Calculate calories burned [closed]

Question

I want to calculate the calorie burned by any person.If i have the height ,weight,sex,distance walks or run.Is there any formula that help me to calculate the calorie burned just by above four factors.

Answer 1

No. There are formulas for estimating basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). For exercises like walking or running you could estimate the calories burned based on measured performance data. Say, you have height, weight, sex, distance traveled and the time for this, as well as a measurement of burned calories, then those first parameters could be used as a prediction of the last one. These are the sort of methods used in machine learning, where inputs are used to "train" an algorithm for finding predicted output.

Even so, there's simply too many unknown parameters left that will have a large impact. If you're running on an incline or decline, the "distance" as would be measured on a map would be different from that actual traveled, yet the intensity of the walk or run would be influenced. Height and weight don't tell you anything about body composition. You could have two people for which these parameters are identical yet one has a large body fat percentage, the other a very low one with a lot of muscle mass. Fitness level and adaptation to exercise is going to affect efficiency and heart rate, further making estimates inaccurate.

The easiest thing to do is to use a heart rate monitor that takes said input and then uses the heart rate measured at short intervals to constantly calculate energy expenditure. But even that won't be entirely accurate. Possibly, if you have a monitor that allows you to export the heart rate data for a workout, it could be plugged into program that takes body composition into account as well. I wouldn't know about the existence of something like that. (If it doesn't exit, making something like it sure sounds like a very interesting project. It would take only a basic knowledge of machine learning and a technique like gradient descent.)

A simple formula, however, is at best going to be very inaccurate.

Answer 2

There is a simple general formula to calculate BMR (calories you burn per day without exercise). It is rather accurate as long as you are not far from "average" person. Eg very lean, very muscular, very obese:

English BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Metric BMR Formula
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 )

There is also a formula based on body fat that is more accurate.

Now, there is a Harris-Benedict equation that helps you calculate the calories burned based on your activity lavel. Here is a simplified version:

• BMR x 1.2 if you are sedentary + little or no exercise
• BMR x 1.4 if you are lightly active + light exercise/sports few days a week. This is where most people with office job and working out few times a week are.
• BMR x 1.6 if you are moderately active. For example if you are cycling/walking to work, or work a standing job, and exercise a few times a week.
• Above that are mostly people that workout hard, everyday and combine it with a physical job of some sort.

The above is a good guideline to plan initial caloric intake if starting a diet. As everyone has slightly different metabolic rate, different lifestyle and daily activity routines, caloric intake should be adjusted according to progress.