If within a week of accurately counting calories and closely observing physical activity and sleep patterns, you do not experience positive dynamics in the form of visual body recomposition and reflection in the mirror, it is recommended to get tested and seek guidance.
Carbohydrate distribution:
Morning (short starch) - unleavened bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pita bread, flat bread, baked goods without sugar and yeast.
Lunch (long starch) - rice, lentils, beans, buckwheat, chickpeas, quinoa, bulgur, cereals).
Evening (vegetables) + You MUST allow yourself your favorite product of 200-300 kcal (fruits, natural chocolate, baked goods without yeast) within the calorie content and BZHU no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
If in the calorie calculations you have less than 100 grams of carbohydrates, this indicates that you have an increased body mass index. Physical and physical activity should be increased. Recommended values: at least 100 grams of carbohydrates for women and at least 150 grams of carbohydrates for men.
You MUST eat more fiber and alkaline foods: leafy greens, celery, radish, cucumber, spinach, cauliflower and white cabbage, beets, carrots, garlic, seaweed, broccoli, avocado, lemon.
ON TRAINING DAYS, add an additional 100 grams of carbohydrates 120 minutes before training from short, starchy carbohydrates (yams, potatoes, unleavened bread, pita bread, flatbread, sugar- and yeast-free baked goods).
ADD INTO CALORIES.
For example: you need to eat 150 grams of carbohydrates per day, respectively, consume 100 of them before training and distribute the rest throughout the day.
DURING TRAINING, drink EXCLUSIVELY pure water, without various BCAAs and amino acids (due to insulin spikes that are not necessary during training).
Add 5-7 grams of salt per day (table or iodized)
REDUCE, and ideally REMOVE, the number of simulants: coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol.
Buy kitchen scales. Weigh cereals, vegetables and other raw foods. Meat, fish, poultry are ready.
Give preference to polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats (omega 3, vegetable oils, nuts, avocado, seeds).
Proportion of carbohydrates, 30% fructose (fruit, natural chocolate), 70% starch (rice, buckwheat, potatoes, gluten-free flour, sugar-free and yeast-free bakery products)
When eating, it is recommended to give priority to foods that have an alkaline reaction, removing or reducing to 1 meal a day foods that have an oxidative reaction: poultry, red meat, gluten, sugar, seafood. Farm eggs and farm dairy products are permitted. Foods with acidity 6. 0 - 10. 0 PH. More detailed table at the link.
The consumption of freshly slaughtered or vacuum-packed livestock products is permitted. Avoid refrigerated and frozen animal products.
The presence of a product that gives you psychological pleasure IS MANDATORY, within the calorie and macro content (BZHU).
If it is impossible to reach your daily caloric intake with the "CORRECT" foods, we include the maximum caloric content within the macro (BZHU).
The number of meals is not important; eat strictly according to your appetite (distribute your "food basket" into a number of meals that are convenient for you).
It is possible to change the components of the diet depending on your preferences within the macro (BZHU).
- B12-, iron deficiency anemia, weakness, increased fatigue, impaired hematopoiesis (pallor and yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes, tachycardia, heart pain, exercise intolerance, dizziness and frequent fainting, enlarged spleen), damage to the digestive system ( indigestion, unstable stools, loss of appetite, weight loss, change in color and shape of the tongue, change in taste, frequent oral infections, abdominal pain after eating), damage to the nervous system (impaired sensitivity, paresthesia, ataxia, decreased strength muscle, difficulty urinating, mental disorder).
- Hypothyroidism. Decreased physical and mental performance, increased fatigue, skin changes (myxedema), increased sensitivity to cold, hoarseness, weight gain, swelling of the face and body, constipation, hypotension and bradycardia, drowsiness, decreased memory and intelligence), growth retardation in children and intellectual development.
- Metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance). Increased body weight in the abdominal region, metabolic disorders, insulin resistance. Subjective sensations: bouts of bad mood with hunger, increased fatigue, food selectivity, tachycardia attacks, heart pain, headache, thirst and dry mouth, increased sweating
How many calories do you need per day to lose weight?
There is no single standard for how many calories you need per day to lose weight. It is calculated individually for each person, taking into account their physical characteristics and lifestyle.
Where to start?
Before calculating how many calories to eat to lose weight, you must first determine your daily intake. Essentially, calories are energy. Most of it is spent daily to maintain the functioning of the body: breathing, heartbeat, food digestion, etc. Scientists discovered that:
- Men burn more calories than women.
- The older a person gets, the less energy they use.
- During adolescence, pregnancy and illness, you need many more calories.
- Physical activity increases the rate of calorie consumption.
In addition, there are individual characteristics of the body, established by genetics, which determine the rate of calorie consumption. However, on average, you can simply calculate how many calories to consume per day, not only to not gain weight, but also to lose weight.
For example, you can use the formula from scientists Mifflin and San Geor. It was introduced in 2005 and has proven to be more effective than the Harris-Benedict variant. To calculate you need:
- Weight multiplied by 10.
- Height multiplied by 6. 25.
- Age multiplied by 5.
Then all you have to do is add up your weight and height and then subtract your age. Then, men add 5 and women subtract 161. The result is multiplied by the activity coefficient:
- 1. 2 – you spend days lying on the couch or working in the office.
- 1. 375 – 3 times a week you remember that you need to play sports.
- 1. 55 – active athlete who trains 5 times a week.
- 1. 725 – you actively train every day.
- 1. 9 is a fanatical athlete and during breaks you work as a porter.
In other words, for a 35-year-old accountant, weighing 85 kg and 180 cm tall, the calculation will look like this (because of work, there is no time left for sports):
((85x10) + (180x6, 25) - (35x5) - 161) x 1, 2 = 1, 966. 8 calories.
This amount of energy will be enough for her to live and work calmly, without gaining weight. But to lose weight you will have to calculate how many calories to consume.
How to lose weight by counting calories?
The golden rule for losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume. But you can't suddenly reduce the amount of food you eat. The body doesn't like that. Instead, you need to grab the calculator again and calculate how many calories you need to eat to lose weight. To do this, subtract 15-20% from the previous result. In other words, our accountant, to prepare for the summer, needs to absorb:
1, 966. 8-20% = 1, 573. 44 calories.
If she has the idea of improving, then she needs to do exactly the opposite. But it doesn't end there. There are several other conditions that must be taken into account:
- The number of calories consumed should not fall below 1, 200. Otherwise, the body will not have enough energy to live and chronic diseases of various types may develop.
- You can't calculate how many calories you need per day to lose weight, eat them in the morning and walk around starving all day. Desire to divide meals into 5-6 times. This way, the stomach and intestines will be constantly busy with work, the feeling of hunger will interfere less and eating as a whole will be much more pleasurable.
- It is necessary to monitor not only calories, but also nutrients. The diet must be varied to avoid causing vitamin deficiencies and other health problems.
- We must not forget water. Drinking large amounts of fluids speeds up the body's metabolic processes and removes toxins. This is a great help for quick weight loss.
Therefore, some nutritionists advise not to pay too much attention to the number of calories consumed. They believe that it is much more important to monitor the proportion of nutrients in the diet. And if a proper balance is maintained, a person will lose weight quickly regardless of the number of calories consumed.
By the way, there is another way to lose weight without reducing your diet. If we take our accountant and give her a subscription to 5 classes at a fitness club, we find that she will no longer need 1, 966. 8 calories, but:
((85x10) + (180x6, 25) - (35x5) -161) x 1, 55 = 2, 540, 45 calories.
In other words, it turns out that she will still have to improve her diet a little and start consuming more high-calorie foods, recalculating. And at the same time, she will still lose weight quickly.
Why can't you reduce your diet too much?
If you start counting how many calories you need to consume to lose weight, it may seem that the problem can be solved if you immediately reduce the amount of energy several times, or even to zero. But that's not how the human body works. A fasting day once a week will create positive stress and can accelerate weight loss. With prolonged fasting, less positive changes already occur:
- hair falls out and skin condition worsens;
- the person becomes irritable and easily depressed;
- the functioning of the digestive organs and kidneys is disturbed;
- concentration and the ability to think coherently decrease.
At the same time, the body goes into "energy saving mode". Metabolic processes slow down and weight loss occurs more slowly than it should. And after breaking the fast, weight gain occurs quickly.
It's best to control how many calories you need to eat to lose weight and not rush into anything. Healthy nutrition experts advise not to try to suddenly lose 5-10-15 kg by cutting calories. Natural weight changes should be about 1-1. 5 kg per week. This is the most comfortable rate of weight loss for the average person, and it's what we should strive for.
How to calculate daily calorie intake
Any diet, regardless of the objective, begins with calculating the daily intake of calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. In this article we will talk about the most accurate methods for determining daily calorie intake for men and women.
Calorie content is calculated depending on the goal (weight loss, maintenance, weight gain), gender, age, physical activity and other factors.
What is basal metabolism?
Calculating daily calorie intake begins with calculating basal metabolic rate (BMR) - the amount of energy required by the body to support vital processes. The human body, even at rest, constantly spends calories on breathing, digestion, blood circulation and other physiological processes. The daily caloric intake must be higher than the BMR, otherwise the body will not be able to function normally.
The level of basal metabolism can be determined by two methods: direct and indirect.
In the first case, the person is placed in a special chamber, where the amount of heat he consumes is measured, after which the PBM is calculated. This research method is the most accurate, but at the same time inaccessible.
The indirect method involves calculating basal metabolism using a special formula. Today there are several main calculation methods. Let's list the main ones.
Calorie calculation from the Harrison-Benedict formula
The formula was developed by American physiologist Francis Gano Benedict and botanist James Arthur Harris at the beginning of the last century, but it still remains relevant. It has an error of about 5%.
The formula for calculating PBM is as follows:
- For women: 655. 1 + (9. 563 × weight in kg) + (1. 85 × height in cm) - (4. 676 × age in years);
- For men: 66. 5 + (13. 75 × weight in kg) + (5. 003 × height in cm) - (6. 775 × age in years).
The result obtained is the daily calorie intake required by the body for normal functioning. To calculate how many kcal you need to consume to maintain your weight, you need to multiply the resulting value by the physical activity coefficient:
- 1. 2 – minimum (sedentary work, lack of physical activity);
- 1, 375 – low (training at least 20 minutes 1 to 3 times a week);
- 1. 55 – moderate (30 to 60 minute workouts 3 to 4 times a week);
- 1, 7 – high (30 to 60 minute workouts 5 to 7 times a week; heavy physical work);
- 1, 9 – extreme (several intense workouts a day, 6 to 7 times a week; very hard work).
Calorie Calculation Using the Mifflin-San Geor Formula
The method for calculating daily caloric intake was developed by nutritionists under the guidance of doctors Mifflin and San Geor. The formula was developed relatively recently, but today it is the most accurate. It helps to calculate the required amount of kcal for a person aged 13 to 80 years.
Simplified version (without taking into account physical activity)
- For women: (10 x weight in kg) + (6. 25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in g) – 161;
- For men: (10 x weight in kg) + (6. 25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in g) + 5.
Ketch-McArdle Calorie Formula
This calculation method is based on the amount of adipose tissue in the body (we wrote about how to measure it in a previous article). The formula does not include information about height, age and sex, as it is assumed that these were taken into account when calculating body fat percentage.
Formula for calculating PBM: 370 + 21. 6 x X (body weight excluding body fat)
The result obtained must be multiplied by the activity coefficient using the Harrison-Benedict method.
World Health Organization (WHO) formula
The World Health Organization provides recommendations on how to calculate your daily caloric intake:
- For women aged 18 to 30 (0. 062 x weight in kg + 2. 036) x 240 x CFA;
- For women aged 31 to 60 years (0. 034 x weight in kg + 3. 538) x 240 x CFA;
- For women over 60 years old (0. 038 x weight in kg + 2. 755) × 240 x CFA;
- For men aged 18 to 30 (0. 063 x body weight in kg + 2. 896) x 240 x CFA;
- For men aged 31 to 60 (0. 484 x body weight in kg + 3. 653) x 240 x CFA;
- For men over 60 (0. 491 x body weight in kg + 2. 459) x 240 x CFA.
Where CFA is the coefficient of physical activity: 1 - low, 1. 3 - medium, 1. 5 - high.
Daily Calorie Calculator
You can also calculate your average daily calorie intake using an online calculator.
How to properly reduce daily calorie intake to lose weight?
For harmonious and safe weight loss, it is recommended to reduce the calorie content of the diet, taking into account physical activity, by 10-15% (by 20% for severe obesity). Daily calorie content should not be less than the following indicator:
Weight in kg/0. 45 x 8
The WHO recommends reducing food intake by 500 kcal per month compared to the actual diet, until the calorie content is 300-500 kcal below the daily requirement.
Reducing daily intake by 500 kcal per day leads to a loss of approximately 500 grams of fat mass per week. After six months of this weight loss or upon reaching the ideal weight, it is recommended to recalculate the daily caloric intake taking into account new indicators.
You should not reduce your calorie intake as much as possible to lose weight more effectively. A loss of 250-500 grams per week is considered physiological and safe for health. Exceeding these numbers means loss of muscle and fluids.
Proteins, fats and carbohydrates when counting calories
Effective weight loss not only involves maintaining your daily calorie intake, but also the proper distribution of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. A balanced diet according to the BJU ratio will look like this:
- For weight loss: 30-35% proteins, 30-35% fats, 30-40% carbohydrates;
- To maintain weight: 25-35% proteins, 25-35% fats, 40-50% carbohydrates;
- For weight gain: 35-40% proteins, 15-25% fats, 40-60% carbohydrates.
With this distribution of BJU in the diet, the body receives sufficient amounts of nutrients and vitamins.
Do not forget that all formulas for calculating daily calorie content may contain errors. They do not take into account the percentage of food absorption, health status, metabolic rate and other factors. Even a diet designed by a specialist may not work in a particular case due to the individual characteristics of a person. In the process of building a beautiful and strong body, you should listen to your feelings and, if necessary, change your diet and the ratio of KBJU.
Be careful with your diet, exercise and the results won't be long in coming!