If you’ve been following our previous post we compared 2 typical days, 1 of which was more sedentary than the other. Over the weekend I decided I would see how many calories I would burn doing non exercises activities on a weekend. I shall breakdown each activity and how many calories it burned based on my “myzone” belt.
Activity 1- The first time I put my ‘myzone’ belt on was for walk to town and back (with a breakfast pit stop) which accounted for 12.300 steps. In the walk we both took turns pushing the pram and from time to time I had my eldest daughter on my shoulder. I burned 86 calories
Walking calorie output = 86 Cals (based on 12.300 steps)
Activity 2- Was general housework, this was split into two bursts of activity due to a surprise house guest. Basic house work like hovering, washing up or doing laundry etc burned a total of 35 calories in just over 2 hours.
General Housework = 35 Cals (based on 2 hours or chores)
So based on my belt those activities burned around 100 calories, (I know we would naturally burn more in the day but lets keep this simple). So lets say non training days with around four hours of neat (basic lifestyle activity for the laymen) activity burns 100-200 calories based on the individual with similar lifestyle chores stated above. So if we apply this calculation to my working day in the gym: I walk around 10,000 steps, so lets say around 100 cals a day there based on the belt.
Lets now add the 5 sessions a week of my weight training which on average is around 400 cals per session.
Walking + Weight training across a 5 day period at work equates to = 2500 cals
If we now add this to my cals burnt at the weekend this would look like this:
Cals burnt in week + Cals burnt and weekend (2500+ 500 approx) = 3000 Cals Burnt total in 7 Days
You can probably add 1.500-2000 (I am using 1500 for my calculations) a day onto that for all the processes required just to survive, (remember its a rough guide) This bring us too:
Maintenance cals a day equates to 1500 cals multiplied by 7 for the week = 10500 Cals (this is just for maintenance/ breathing/ living/ digesting etc)
So 10,500 Cals a week + Total Exercise (extra effort burnt Cals) 10,500 + 3000 = 13500
Summary
My total output of calories a week is approximately 13500 Cals, so divided by 7 my daily usage of Cals is 1928 a day.
Below is how this formula changes for a more sedentary lifestyle (seated jobs):
Now I’m an active individual so for people who work a sedentary job you you could safely take away 500cals a week from this total (example 13500 – 500). If you tend to be sedentary on weekends based on above you can take around another 300 off (13500- 800 = 12700). This means that someone in a sedentary job could be easily a thousand calories down compared to myself.
Sedentary person total Cals a week = 12700 (this is still relatively generous and based on someone training 5 times a week consistently)
This person has 12700 cals a week to play with, that means an average of 1814 cals a day.
Now to maintain weight your input needs to be around 1814 cals per day, anything above we have weight gain. Most people don’t exercise 5 times a week either which can also be taken into consideration. So for myself 2 less sessions a week means 800cals a week less so which takes you down even more.
We lose weight over weeks not days so consistency is key and in my opinion its easier to create more output then continue to decrease calories. So if you are an individual who hits 2000 steps a day, above shows how many more calories you will burn if you are a little more each day, this is where the 10,000 steps a day can really help.
Feel free to use this formula or method above to calculate your daily calorie allowance, (myzone belt recommended for accuracy). Or any extra help you need feel free to contact any of your Team Breakthrough coaches.
George (assistant to the manager)