If after a week of accurate calorie counting and strict observation of physical activity and sleep patterns, you do not experience positive dynamics in the form of a visual redistribution of the body and reflection in the mirror, then it is recommended to get tested and seek advice.
Distribution of carbohydrates:
Morning (short starch) - unleavened bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pita bread, flat bread, baked goods without sugar and yeast.
Dinner (durable starch) - rice, lentils, beans, buckwheat, buckwheat, quinoa, bulgar, cereals).
Evening (vegetables) + you should allow your favorite product for 200-300 kcal (fruit, natural chocolate, baked without yeast) within the caloric content and BZHU no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
If you have less than 100 grams of carbohydrates in your calorie calculations, then 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 should eat more fibrous and alkaline foods: greens, celery, radishes, cucumbers, 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 starch carbohydrates (yams, potatoes, unleavened bread, pita bread, flat bread, baked goods without sugar or yeast).
Add within the calories.
For example: you should eat 150 grams of carbohydrates per day, eat 100 grams before training, and spread the rest throughout the day.
During training, drink exclusively plain water without various BCAAs and amino acids (due to the increase in insulin, which is not necessary during training).
Add 5-7 grams of salt per day (table or iodized)
Reduce and ideally eliminate the number of simulators: coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol.
Buy a kitchen scale. Weigh grains, vegetables and other raw foods. Meat, fish, poultry are ready.
Give preference to polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (omega 3, vegetable oils, nuts, avocados, seeds).
Carbohydrate ratio, 30% fructose (fruit, natural chocolate), 70% starch (rice, buckwheat, potatoes, gluten-free flour, sugar-free and yeast-free baked goods)
In nutrition, it is recommended to give preference to foods that give an alkaline reaction, remove or reduce to 1 meal a day foods that give an oxidizing reaction: poultry, red meat, gluten, sugar, seafood. Farm eggs and farm dairy products are allowed. Food with acidity 6. 0 - 10. 0 PH. More detailed table on the link.
Livestock products either freshly killed or vacuum packed are allowed for consumption. Avoid refrigerated and frozen animal products.
It is mandatory to have a product that will give you psychological pleasure, within the caloric and macro content (BZHU).
If it is not possible to get your daily calories from the "right" foods, we will calculate the maximum calorie content in macros (BZHU).
No matter the number of meals, eat strictly according to your appetite (distribute your "food basket" to foods that are convenient for you).
It is possible to change the components of the diet based on your own preferences in the macro (BZHU).
- B12-, iron-deficiency anemia, weakness, increased fatigue, impaired hematopoiesis (paleness and yellowness of the skin and mucous membranes, rapid heartbeat, heart pain, exercise intolerance, dizziness and frequent weakness, enlarged spleen), damage to the digestive system (indigestion, unstablefeces, loss of appetite, weight loss, change in the color and shape of the tongue, taste disturbances, frequent oral infections, abdominal pain after eating), damage to the nervous system (decreased sensitivity, paresthesia, ataxia, decreased muscle strength, urinary disorders, mental disorders).
- Hypothyroidism. Decreased physical and mental performance, increased fatigue, skin changes (myxedema), increased sensitivity to cold, voice vomiting, 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). Weight gain in the abdomen, metabolic disorders, insulin resistance. Subjective sensations: attacks of bad mood during hunger, increased fatigue, selectiveness of food, rapid heartbeat, 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 you can calculate how many calories you need to eat to lose weight, you must first determine your daily intake. Essentially, a calorie is energy. Most of it is spent every day to keep the body functioning: breathing, heart rate, digestion, etc. Sh. Scientists have discovered that:
- Men burn more calories than women.
- The older a person becomes, the less energy he spends.
- During adolescence, pregnancy and illness, you need a lot more calories.
- Physical activity increases the rate of calorie consumption.
In addition, there are individual characteristics of the body determined by genetics, which determine the rate of calorie consumption. However, on average, you can easily calculate how many calories you need to consume per day in order not only to not gain weight, but also to lose weight.
For example, you can use the formula of scientists Mifflin and San Geor. It was introduced in 2005 and has proven to be more effective than the Harris-Benedict option. To calculate you need:
- Weight multiplied by 10.
- Height multiplied by 6, 25.
- Age multiplied by 5.
Then all that's left is to add 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 lie on the couch or work in the office for days.
- 1. 375 – you remember to do sports 3 times a week.
- 1. 55 – an active athlete who trains 5 times a week.
- 1. 725 – you actively train every day.
- 1. 9 is a fanatical athlete and you work as a loader during your breaks.
That is, for a 35-year-old female accountant who weighs 85 kg and is 180 cm tall, the calculation looks like this (due to work, there is no time left for sports):
((85x10) + (180x6. 25) - (35x5) - 161) x 1. 2 = 1966. 8 calories.
This amount of energy will be enough for him to live and work calmly, without gaining weight. But in order to lose weight, you need to calculate how many calories you need to consume.
How to lose weight by counting calories?
The golden rule of weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume. But you can not suddenly reduce the amount of food. The body does not like it. Instead, you should still pull out the calculator and calculate how many calories you need to lose weight. For this you need to subtract 15-20% from the previous result. That is, our female accountant, to prepare for the summer, should learn:
1966. 8-20%=1573. 44 calories.
If he has an idea to do better, then he should do exactly the opposite. But it doesn't end there. There are a few more conditions that must be taken into account:
- The number of consumed calories should not fall below 1200. Otherwise, the body will not have enough energy for life and various chronic diseases may develop.
- You can't calculate how many calories you need per day to lose weight, eat them in the morning and go hungry all day. Desire to divide food 5-6 times. In this way, the stomach and intestines will be constantly busy, the feeling of hunger will interfere less, and overall the diet will be much more pleasant.
- It is necessary to monitor not only calories, but also nutrients. Food should be varied so as not to provoke vitamin deficiency and other health problems.
- We must not forget water. Drinking a large amount of liquid accelerates metabolic processes in the body and removes toxins. It is a great help for rapid weight loss.
Therefore, some nutritionists recommend not paying too much attention to the number of calories consumed. They believe that it is much more important to monitor the ratio of nutrients in the diet. And if the 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 the diet. If we take our female accountant and sign her up for 5 classes at the fitness club, it turns out that she no longer needs 1, 966. 8 calories, but:
((85x10) + (180x6. 25) - (35x5) -161) x 1. 55 = 2540. 45 calories.
That is, it turns out that he will have to improve his diet a little and eat more caloric food, recalculate. And at the same time, he will still lose weight quite quickly.
Why can't you reduce your diet too much?
If you start counting how many calories you need to eat to lose weight, it may seem to you that the problem can be solved if you immediately reduce the amount of energy several times, or even to zero. But the human body doesn't work like that. Fasting once a week will create positive stress and actually accelerate weight loss. With prolonged fasting, less positive changes occur:
- hair falls out and skin condition worsens;
- A person becomes irritable and easily depressed;
- the functioning of digestive organs and kidneys is disturbed;
- Decreased concentration and ability to think coherently.
At the same time, the body enters "energy saving mode". Metabolic processes slow down and weight loss is slower than it should be. After stopping fasting, weight gain happens quickly.
It is better to keep track of how many calories you need to lose weight and do not rush into anything. Experts in healthy nutrition advise us not to try to suddenly lose weight by reducing calories by 5-10-15 kg. Natural weight changes per week should be about 1-1. 5 kg. This is the most comfortable weight loss rate for the average person to strive for.
How to calculate daily calorie intake
Any diet, regardless of the goal, begins with calculating the daily consumption of calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. In this article, we will talk about the most accurate methods of determining daily calorie intake for men and women.
Calorie content is calculated based on the goal (weight loss, maintenance, weight gain), gender, age, physical activity and other factors.
What is Basal Metabolism?
Calculating your daily calorie intake starts with calculating your basal metabolic rate (BMR) - the amount of energy the body needs to support vital processes. Even at rest, the human body constantly spends calories for breathing, digestion, blood circulation and other physiological processes. Daily caloric intake must be greater than BMR, otherwise the body will not be able to function normally.
Basal metabolic rate can be determined by two methods: direct and indirect.
In the first case, a person is placed in a special chamber, where the amount of heat consumed by him is measured, after which the PBM is calculated. This research method is the most accurate, but at the same time unavailable.
The indirect method involves calculating the basal metabolism using a special formula. Today there are several basic methods of calculation. Let's list the main ones.
Harrison-Benedict formula calorie calculation
The formula was developed by the American physiologist Francis Gano Benedict and the botanist James Arthur Harris at the beginning of the last century, but it still remains relevant. has a margin of 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 intake of daily calories required by the body for normal functioning. In order to calculate how many kcal you need to consume to maintain weight, you need to multiply the obtained figure by the physical activity coefficient:
- 1. 2 – minimal (sedentary work, lack of physical activity);
- 1, 375 – low (exercise at least 20 minutes 1-3 times a week);
- 1. 55 – moderate (exercise 30-60 minutes 3-4 times a week);
- 1. 7 – high (exercises 30-60 minutes 5-7 times a week; heavy physical exertion);
- 1. 9 – extreme (several intense exercises a day 6-7 times a week; very demanding work).
Calculation of calories using the Mifflin-San Geor formula
The method of calculating daily calorie intake was developed by nutritionists under the guidance of doctors Mifflin and San George. The formula was created relatively recently, but today it is the most accurate. It helps to calculate the required number of kcal for a person aged 13 to 80 years.
Simplified version (without taking physical activity into account)
- 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 fat tissue in the body (we wrote about its measurement in the previous article). The formula does not include information about height, age, or gender, as it is assumed that these are taken into account when calculating body fat percentage.
PBM calculation formula: 370 + 21. 6 x X (body weight excluding body fat)
The obtained result should be multiplied by the activity coefficient using the Harrison-Benedict method.
World Health Organization (WHO) formula
The World Health Organization offers recommendations on how to calculate your daily calorie 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 (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 from 31 to 60 years (0, 484 x body weight in kg + 3, 653) x 240 x CFA;
- For men over 60 years of age (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 caloric content of the diet by 10-15% (in case of severe obesity, by 20%) taking into account physical activity. The daily calorie content should not be lower than the following figure:
Weight kg/0, 45 x 8
WHO recommends reducing food intake by 500 kcal per month from the actual diet, until the calorie content is 300-500 kcal less than the daily requirement.
Reducing daily intake by 500 kcal leads to a loss of approximately 500 grams of fat mass per week. Six months after such weight loss or after reaching your ideal weight, it is recommended to recalculate your daily calorie intake based on the new figures.
You don't have to cut your calorie intake as much as possible to lose weight more effectively. A loss of 250-500 grams per week is considered physiologically and safe for health. Exceeding these numbers means losing muscle and fluid.
Proteins, fats and carbohydrates when counting calories
Effective weight loss is not only about daily calorie intake, but also about the proper distribution of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. A balanced diet according to the BJU ratio looks 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 such a distribution of BJU in the diet, the body receives a sufficient amount of nutrients and vitamins.
Do not forget that all formulas for calculating daily calorie content may have errors. They do not take into account the percentage of food absorption, health status, metabolic rate and other factors. Even a diet prepared by a specialist may not work in a specific case due to the individual characteristics of a person. In the process of creating a beautiful, strong body, you should listen to your feelings and, if necessary, change the diet and the ratio of KBJU.
Watch your diet, exercise and it won't take long to see results!