Basal Energy Expenditure (BEE)

It takes a certain amount of calories — or energy — to keep you functioning throughout the day. Digesting your food, keeping your heart and lungs working, and staying warm — your body requires energy to perform these and all of its other functions. This amount of energy is called your basal energy expenditure (BEE). Day-to-day actions such as getting dressed, driving to work and eating lunch also require energy. These actions increase your BEE by about 20 percent. When you add in physical activities — such as jogging, hiking or playing a round of golf — your body needs even more calories to keep going. That is why your energy requirements, or how many calories you need to consume to maintain a given weight, depend upon how sedentary or active you are.

Use the following equation — incorporating your sex, age, height and weight — to calculate your estimated basal energy expenditure BEE :

Women: 655 + (4.36 x weight in pounds) + (4.57 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

Men: 66.5 + (6.27 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

*These equations tend to overestimate the energy expenditure of obese individuals.

After you have calculated your BEE, multiple that number by 120 percent — this accounts for normal day-to-day activities. The resulting number is about the amount of calories that you need to consume to maintain your weight. Then it's a simple matter of eating less, burning extra calories through exercise, or both, to lose weight.

For example, a 30-year-old woman who weighs 130 pounds and is 5 feet 4 inches tall has a BEE of approximately 1,373 calories per day. Multiply this by 120 percent (1,373 x 1.2) for normal day-to-day activities, and you get 1,648 calories per day.

She maintains her current weight if she eats about 1,648 calories a day. To lose weight, she needs to reduce her calorie intake, exercise more, or exercise at a higher intensity — or a combination of all three.

When it comes to exercise, it's important to keep in mind that different activities burn varying amounts of calories. And the intensity of your workout can also affect how many calories are used by a given activity. This table shows the range of calories that you can expend with different activities at varying intensities.

Average calories expended in an hour*

Activity	120- to 130-pound person	170- to 180-pound person
Bicycling (outdoor)	170 to 800	240 to 1,120
Bicycling (stationary)	85 to 800	120 to 1,120
Bowling	115 to 170	160 to 240
Dancing	115 to 400	160 to 560
Gardening	115 to 400	160 to 560
Golfing (walking — carrying or pulling bag)	115 to 400	160 to 560
Hiking	170 to 690	240 to 960
Jogging 6 mph (10 minutes/mile)	575	800
Rowing	170 to 800	240 to 1,120
Running 10 mph (6 minutes/mile)	860	1,200
Skating, ice or roller	230 to 460	320 to 640
Stair climbing	230 to 460	320 to 640
Swimming	230 to 690	320 to 900
Tennis	230 to 515	320 to 720
Walking 2 mph (30 minutes/mile)	150	210
Walking 4 mph (15 minutes/mile)	250	340

*To adjust for your body weight, multiply calories by your weight (in pounds) and divide by 175.