How can I accuratly figure out my calorie needs?

I'm at a bit of an odd point in my workout. I'm still somewhat in the rage of being capable of growing, as I'm 19, and I believe I may be in a growth spurt again as I've recently grown about 2 1/2 inches taller. That said, I'm trying to cut right now and I'm having a lot of difficulty figuring out just how many calories I should take in. Obviously, it's about 500 calories below my maintenance level, but if I can't find that out, it's no help, now is it? :rolleyes:

My stats are in my sig. I go to the gym a minimum of three times a week for weight lifting and twenty minutes of HIIT, and I incorporate some gym visits just for HIIT or jogging throughout the week, usually once or twice a week. My job requires me to be constantly standing and walking around for five or six hours at a time for a total of 15-25 hours a week, usually with no break, and being in college, I walk quite a bit. My main point is, I move around a lot.

My diet varies widely. I'm taking this year at a community college close to home, so I get good ol' mom's cooking for dinner. It's not always the best choice health wise, but in the last few months, I've eliminated sodas from my diet, I rarely eat fast food, and I don't snack nearly so much. I feel like I've cut out a lot of unnecessary calories and fats out of my diet, but obviously it's not enough.

Any recommendations? Anything would be great to hear.
 
That said, I'm trying to cut right now and I'm having a lot of difficulty figuring out just how many calories I should take in. Obviously, it's about 500 calories below my maintenance level, but if I can't find that out, it's no help, now is it? :rolleyes:

My diet varies widely. I'm taking this year at a community college close to home, so I get good ol' mom's cooking for dinner. It's not always the best choice health wise, but in the last few months, I've eliminated sodas from my diet, I rarely eat fast food, and I don't snack nearly so much. I feel like I've cut out a lot of unnecessary calories and fats out of my diet, but obviously it's not enough.

Any recommendations? Anything would be great to hear.

Here's how to figuree it out.

1. This excellent article by Tom Venuto does a great job of discussing ' Calorie Calculators & Calorie Calculations ' ( including explaining & calculating your things like your BMR, " maintenance calories ", etc. etc. ) and how you can use this info to help you lose fat.


Calorie Calculations and Calorie Calculators: How Many Calories a Day Should You Eat?


2. This second link below ( ' Delware link ) it actually does a BMR / maintenance calorie calculation ( discussed in the article above ) for you.......

Delaware Consumer Health Information Services



3. To help figure out what kind of foods you should be eating and how many times a day!,
this " 7 Habits " article represents a sound approach in deciding what ( and when ) to eat.

John Berardi - 7 Habits



4. To track your calories etc. each day this a great on-line tool - Fitday ( many people on this forum use it ) - that you can use to track calories and grams of fat, carbs, and protien.............

FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal


5. Finally, if you want to lose fat, it's always a good idea to first get some rough idea of how much fat you currently have on you. You do this by calculating an estimate of your " body fat % ".

You can use this on-line calculator to ' ballpark ' your body fat %.........

BBLex - Calculator: Bodyfat calculation by US Navy formula



....let us know if you have any more questions.
 
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