Chris_H
Expert Member
I've seen a few threads here about gents and ladies desperate for dietary advice to help them lose weight or gain weight. I've posted some of this info on other threads but I'm creating this as a new thread with an easy-to-find title.
Pleas Note: I've copied most of the text from other sites and arranged it so that it makes sense and follows in the correct order and I've added a few commets of my own.
Definition of a Calorie:
The kilogram calorie, large calorie, food calorie, Calorie (capital C) or just calorie (lowercase c) is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. The convention of using the capital C for the kilogram calorie and the lower case c for the gram calorie is advocated by some but not generally followed. In the context of food energy the term calorie generally refers to the kilogram calorie or kilocalorie (Kcal).
Calculating your Daily Calorie Needs:
Your body will require a certain amount of calories per day to lose, maintain or gain weight. To calculate this you first have to determine your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. BMR differs from person to person but the ruling factors here are weight, length, age, sex and activity level. Remember, leaner bodies need more calories than less leaner ones. Therefore, this equation will be very accurate in all but the very muscular (will underestimate calorie needs) and the very fat (will over-estimate calorie needs).
BMR Formula:
For Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kilos) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)
For Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) – (4.7 × age in years)
Once you’ve calculated your BMR, multiply it by your activity factor:
Activity Levels:
Sedentary - little or no exercise: BMR * 1.2
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): BMR * 1.375
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): BMR * 1.55
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week): BMR * 1.725
Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training): BMR * 1.9
The next example is done using my current stats.
Weight: 95Kg
Length: 182cm
Age: 27
Activity level: 1.55
Sex: Male
BMR = 66 + (13.7 * 95) + (5 * 182) - (6.8 * 27) = 2093.9
My Daily Calorie Need to maintain weight is my BMR * 1.55 (Moderately Active) = 3245.55
If you want to gain body weight, you need to consume more calories than you burn. One pound of body weight is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories, so eating an extra 500 calories per day will cause you to gain one pound a week.
If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.
So, now you know how to determine the required calorie intake per day for your goal, wether it is to lose, maintain or gain weight. The next step is to calculate the right quantities of protein, carbohydrate and fat to meet the target calorie intake. First let’s see how many calories there are in each followed with a short definition:
1 gram of Carbohydrates = 4Kcal
Carbohydrates can be classified as simple (monosaccharides and disaccharides) or complex (oligosaccharides and polysaccharides). (Bad carbs = simple carbohydrates, good carbs = complex carbohydrates.) Simple carbohydrates are just what they sound like: simple sugars. Simple sugars are quickly converted to glucose in your body. Simple carbohydrates include naturally occurring sugars and are most usually found in refined and processed foods, including white breads, sugary beverages and candy. Complex carbs are more slowly digested and almost always found in foods more healthful than their simple counterparts. You find complex carbohydrates in Fruit, Vegetables and Whole Grain Food
1 gram of Protein = 4Kcal
Most microorganisms and plants can biosynthesize all 20 standard amino acids, while animals (including humans) must obtain some of the amino acids from the diet. The amino acids that an organism cannot synthesize on its own are referred to as essential amino acids. In animals, amino acids are obtained through the consumption of foods containing protein. Some ingested amino acids are used for protein biosynthesis, while others are converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis, or fed into the citric acid cycle. (Amino acids are critical to life, and have a variety of roles in metabolism. One particularly important function is as the building blocks of proteins, which are linear chains of amino acids.)
1 gram of Fat = 9Kcal
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats. Fats are also sources of essential fatty acids (EFA), an important dietary requirement. Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. They also serve as energy stores for the body. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy.
Fat also serves as a useful buffer towards a host of diseases. When a particular substance, whether chemical or biotic—reaches unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can effectively dilute—or at least maintain equilibrium of—the offending substances by storing it in new fat tissue. This helps to protect vital organs, until such time as the offending substances can be metabolized and/or removed from the body by such means as excretion, urination, accidental or intentional bloodletting, sebum excretion, and hair growth.
There are two families of EFAs: ω-3 (or omega-3 or n−3) and ω-6 (omega-6, n−6). Research has shown that human metabolism requires both ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids. (So it helps keep you skinny!
)
A good combination of carbs, protein and fat would be in the region of 50-60% carbs, 20–30% protein and 20-30% fat.
If you decide on 50% carbs, 20% protein and 30% fat and you require 2000Kcal a day your daily need will be:
Carbs: 250g = 1000Kcal
Protein: 100g = 400Kcal
Fat: 66g = 594Kcal
Please remember, there is no “Best Combination” or “Best Diet”. Everyone will require something different. These are just some guidelines and examples of how to work things out for yourself and understand when others try and help out.
One important thing to remember is A Calorie is NOT a Calorie. Please read this article to find out why...
Calorie vs Kilojoule
Like other forms of energy, food energy is expressed in calories or joules. Some countries use the food calorie, which is equal to 1 kilocalorie (kcal), or 1,000 gram calories. In the context of nutrition, and especially food labeling, the calories are large calories approximately equal to 4.1868 kilojoules (kJ). The kilojoule is the unit officially recommended by the World Health Organization[1] and other international organizations. In some countries only the kilojoule is normally used on food packaging, but the calorie is still the most common unit in many countries.
Use this site if you need the nutritional info on all food sources.
I've uploaded a Nutrient Macro if anyone would like to see an example.
I've also got the BMR / DCN calculator on an Excel spreadsheet so if anyone wants it let me know and I'll mail it to you.
Chris H
Sources:
Wikipedia
bmi-calculator
Pleas Note: I've copied most of the text from other sites and arranged it so that it makes sense and follows in the correct order and I've added a few commets of my own.
Definition of a Calorie:
The kilogram calorie, large calorie, food calorie, Calorie (capital C) or just calorie (lowercase c) is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. The convention of using the capital C for the kilogram calorie and the lower case c for the gram calorie is advocated by some but not generally followed. In the context of food energy the term calorie generally refers to the kilogram calorie or kilocalorie (Kcal).
Calculating your Daily Calorie Needs:
Your body will require a certain amount of calories per day to lose, maintain or gain weight. To calculate this you first have to determine your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. BMR differs from person to person but the ruling factors here are weight, length, age, sex and activity level. Remember, leaner bodies need more calories than less leaner ones. Therefore, this equation will be very accurate in all but the very muscular (will underestimate calorie needs) and the very fat (will over-estimate calorie needs).
BMR Formula:
For Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kilos) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)
For Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) – (4.7 × age in years)
Once you’ve calculated your BMR, multiply it by your activity factor:
Activity Levels:
Sedentary - little or no exercise: BMR * 1.2
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): BMR * 1.375
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): BMR * 1.55
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week): BMR * 1.725
Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training): BMR * 1.9
The next example is done using my current stats.
Weight: 95Kg
Length: 182cm
Age: 27
Activity level: 1.55
Sex: Male
BMR = 66 + (13.7 * 95) + (5 * 182) - (6.8 * 27) = 2093.9
My Daily Calorie Need to maintain weight is my BMR * 1.55 (Moderately Active) = 3245.55
If you want to gain body weight, you need to consume more calories than you burn. One pound of body weight is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories, so eating an extra 500 calories per day will cause you to gain one pound a week.
If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.
So, now you know how to determine the required calorie intake per day for your goal, wether it is to lose, maintain or gain weight. The next step is to calculate the right quantities of protein, carbohydrate and fat to meet the target calorie intake. First let’s see how many calories there are in each followed with a short definition:
1 gram of Carbohydrates = 4Kcal
Carbohydrates can be classified as simple (monosaccharides and disaccharides) or complex (oligosaccharides and polysaccharides). (Bad carbs = simple carbohydrates, good carbs = complex carbohydrates.) Simple carbohydrates are just what they sound like: simple sugars. Simple sugars are quickly converted to glucose in your body. Simple carbohydrates include naturally occurring sugars and are most usually found in refined and processed foods, including white breads, sugary beverages and candy. Complex carbs are more slowly digested and almost always found in foods more healthful than their simple counterparts. You find complex carbohydrates in Fruit, Vegetables and Whole Grain Food
1 gram of Protein = 4Kcal
Most microorganisms and plants can biosynthesize all 20 standard amino acids, while animals (including humans) must obtain some of the amino acids from the diet. The amino acids that an organism cannot synthesize on its own are referred to as essential amino acids. In animals, amino acids are obtained through the consumption of foods containing protein. Some ingested amino acids are used for protein biosynthesis, while others are converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis, or fed into the citric acid cycle. (Amino acids are critical to life, and have a variety of roles in metabolism. One particularly important function is as the building blocks of proteins, which are linear chains of amino acids.)
1 gram of Fat = 9Kcal
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble, meaning they can only be digested, absorbed, and transported in conjunction with fats. Fats are also sources of essential fatty acids (EFA), an important dietary requirement. Fats play a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, insulating body organs against shock, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. They also serve as energy stores for the body. Fats are broken down in the body to release glycerol and free fatty acids. The glycerol can be converted to glucose by the liver and thus used as a source of energy.
Fat also serves as a useful buffer towards a host of diseases. When a particular substance, whether chemical or biotic—reaches unsafe levels in the bloodstream, the body can effectively dilute—or at least maintain equilibrium of—the offending substances by storing it in new fat tissue. This helps to protect vital organs, until such time as the offending substances can be metabolized and/or removed from the body by such means as excretion, urination, accidental or intentional bloodletting, sebum excretion, and hair growth.
There are two families of EFAs: ω-3 (or omega-3 or n−3) and ω-6 (omega-6, n−6). Research has shown that human metabolism requires both ω-3 and ω-6 fatty acids. (So it helps keep you skinny!
)A good combination of carbs, protein and fat would be in the region of 50-60% carbs, 20–30% protein and 20-30% fat.
If you decide on 50% carbs, 20% protein and 30% fat and you require 2000Kcal a day your daily need will be:
Carbs: 250g = 1000Kcal
Protein: 100g = 400Kcal
Fat: 66g = 594Kcal
Please remember, there is no “Best Combination” or “Best Diet”. Everyone will require something different. These are just some guidelines and examples of how to work things out for yourself and understand when others try and help out.
One important thing to remember is A Calorie is NOT a Calorie. Please read this article to find out why...
Calorie vs Kilojoule
Like other forms of energy, food energy is expressed in calories or joules. Some countries use the food calorie, which is equal to 1 kilocalorie (kcal), or 1,000 gram calories. In the context of nutrition, and especially food labeling, the calories are large calories approximately equal to 4.1868 kilojoules (kJ). The kilojoule is the unit officially recommended by the World Health Organization[1] and other international organizations. In some countries only the kilojoule is normally used on food packaging, but the calorie is still the most common unit in many countries.
Use this site if you need the nutritional info on all food sources.
I've uploaded a Nutrient Macro if anyone would like to see an example.
I've also got the BMR / DCN calculator on an Excel spreadsheet so if anyone wants it let me know and I'll mail it to you.
Chris H
Sources:
Wikipedia
bmi-calculator
Last edited:
