SLIMMING BASED ON CALORIES' REDUCTION

A CALORIE IS A CALORIE IS A CALORIE (How Many Calories Should You Eat?)

By Trish Schwartz

[Calories in versus Calories Out] is the energy equation. To maintain your present body weight, you must take in as much energy as you use up. In other words, the amount of calories you eat in food must balance with the amount of calories your body burns off with physical work as well as your bodyís basic energy needs for physiological processes such as digestion, respiration, etc. To lose weight, you must use more calories than you take in whether it is through additional physical activity or cutting down your food intake. Finally, if you eat more calories than you use up, you will gain weight. 

Before I go on, let me set a precedent for this article. If you think there is some type of magic to not counting calories, but just counting fat grams, you are just fooling yourself. Eating fat is not the reason for obesity. Eating too much food is the reason for obesity. Limiting the number of fat grams you eat per day is really the same concept as limiting your caloric intake. Fat, at 9 calories per gram of food, is very dense in calories compared to carbohydrates and proteins, which are only 4 calories per gram of food. Therefore, if you are limiting the number of fat grams in a day, you are substantially limiting your calories. 

Everyone's energy requirements are different, depending on your activity level, body structure (bone, muscle and fat composition), body weight, and metabolic rate. Some people naturally burn more or less calories than others because they have a higher or lower metabolism, respectively, but there is a basic formula you can use to determine how many calories you need in a day to maintain your present weight or achieve your ideal weight. This formula is not absolute, but serves as a basic guide. 

First of all, you need to know how many calories you need for your basal needs (maintenance of body mass without activity). An easy, general formula to calculate your caloric requirements is:

1. Convert your body weight in pounds to kilograms. (Body weight in pounds divided by 2.2 to get it in to kilograms).

2. Multiply your body weight in kilograms by 1.0 (if you are a male or a very muscular female) or 0 .9 (if you are a female).

3. That will give you the amount of calories per hour you need. Multiply that by 24 hours in the day and you will have the amount of calories you need per day just to be alive (basal needs).

4. You must add additional calories to your basal caloric needs to adjust for your physical activity level.

a. If you are a couch potato, add 20% - 30% of your total basal needs.

b. If you are moderately active (exercise 3 X week or have a physical job like construction), add 40% of your total basal needs.

c. If you are very active (work out 5 + X week or have a very labor-intensive job outside in the elements) ad 50% - 60% of your basal needs.

EXAMPLE: A 130 pound, moderately active, muscularly built female needs 1975 calories per day to maintain that 130 pounds.

1. 130 lbs. divided by 2.2 = 59 kg. of body weight.

2. 59 X 1.0 = 59 calories per hour. 

3. 59 X 24 hrs. = 1418 calories for basal needs. 

4. 1418 X .40 (moderate activity level) = 567 extra calories for activity. 

5. 1418 calories + 567 = 1975 calories for the day.

There is no magic to losing weight through caloric reduction, however the amount of weight and the speed at which you lose depends on many factors, such as:

1. The amount of time spent doing physical work.

2. The intensity of your physical activity.

3. The types of physical activity you perform.

4. The frequency and size of meals.

5. The ratio of the food nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, fats).

6. The amount of liquid you consume for proper hydration

7. The amount and type of weight loss enhancement products you consume.

8. Your genetic makeup.

Therefore, if you do all the right things, you can be more successful at weight loss and maintenance. The bottom line is that, if you stay physically active and consume an appropriate amount of food calories, you will be successful in achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight and body fat level. How do you know how many calories you are consuming? No one wants the tedium of counting calories. There is a quick and easy assessment. Use the following chart that gives the average amount of calories in different food groups PER SERVING. Keep track of your food intake by the serving size and estimate how much you have eaten. 

Food Calories Low Fat/Low Calorie High Fat/High Calorie

Group per serving Choice Choice

Fruit               100     100     100

Vegetable  25~75    25 75

Grain             100     100     100

Protein   100-250 100-250

Dairy      100-250 100-250

OTHERS = Condiments, butter, margarines, mayonnaise, salad dressings, etc. 

Be sure to include calories from these foods as well.

Butter/margarine = 100 calories per TBS

Mayonnaise/Salad Dressings = 100 calories per TBS (regular fat)

50 calories per TBS (low fat)

25 calories per TBS (non fat)

Jams and Syrups = 50 calories per TBS 

NOTE: Food serving sizes are defined as follows: 

Fruit Cup juice

1 medium piece of fruit (apple, orange, banana)

   º Cup dried fruit

 Ω Cup canned or cooked 

 

Vegetable

æ Cup juice

1 Cup raw leafy

  Ω Cup cooked or chopped raw 

Grain 

1 piece bread

1 Cup flake cereal

  Ω Cup cooked cereal

  Ω Cup cooked pasta, rice, legumes

1 tortilla, roll, muffin

  Ω hamburger bun or English muffin

Protein

2-3 oz. Cooked meat/poultry/fish

2 TBS. Peanut Butter

  Ω Cup cooked beans

1 Egg

1 Oz. protein powder

Dairy 1 Cup milk

1 Cup yogurt

  Ω Cup cottage cheese

  Ω Cup ice cream 

The following is an example of a day ís worth of calories for a 1975 total: 

Breakfast:

Snack:

1 C Cheerios                                110

1 C 1% Milk                                  100

PR Ironman Bar                            230      440

Lunch: 2 Whole Wheat Bread      150

6 oz. Tuna                                      35

1 TBS. Light Mayo                         25

1 TBS. Relish                               180

1 6 oz. Yoplait Yogurt                   170      560

Snack:

Apple                                            100

1 String Cheese                           100      200

Dinner:

Snack:

Chicken Breast (Broiled/deskin)   250

1 Baked Potato (medium)            125

2 TBS. Butter                               200

1 Cup Corn                                  150

Peach                                            50      775

TOTAL                                           1975

 

Counting calories is very tedious and not doable for most people. However, when you are trying to lose weight, it is important that you know how many calories you should be consuming each day and how to estimate your total caloric intake for the day. The easy way to estimate total calories is to follow the Guide To Estimating Calories chart. If you know you need to consume 1800 calories a day, look in that column and try to select the number of allowed servings from each food group. Not only will this help you stay close to the number of allowed calories, but it will keep you in a healthy nutrient balance.