Now that you have been journaling all your workouts and your diet, you have a reference or starting point. From your diet journal you can easily figure out exactly how many calories you are consuming each day. From here, you can figure out what changes you need to make, right?
One problem, how do you know how many calories you should be consuming each day? Are you eating too little or way too much? One thing to remember is there is no magic number that works for everyone. Many factors play into calorie requirement including age, sex, metabolism, activity level and body size. I'll try to give you a glimpse into each.
Age - By about age 25 our caloric needs decline by about two per cent each decade. So every 10 years, you need fewer calories than you did the decade before. If you are 45 and still eating the way you did when you were in your 20s (or better) it may be the reason for that spare tire.
Sex - Male bodies have less body fat and more muscle than a woman. Because muscle burns more calories than fat, men typically need to consume more calories. (Note: women should discuss caloric requirement during pregnancy or breast feeding with their doctor.)
Metabolism - Calories are fuel for the body. Without fuel, our bodies can not perform vital functions such as breathing and keeping our heart beating. The minimum number of calories your body requires to run these functions is called your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). To calculate you BMR, please see the formula below.
Activity Level - When you are active, you burn calories. The more active, the more calories burned. If you burn more calories in a day than you consume, you lose weight. It's as simple as that. The exercise, duration and intensity determine how much you burn. Obviously, the harder the activity, the more calories you burn.
There are different formulas used for men and women to determine BMR and activity expenditure. The following are the formula's used. Please use them to determine your optimal calorie intake. If you are having any trouble, please don't hesitate to contact me. Remember, people are often eating the right things, maybe they just need to re-evaluate the portion sizes.
For women, the calculation is: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years).
For men, the calculation is: 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
This is your basal metabolic rate (BMR). You need to add to this your exercise level. To do this take your BMR and calculate your activity level by multiplying: sedentary x 20 per cent; lightly active x 30 per cent (two to three days a week); moderately active x 40 per cent (four to six days a week); very active x 50 per cent (intense exercise seven days a week for prolonged periods of time).
Add this figure to your BMR. Now you have the number of calories you need to consume dailyto maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight, you need to cut back this number. For example, if you want to lose one pound per week, you need to cut back 500 calories perday, or cut back 250 and burn an extra 250 with exercise. Good luck!
Say it! Mean it! Do it!
