If within a week after accurately counting calories and strictly observing physical activity and sleep patterns, you do not experience positive dynamics in the form of visual recomposition of the body and reflection in the mirror, it is recommended to get tested and seek advice .
Carbohydrate distribution:
Morning (short starch): unleavened bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pita bread, flat bread, baked goods without sugar and yeast.
Lunch (long and starchy): rice, lentils, beans, buckwheat, chickpeas, quinoa, bulgur, cereals).
Afternoon (vegetables) + You MUST allow yourself your favorite product between 200 and 300 kcal (fruits, natural chocolate, yeast-free baked goods) within the calorie content and BZHU no later than 2 hours before bedtime.
If you have less than 100 grams of carbohydrates in your calorie calculations, 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 fiber and alkaline foods: vegetables, celery, radishes, 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, flatbread, pita bread, flatbread, baked goods without sugar or yeast).
ADD TO THE CALORIES.
For example: it is necessary 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 plain water without various BCAAs and amino acids (due to insulin surges that are 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 kitchen scales. Weigh grains, vegetables and other raw foods. Meat, fish, poultry 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 bakery products)
In nutrition, it is recommended to give priority to foods that give an alkaline reaction, eliminate or reduce foods that give an oxidative reaction to 1 meal a day: poultry, red meat, gluten, sugar, seafood. Free-range eggs and dairy products are allowed. Food with acidity 6. 0 - 10. 0 PH. More detailed table in the link.
The consumption of freshly slaughtered or vacuum-packaged livestock products is allowed. Avoid chilled and frozen animal products.
The presence of a product that gives you psychological pleasure, within the caloric and macro content (BZHU), is MANDATORY.
If it is impossible to achieve your daily caloric intake with the "RIGHT" 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 the number of meals that suits you).
It is possible to change the components of the diet according to your own preferences within the macro (BZHU).
- B12-, iron deficiency anemia, weakness, increased fatigue, impaired hematopoiesis (pale and yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes, tachycardia, heart pain, exercise intolerance, frequent dizziness and fainting, enlarged spleen ), damage to the digestive system (indigestion, unstable stools, loss of appetite, weight loss, change in color and shape of the tongue, alteration of taste, frequent oral infections, abdominal pain after eating), damage to the nervous system (sensitivity altered, paresthesia, ataxia, decreased muscle strength, 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 of memory and intelligence), growth retardation in children. and intellectual development.
- Metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance). Increased body weight in the abdominal area, metabolic disorders, insulin resistance. Subjective sensations: attacks of bad mood in a state of hunger, increased fatigue, selectivity in food, attacks of tachycardia, 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 consume to lose weight, you must first determine your daily intake. Basically, calories are energy. Most of it is spent daily to maintain the functioning of the body: breathing, heartbeat, digestion of food, etc. Scientists have discovered that:
- Men burn more calories than women.
- The older a person is, the less energy they expend.
- During adolescence, pregnancy and illness, many more calories are needed.
- Physical activity increases the rate of calorie consumption.
In addition, there are individual characteristics of the body, determined by genetics, that determine the rate of calorie consumption. However, on average, you can simply calculate how many calories to consume per day not only not to gain weight, but also to lose weight.
For example, you can use the formula of the 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 your weight and height, and then subtract your age. Next, men add 5 and women subtract 161. The result is multiplied by the activity coefficient:
- 1. 2 – You lie on the couch for days or work in the office.
- 1. 375 – 3 times a week you remember that you need to do sports.
- 1, 55 – an active athlete who exercises 5 times a week.
- 1. 725 – you actively train every day.
- 1. 9 is a fanatic athlete and during breaks he works as a porter.
That is, for a 35-year-old accountant, who weighs 85 kg and is 180 cm tall, the calculation will look like this (due to her job, 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 you to live and work peacefully, 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 cannot suddenly reduce the amount of food you consume. The body doesn't like this. Instead, you should get out 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. That is, our accountant, to prepare for summer, needs to absorb:
1966, 8-20%=1573, 44 calories.
If you have the idea to improve, then you should do exactly the opposite. But the thing do not ends there. There are several other conditions that must be taken into account:
- The number of calories consumed should not fall below 1200. 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 5-6 times. In this way, the stomach and intestines will be constantly busy with work, the feeling of hunger will interfere less, and the diet as a whole will be much more pleasant.
- It is necessary to control not only calories, but also nutrients. Food must be varied so as not to cause avitaminosis and other health problems.
- We must not forget about water. Drinking large amounts of fluid accelerates the body's metabolic processes and eliminates toxins. This is a great help to lose weight quickly.
For this reason, some nutritionists advise not paying too much attention to the amount of calories consumed. They believe that it is much more important to control 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 gym, it turns out that she will no longer need 1966, 8 calories, but:
((85x10) + (180x6, 25) - (35x5) -161) x 1, 55 = 2540, 45 calories.
That is, it turns out that she will even have to improve her diet a little and start eating more high-calorie foods, recalculating. And at the same time, she will lose weight quite 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 actually speed up weight loss. With prolonged fasting, less positive changes 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 stopping fasting, weight gain occurs rapidly.
It's best to keep track of how many calories you need to consume to lose weight and not rush into anything. Healthy nutrition experts advise not to try to suddenly lose 5, 10 or 15 kg by reducing calories. Natural weight changes should be between 1 and 1. 5 kg per week. This is the most comfortable pace of weight loss for the average person, which is what we should strive for.
How to calculate daily calorie intake
Any diet, regardless of the goal, begins by calculating the daily intake 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 the basal metabolism?
Calculating daily caloric intake begins with calculating the basal metabolic rate (BMR), the amount of energy the body needs to support vital processes. The human body, even at rest, constantly spends calories for breathing, digestion, blood circulation and other physiological processes. 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, a person is placed in a special chamber, where the amount of heat consumed is measured and then the PBM is calculated. This research method is the most accurate, but at the same time inaccessible.
The indirect method consists of calculating the basal metabolism using a special formula. Today there are several main calculation methods. Let's list the main ones.
Calculating calories with 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 is still relevant. It has an error of around 5%.
The formula to calculate the 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 caloric intake that the body needs for its normal functioning. To calculate how many kcal you need to consume to maintain weight, you must multiply the resulting figure by the physical activity coefficient:
- 1, 2 – minimal (sedentary work, lack of physical activity);
- 1, 375 – low (training at least 20 minutes 1-3 times a week);
- 1, 55 – moderate (30 to 60 minute workouts, 3 to 4 times a week);
- 1, 7 – high (training for 30 to 60 minutes, 5 to 7 times a week; intense physical work);
- 1, 9 – extreme (several intense workouts a day 6-7 times a week; very laborious 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 calculate the necessary amount of kcal for a person between 13 and 80 years old.
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 caloric formula
This calculation method is based on the amount of fatty tissue in the body (we wrote about how to measure it in a previous article). The formula does not include information on height, age and gender, as these are assumed to have been taken into account when calculating body fat percentage.
Formula to calculate 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.
Formula of the World Health Organization (WHO)
The World Health Organization offers recommendations on how to calculate daily caloric intake:
- For women aged 18 to 30 (0. 062 x weight in kg + 2. 036) x 240 x CFA;
- For women from 31 to 60 years old (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 years (0. 063 x body weight in kg + 2. 896) x 240 x CFA;
- For men aged 31 to 60 years (0. 484 x body weight in kg + 3. 653) x 240 x CFA;
- For men over 60 years old (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% (20% in case of severe obesity). The 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 from the actual diet until the caloric content is between 300 and 500 kcal below the daily requirement.
Reducing daily intake by 500 kcal per day means a loss of approximately 500 grams of fat mass per week. After six months of such weight loss or upon reaching the ideal weight, it is recommended to recalculate the daily calorie 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 to 500 grams per week is considered physiological and safe for health. Exceeding these numbers means loss of muscle and fluid.
Proteins, fats and carbohydrates when counting calories.
Effective weight loss is not only about maintaining daily calorie intake, but also about 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% protein, 30-35% fat, 30-40% carbohydrates;
- To maintain weight: 25-35% proteins, 25-35% fats, 40-50% carbohydrates;
- To gain weight: 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 have errors. They do not take into account the percentage of food absorption, health status, metabolic rate and other factors. Even a diet developed 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.
Take care of your diet, exercise and the results will not take long to arrive!