Calculation of Energy Needs
Basal Metabolism
Male: Body weight in pounds x 12
Female: Body weight in pounds x 11
Activity - Energy Cost
| Activity | Cal/LB/hour | Activity | Cal/LB/hour | Activity | Cal/LB/hour |
| Archery | 1.31 | Gardening-mow | 2.59 | Run-5mph | 3.22 |
| Ax-fast | 7.64 | Gardening-rake | 1.01 | Run-7mph | 4.99 |
| Ax-slow | 1.85 | Gardening-plant | 1.45 | Run-9mph | 6.19 |
| Badminton | 2.18 | Gardening-hoe | 2.02 | Run-10mph | 6.41 |
| Bakery | 0.49 | Gardening-weed | 1.50 | Run-11mph | 7.42 |
| Basketball | 3.30 | Golf | 1.85 | Saw-hand | 2.86 |
| Bike-5mph | 1.28 | Gymnastics | 1.34 | Saw-power | 1.58 |
| Bike-9mph | 2.26 | Hill Climbing | 2.84 | Scraping | 1.25 |
| Bike-Race | 4.15 | Hockey | 3.19 | Scrubbing | 2.51 |
| Billiards | 0.68 | Horse-grooming | 3.03 | Sewing | 0.22 |
| Bookbinding | 0.57 | Horse-Gallop | 3.27 | Shopping | 1.23 |
| Boxing-match | 5.59 | Horse-Trot | 2.51 | Sitting | 0.11 |
| Boxing-spar | 3.30 | Horse-Walk | 0.65 | Ski-fun | 2.65 |
| Canoe-pleasure | 0.74 | Ironing | 1.09 | Ski-walk | 3.44 |
| Canoe-racing | 2.35 | Judo | 4.85 | Ski-uphill | 7.83 |
| Card playing | 0.22 | Knitting | 0.16 | Snowplow | 4.91 |
| Carpentry | 0.95 | Lathe use | 0.95 | Snowshoe | 4.06 |
| Cleaning | 0.76 | Locksmith | 1.09 | Squash | 5.32 |
| Cooking | 0.85 | Lay still | 0.14 | Standing | 0.27 |
| Cricket | 1.88 | Machining | 0.85 | Stocking | 1.01 |
| Croquet | 1.15 | March-fast | 3.41 | Sweeping | 0.63 |
| Dance-waltz | 0.93 | Millwork-forge | 2.26 | Swim-backstroke | 4.15 |
| Dance-modern | 4.12 | Millwork-roll | 3.35 | Swim-breaststroke | 3.95 |
| Desk Work | 0.41 | Millwork-slag | 4.39 | Swim-crawl fast | 3.79 |
| Dig a trench | 3.49 | Millwork-furnace | 2.97 | Swim-crawl slow | 3.03 |
| Dish washing | 0.87 | Millwork-mold | 2.05 | Swim-sidestroke | 2.86 |
| Drawing | 0.52 | Mine-drilling | 2.02 | Swim-treading water | 1.23 |
| Dressing | 0.87 | Mine-shoveling | 2.48 | Tailoring | 0.68 |
| Drilling | 1.31 | Mopping | 1.17 | Tennis | 2.51 |
| Drive a car | 0.44 | Music-accordion | 0.41 | Tree-Bark removal | 2.89 |
| Eating | 0.16 | Music-cello | 0.65 | Tree-Carry | 4.61 |
| Electrical work | 1.12 | Music-conducting | 0.60 | Tree-felling | 3.14 |
| Exercise-light | 0.98 | Music-drums | 1.34 | Tree-trimming | 3.05 |
| Exercise- med | 2.13 | Music-flute | 0.49 | Type-computer | 0.27 |
| Exercise-heavy | 3.16 | Music-horn | 0.33 | Type-manual | 0.38 |
| Exercise-extra heavy | 4.45 | Music-organ | 0.98 | Vacuuming | 0.85 |
| Farm-cleaning | 3.22 | Music-piano | 0.63 | Volleyball | 0.90 |
| Farm-driving | 0.63 | Music-trumpet | 0.38 | Walk-3mph | 1.50 |
| Farm-feeding | 1.58 | Music-violin | 0.76 | Walk-4mph | 2.18 |
| Farm-fork | 3.30 | Paint-inside | 0.46 | Walk-5mph | 3.00 |
| Farm-milk | 1.01 | Paint-outside | 1.64 | Wallpapering | 0.85 |
| Farm-shoveling | 1.85 | Ping-pong | 1.39 | Watch-repair | 0.22 |
| Fishing | 1.23 | Plastering | 1.66 | Weight lifting | 4.58 |
| Football | 3.14 | Printing | 0.49 | Welding | 0.95 |
| Furriery | 1.80 | Punch press | 1.94 | Window cleaning | 1.15 |
| Gardening-dig | 2.97 | Racquetball | 5.32 | Writing | 0.33 |
| Gardening-hedge | 1.64 | Run-cross country | 3.98 |
Example: a 200 LB male needs 200 x 12 = 2,400 Kcal for basal metabolism
If he knits for 1/2 hour he uses up 200 x 0.23 x 0.5 = 23 Kcal
If he Swims for 1.5 hours he uses 200 x 1.59 x 1.5 = 477 Kcal