All we've done so far is the caloric requirement of the average US male couch potato.  But some of us do exercise.  Let's go back to the formula.  The amount of calories burned in exercise is expressed as PA in our equation.

Calories Needed = 1.1 x (BMR + PA)

PA is determined by the type of exercise you do, the amount of time you do it, and your weight.  It is expressed as: PA = W x E x T Where W = weight in pounds E = energy expenditure (kcal/lb/min) T = minutes spent exercising   Below are the Energy Expenditure values for common physical activities: running 12 min/mile 0.0635                 Cycling 5 mph 0.0317 running 9 min/mile 0.0862                   Cycling 10 mph 0.0544 running 8 min/mile 0.0998                   Cycling 15 mph 0.07711 running 7 min/mile 0.1089 running 6 min/mile 0.1270 walking 20 min/mile 0.0136                  Swimming crawl 25m/min 0.0408 walking 15 min/mile 0.0272                  Swimming crawl 50m/min 0.0816 walking 11 min/mile 0.0726 Writing/Deskwork 0.0045

Let me tell you, from personal experience, walking 15 minutes per mile is fast.  I do it on the streets of Manhattan, and I run over people.  Cycling about 12 mph is also pretty fast.  When I ride bikes with the kids it's about 6-8 mph depending on whether anyone is moping.  Personally, I don't like running.  But I can do an 8 minute mile.  That is, one mile.  I haven't tried running more than an mile recently.  As much as it pains me to say this, let's assume I'm average.  (Ouch.  Did I really write that?)  Let's assume the average US male exercises for 60 minutes per day.

The value for walking 60 minutes is 267 calories.  We can solve for the number of minutes required by the other activities to burn 267 calories.

Makes sense, doesn't it?  Remember, 267 calories is less than 2 beers and about 16% of the daily caloric requiement of a 40-year old couch potato

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