Health Tools

Calories are basically the measurement of the amount of energy that each food and drink contains. The term 'calorie' is actually short for kilocalorie which is why you see 'kcal' or 'kJ' written in the nutritional labels on food packets. Kilojoules (kJ) is the metric measurement of kcal where 4.2 kJ is approximately equivalent to 1 kcal.

Although the average man requires 2500kcal daily and the woman, 2000kcal, precise calorie requirement varies from person to person depending on age, gender, lifestyle and size. Growing children and teenagers will need more energy than others. Your lifestyle, or how active you are, will also determine how much calorie intake you require. Weight and height matter because they determine how fast you burn calories. Other factors like hormones, medication or a state of being unwell also affect the calorie need. To achieve well- maintained weight, there should be a balance between the amounts of calories you consume through food and drink and the amounts of calories you burn through your daily physical activities. For instance, in order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than what you consume whereas to gain weight, it's vice versa.

At Gympik.com, we make it easier for you by bringing the Daily Calorie Calculator right at your fingertips. All you have to do is enter the required information in the boxes provided, hit the 'calculate' button and there you'll have it: your very own daily calorie requirement.

Equations

• Male (metric): DCE = ALF x ((13.75 x WKG) + (5 x HC) - (6.76 x age) + 66)
• Male (imperial): DCE = ALF x ((6.25 x WP) + (12.7 x HI) - (6.76 x age) + 66)
• Female (metric): DCE = ALF x ((9.56 x WKG) + (1.85 x HC) - 4.68 x age) + 655)
• Female (imperial): DCE = ALF x ((4.35 x WP) + (4.7 x HI) - 4.68 x age) + 655)