The Easiest Way To Calculate Maintenance Calories

Summary

In this informative video, Sean Nalewanyj offers a simple and effective method for calculating maintenance calories, crucial for beginners looking to build muscle or lose fat. He suggests starting with the current daily food intake as a baseline, as it likely represents the body's maintenance level if weight has been stable. This approach, though not perfect, may be more accurate than preset calculators and should be adjusted based on weekly weight changes. Sean also provides links to further resources for tracking progress and adjusting calorie intake.

Takeaways

• 📊 The simplest and most accurate method to calculate maintenance calories for beginners involves logging current food intake instead of using preset calculators.
• 🍴 Managing net energy balance, calories in versus calories out, is the most important factor in any diet, whether for bulking or cutting.
• 🧮 Calorie calculators, like the Harris-Benedict and Katch-McArdle formulas, can work but may be inaccurate due to differences in body fat percentage and activity levels.
• ⚖️ Your maintenance calories can be estimated by tracking your diet and weight over a week, ensuring consistency in food intake and activity level.
• 📱 Use a nutrition tracking app or log your food intake manually to calculate your daily average calories and establish your maintenance level.
• 🔍 Adjust calorie intake by adding a surplus for bulking or creating a deficit for cutting, starting from your calculated maintenance level.
• 🚨 No calorie calculation method is perfect; treat any estimate as a starting point and adjust based on your progress.
• ⚖️ If your weight or activity level has been inconsistent, using a preset calorie maintenance calculator is acceptable as a starting point.
• 📝 Multiplying your body weight in pounds by 14-16 can provide a rough estimate of maintenance calories based on your activity level.
• 💪 For a complete roadmap on nutrition, training, and supplementation, you can explore the Body Transformation Blueprint program offered.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Sean Nalewanyj's video?

The main focus of Sean Nalewanyj's video is to provide a simple and accurate method for calculating maintenance calories for beginners, which is essential for building muscle or losing fat.

Why is managing net energy balance important in dieting?

Managing net energy balance, which is the total calories in versus total calories out, is the most important baseline factor in dieting as it forms the underlying foundation for all other nutritional aspects.

What is the first step in the process of determining calorie needs for the purpose of bulking or cutting?

The first step is to figure out your calorie maintenance level, which is the number of calories needed to maintain your current weight without gaining or losing.

What are some common methods people use to calculate their maintenance calories?

Common methods include using a calorie calculator with formulas like Harris-Benedict or Katch-McArdle, or using basic body weight multipliers.

What are some limitations of using a preset calorie calculator?

Limitations include inaccuracies due to differences in body fat percentage, difficulty in accurately calculating resting metabolic rate, variations in lifestyle activity levels, and subjective activity multipliers.

What is the alternative method Sean suggests for calculating maintenance calories?

Sean suggests starting with what you're currently eating, calculating the daily average of calories, and using that as your estimated maintenance level, assuming your body weight has been stable.

How long should one log their diet to estimate maintenance calories using Sean's method?

One should log their diet manually for about a week to get an accurate estimate of their maintenance calories.

What tools can be used to log diet and calculate maintenance calories according to Sean's method?

A nutrition tracking app or manual logging can be used to log every food, snack, and drink item consumed to calculate the daily average calories.

How should the estimated maintenance calories be used in a bulking or cutting phase?

Once the maintenance calories are determined, one can apply a calorie surplus for bulking or a calorie deficit for cutting, using this as the starting point for their phase.

What should one do if their body weight or food intake has been inconsistent?

If body weight or food intake has been inconsistent, using a preset calorie maintenance calculator with methods like multiplying body weight by a factor or using the Harris-Benedict or Katch-McArdle formulas is recommended.

How should one adjust their calorie intake during a bulking or cutting phase according to the video?

One should track their body weight closely and adjust their calorie intake if it's going up too quickly or down too slowly, treating any method as an estimated starting point.