Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body

by Michael Matthews

It’s possible to lose weight without watching your calories, but it’s unlikely to work well over the long term for most people. There are just three simple steps to figuring out how many calories you should eat every day: calculate your basal metabolic rate, calculate your total daily energy expenditure, and calculate your target daily calorie intake. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body would burn if you were to lie motionless for a day, without food. It’s the minimum amount of energy it costs to stay alive for 24 hours. The Mifflin-St. Jeor equation for men is: BMR = 10 x weight (in kilograms) + 6.25 x height (in centimeters) – 5 x age (in years) + 5 Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories you burn every 24 hours. Food costs energy to digest, process, and absorb, and different types of foods cost more energy than others. Protein costs the most energy to use and store, followed by carbohydrate and then dietary fat. Don’t use any of the data from activity trackers and exercise machines to inform your calorie intake because it’s probably going to lead you astray. Mathematical models are the ticket for calculating your total daily energy expenditure. Use my slightly modified activity multipliers when calculating your TDEE. The first step in working out how many calories you should eat is determining what you want to do with your body composition. If you want to lose fat, you need to eat fewer calories than you’r...