How To Work Out Your Daily Caloric Intake.

I haven't included anything like this before and for that I apologise, to be honest I find these kind of calculators to be based so much on you guessing where you fit in certain scales that it makes it only slightly better than making sure you're having X number of grams of protein/carbs etc with every meal.

Having said that, obviously it's better to have a standard, even one with as many options as this, to measure your diet against, to be as specific as possible.

"To work out approximately how many daily Calories you need, you have to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and then multiply it by a factor that best represents your Physical Activity Level (PAL). These equations are provided below...

To lose weight you have to work out how many Calories you need on an average day, and then subtract 500 Calories from that total to lose 0.5kg a week. To lose a kilogram in a week subtract 1000 Calories per day. 

Total Calories per day= BMR x PAL.

The Harris Benedict Equations for calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is:

Women: BMR= 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm)  - (4.7 x age in years)

Men: BMR= 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

To estimate your total daily Caloric needs (BMR x PAL), choose the PAL from the list below that best represents your ususal activity level and multiply it by your BMR.

For you Physical Activity Levels (PAL):

1.2= sedentary and you do little or no exercise
1.375= lightly exercise or sport 1-3 days/week
1.55= moderately active with exercise or sport 3-5 days/week
1.725= very active with hard exericse or sport 3-5 days/week
1.9= extremely active with very hard exercise or sport and physically active job or training twice a day." (Collins)

For example my equation would be as follows:

BMR= 66 + (13.7 X 97kgs) 1328.9 + (5 x 185cms) 925 - (6.8 x 29) 197.2= 2122.7 Calories

BMR= 2122

To work out total Calories:

2122 x PAL (1.55)= 3289.2

Total Caloric intake= 3289.2

To lose 0.5 kg/week:

3289.2 - 500=  2790.2 Calories/day

To lose 1kg/week:

3289.2 - 1000= 2289.2 Calories/day

Weekly structure
A good plan to follow would as follows:

Monday: Full Calorie day (my example would be to have the full 3289.2cals)

Tuesday-Saturday: Minus 500 Calories (my example would be to have 2790.2cals)

Sunday: Minus 1000 Calories (my example would be to have 2289.2cals)

A good site to use to find out the Caloric content of your vegetables and non marked food is http://www.calorieking.com.au/

Enjoy and please send me any thoughts you have.

Special thanks go to Yasmin for this information.

Reference
Collins C., Re-posted from "The Biggest Loser" website. Link retrieved 21/07/2011. http://asktheexpert.thebiggestloser.com.au/nutrition-2/how-do-i-work-out-how-many-calories-i-need-per-day-1010