat equals 3500 cal, so if you are trying to gain/lose 1 pound in a week, you would need to raise/lower your maintenance calories by 500. Cutting your calories more than 500 is not suggested, for this can have detrimental effects on your health.

The best way to approach your calories is to mainGAIN. This is when you eat at maintenance while doing some sort of activity such as weight training in order to build lean muscle mass. Overtime, accumulated muscle mass will increase your maintenance calories and aid in burning fat