What is the formula for determining calories need to maintain current or to loose weight.

Thanks.

I don't know how accurate it is, but this tool claims to calculate how many calories you burn in a day...

https://www.nutritiondata.com/calories-burned.html

I don't think its very accurate, I plugged in my numbers for today and got 8,300 calories, which is way too high, it should have been around 5.5K.

Seems reasonably accurate to me. Moreso than the calorie counter on my HRM, at least.

Seemed about 500 calories high for me. I figure 3,000, it recommended 3,500

Same here... Reasonable estimate...

Any formula for calories burned while exercising is going to be just an estimate. Just as many calorie counts for foods are just estimates. Just remember that if you want to lose weight you need to either cut back on what you eat, or exercise more, or a little of both. Don't go to extremes. One to two pounds/week is generally accepted as a healthy goal.

What you really need to know is your RMR or resting metabolic rate, which will tell you how many calories your body needs just to function each day. From my experience the online calculators are usually off by a few hundred calories, which doesn't seem like much but if you add them up it can mean the difference between gaining and losing weight.

Getting your RMR measured is real easy. Find a sports medicine or health club in your area who have the equipment to do the testing. I recently did a test for the second time and it only cost around $50 and takes about 15 minutes. You simply breath into a portable device and it gives you your RMR. Well worth the money.

I wanted to get this done. So I went into Bally's and they threw the whole membership crap at me. Needless to say I won't go back there. Anyone know if say a Gold's Gym would do it for me without hassling me about joining?

I had that test done. The disclaimers and warnings left me a bit sceptical (while taking the test). The test giver could not explain why I need to sign a disclaimer and what the potential cause of death would be from...

That's why I wanted to use the formula and do the math myself. That test left me feeling dazzled. The other thing about it is that your calorie needs will change as you loose weight, so unless you are willing to keep spending that money, it is good to have a formula that works.

I decide to start at 1200 for 6 days and keep adding 200 per week until I get the results I need for 2lbs weight lost per week.

So far, so good. And I've flushed my system of sugar cravings in the process.