Tip The Mifflin-St Jeor Calorie Equation Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Eating Tip The Mifflin-St Jeor Calorie Equation How many calories should you be eating How many should you drop to lose fat Here' s how to know by TJ Kuster May 4, 2021April 4, 2022 Need to lose some body fat? Here's how to get started: Step 1 Calculate Your RMR Start with an equation to "ballpark" the number of calories you should be consuming daily. These equations aren't 100 percent accurate, but they're a good starting point. The Mifflin-St Jeor equation to calculate resting metabolic rate (RMR) has been reported to be more accurate and is newer than some of the other ones out there. Here it is: Men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) + 5 Women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) – 161 If you don't want to do the math, there are plenty of online calculators that'll do it for you. Once you have your RMR you need to multiply your result by an activity factor to get a rough idea of how many calories you burn in a day. Here are the defined activity factors for the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: RMR Activity Factor Definition x 1.2 Sedentary Little to no exercise x 1.375 Light Activity Light exercise/sports 1-3 days per week x 1.55 Moderate Activity Moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days per week x 1.725 Very Active Hard exercise/sports 6-7 days per week x 1.9 Extra Active Very hard exercise/sports and physical job After you have an idea of your maintenance calories, calculating your calories for fat loss can be as simple as subtracting 250 for a theoretical half pound of fat loss per week, or subtracting 500 for a theoretical loss of one pound per week. I say "theoretical" because this equation isn't exact. And as TC Luoma points out, calorie counts on food labels can also be BS. Still, it's a decent place to start. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Eating How To Make Any Diet Work If you've tried and failed to get lean, you need a different approach. Here's how to really get ripped, whatever diet you choose. Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Paul Carter August 8 Diet & Fat Loss Dirty Nutrition 1 Jonny Bowden pulls out his nutritional whipping stick and whomps on NO2 products, trans fats, and even poor ol' cows. Diet Strategy, Dietary Myth Busting, Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Jonny Bowden, PhD August 20 Eating Tip The Best Low-Carb Pumpkin Pie Recipe Ever No added sugar, no flour, no guilt. Bonus: It's packed with muscle-building protein. Feeding the Ideal Body, Nutrition & Supplements Chris Shugart December 11 Eating How to Increase Cell Volume for Fast Muscle Growth Learn how to increase cell volume and you'll turn on protein synthesis and suppress protein breakdown. Bodybuilding, Building Muscle, Creatine, Nutrition & Supplements, Plazma, Protein Bill Willis, PhD October 22