I have been searching for information about the number of calories that I can consume per day to maintain. When I went through your calculator, it told me that I could eat about 2,040 calories a day (with a weight of 140 pounds – age 33 – and 8 hours of sleep with the rest of the hours being very light/sedentary). I have a very hard time believing that this is accurate. That would be using a multiplier of about 14.57 X pounds of weight. This seems like it would be the multiplier of a very active person. I am pretty sure that I would gain weight using this formula. Do you have some further insight on this for me?

The only subjective data you enter into my calculator is activity hours. The Healthy Body Calculator® is based on current nutrition practice for assessing people’s weight and calorie needs. Actually, it is very accurate, but I don’t use a single multiplier. There are formulas that use a single multiplier for quick field estimates of calorie needs that range from 12 – 15+ calories per pound of body weight for healthy individuals.

Unfortunately, most people underestimate how much they eat as they don’t keep food and drink records which should be analyzed for calories and nutrients. Another important factor is the amount and intensity of exercise & fitness you get each day, but since you are sedentary, this wouldn’t be a factor. Better get moving as people who burn more through exercise, can eat more calories.