The first step of the DIY Diet (of any diet, really) is figuring out how many calories you need to eat per day to lose weight.
Let’s start by calculating your Basal Metabolism Rate (BMR). That’s the number of calories your body needs to maintain your current weight at your current activity level. You must know your BMR in order to build your diet.
This BMR formula is from the book The Business Plan for the Body by Chicago-based personal trainer Jim Karas. Excerpts from this book were contained in the Good Housekeeping magazine article "5 new rules of weight loss", November 2001. That’s where I got the information. I like this formula.
Enter your information into the BMR formula:
661
+ (4.38 x your weight in pounds)
+ (4.38 x your height in inches)
- (4.7 x your age)
= your BMR
You can also calculate your BMR using this online BMR calculator from Discovery Health.
Now multiply your BMR by the appropriate multiplier in the following chart:
| Activity Level | Multiplier |
| Sedentary | 1.15 |
| Light activity (normal, everyday tasks) | 1.3 |
| Moderate activity (exercise 3 to 4 times per week) | 1.4 |
| Very active (exercise 4 to 6 times per week) | 1.6 |
| Extremely active (exercise 6 to 7 times per week) | 1.6 |
Example: A 60-year-woman, five feet six inches tall, 245 pounds, and a sedentary lifestyle.
The calculation looks like this:
661
+1073.1 (4.38 x 245 pounds)
+289.1 (4.38 x 66 inches)
-188 (4.7 x 60, her age)
= 1741 calories is the woman’s BMR
Multiply the result (1741) times the sedentary lifestyle multiplier (1.15), the result is a Basal Metabolism Rate (BMR) of 2002, the number of calories required to maintain her body weight as it is.
Make a note of your BMR rate. You will use it to determine the number of calories you need to eat to start losing weight.
It’s important to remember that in order to lose one pound in one week you must eat 500 calories less each day than your BMR rate. That’s 3500 calories over a week.
In order for the woman in the example to lose one pound in one week, she must eat no more than 1502 calories per day. Let’s round it out to 1500. If she wants to lose more than a pound per week she must further reduce her calorie intake or increase her activity level.
I designed my diet at 1600-calories per day, am staying close to that number each day, and am steadily losing weight.
You can get The Business Plan for the Body and other books by Jim Karas at his website or at Amazon.com.
There are free online resources available to determine the calorie level you may wish to follow to begin a weight loss program. These sites also offer a wealth of nutrition and diet information you can download. One such site is the US Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid website.
In the My Pyramid Plan section, enter your age, sex, height, weight, and your physical activity level that is in addition to your normal daily activity. The program will calculate the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight. If your weight is above the healthy range, it will provide you with the number of calories to eat to gradually move toward a healthy weight.
The calculator will estimate a 2000-calorie daily food plan to maintain your weight and a 1600-calories daily food plan to gradually move toward a more healthy weight. You can now develop a weight loss program based on 1600 calories per day.
A Healthier You is a useful publication of the US Department of Health and Human Services and is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. You can access this publication at the government’s dietary guidelines website (I like the site for the excellent information, charts, and lists on diet and nutrition that can be downloaded free). This publication uses the Body Mass Index (BMI) to determine whether or not you’re at a healthy weight.
Actual figures: It takes a little extra effort if you want to know exactly how many calories you eat on average. Before you start your diet, keep track of everything you eat for three days, then look up the calorie values of everything you’ve eaten each day for those three days. It might be enlightening. You know you’ll have to eat less to lose weight.
Other methods: The other day I came across an old newsletter called New Ways to Health & Fitness published by International Masters Publishers, Inc., that I had stashed in one of my many cookbooks. I wasn’t able to find the information on the IMP website so won’t include the link here. Their method for calculating the number of calories you should eat to reach your goal weight was calculated like this: "Give yourself 100 pounds for your first five feet of height, then five more pounds for every inch over five feet, plus or minus 10 percent depending on how large or small your frame is. Determine how much to eat to reach that goal. Your desired weight times 10 equals the number of calories you should eat each day. Having fewer could slow your metabolism and impeded weight loss; add more calories depending on the amount you burn exercising." I came very close to my goal weight with their simple formula.
You may also wish to go to FreeDieting.com if you’re interested in trying some of the many formulas for determining the number of calories you should eat to lose weight, including the Harris-Benedict Formula and the Mifflin-St. Jeor Formula. There is a wealth of information available at this site.
As I continue to lose weight I will re-calculate my BMR from time to time and adjust my caloric intake downward to maintain a steady weight loss. As it becomes less of a burden to my body to exercise, I will also try to do some light exercise.
Best wishes for weight loss success.
