If you do not feel positive dynamics in the form of visual recomposition of the body and reflection in the mirror within a week of accurately counting calories and strict adherence to physical activity and sleep rhythm, it is recommended to get tested and get advice.
Carbohydrate distribution:
Morning (short starchy) – yeast-free bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, flatbread, flatbread, baked goods without sugar and yeast.
Lunch (long starchy) – rice, lentils, beans, buckwheat, chickpeas, quinoa, bulgur, granola.
In the evening (vegetables) + you MUST treat yourself to your favorite product for 200-300 kcal (fruits, natural chocolate, baked goods without yeast) within the calorie content and no later than 2 hours before bedtime BZHU.
When calculating calories, if 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: vegetables, celery, radishes, cucumbers, spinach, cauliflower and cabbage, beets, carrots, garlic, seaweed, broccoli, avocado, lemon.
On training days, 120 minutes before training, add an additional 100 grams of carbohydrates from short starchy carbohydrates (yams, potatoes, yeast-free bread, pita bread, flatbread, baked goods without sugar and yeast).
Add within calories.
For example: you need to consume 150 grams of carbohydrates daily, consuming 100 of them before training and spreading the rest throughout the day.
DURING TRAINING, drink ONLY plain water without various BCAAs and amino acids (due to insulin surges that are not needed during training).
Add 5-7 grams of salt per day (table salt or iodized)
REDUCE and ideally REMOVE the number of simulators: coffee, tea, tobacco, alcohol.
Buy kitchen scales. Weigh raw grains, vegetables and other foods. Meat, fish, poultry ready.
Give preference to polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (omega 3, vegetable oils, nuts, avocados, seeds).
Carbohydrate content, 30% fructose (fruits, natural chocolate), 70% starch (rice, buckwheat, potatoes, gluten-free flour, sugar-free and yeast-free baked goods)
In the diet, it is recommended to give priority to foods that cause an alkaline reaction and to eliminate or reduce to one meal a day foods that cause an oxidative reaction: poultry, red meat, gluten, sugar, seafood. Farm celebrations and farm milk products are permitted. Foods with an acidity of 6. 0 - 10. 0 PH. More detailed table at the link.
Both freshly killed and vacuum-packed animal products are permitted for consumption. Avoid chilled and frozen animal products.
The presence of a product that gives you psychological pleasure is MANDATORY in calorie and macro content (BZHU).
If it is not possible to achieve your daily calorie intake with the "RIGHT" foods, we take into account the maximum calorie content in the macro (BZHU).
The number of meals doesn't matter; eat strictly according to your appetite (divide your "food basket" into the number of meals that suits you).
Within the macro (BZHU) it is possible to change the components of the diet according to your own preferences.
- B12-, iron deficiency anemia, weakness, increased fatigue, impaired hematopoiesis (paleness and yellowing of the skin and mucous membranes, rapid heartbeat, 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 the color and shape of the tongue, taste disorders, frequent oral infections, abdominal pain after eating), damage to the nervous system (impaired sensitivity, paresthesia, ataxia, reduced muscle strength). , impaired urination, 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, sleepiness, decreased memory and intelligence), retarded growth 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 when eating, attacks of palpitations, heart pain, headaches, thirst and dry mouth, increased sweating
How many calories do you need per day to lose weight?
There is no consistent standard for how many calories you need per day to lose weight. It is calculated for each person individually, taking into account their physical characteristics and lifestyle.
Where should I start?
Before you calculate how many calories you need to eat to lose weight, you must first determine your daily calorie intake. Calories are essentially energy. Most of it is spent daily on maintaining the body's functions: breathing, heartbeat, food digestion, etc. Scientists have found the following:
- Men burn more calories than women.
- The older a person gets, the less energy they use.
- During puberty, pregnancy and illness you need significantly more calories.
- Physical activity increases calorie consumption.
In addition, there are genetically determined individual characteristics of the body that 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 not to gain weight, but also to lose weight.
For example, you can use the formula of scientists Mifflin and San Georg. 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 or work in the office for days.
- 1, 375 – 3 times a week remember that you need to exercise.
- 1. 55 – an active athlete who trains five times a week.
- 1, 725 – You train actively every day.
- 1, 9 is an enthusiastic athlete and during breaks you work as a loader.
That is, for a 35-year-old accountant weighing 85 kg and being 180 cm tall, the calculation looks like this (due to her job, there is no time for sports):
((85x10) + (180x6, 25) - (35x5) - 161) x 1, 2 = 1966, 8 calories.
This amount of energy will be enough to live and work calmly without gaining weight. However, 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 losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume. But you can't just suddenly reduce the amount of food you eat. The body doesn't like that. Instead, you need to get out the calculator again and calculate how many calories you need to eat to lose weight. To do this, you need to subtract 15-20% from the previous result. This means that our accountant needs to record the following in preparation for the summer:
1966, 8-20%=1573, 44 calories.
If she has the idea of getting better, she needs to do the exact opposite. But that's not the end of it. There are several other conditions that must be taken into account:
- The number of calories consumed should not be less than 1200. Otherwise, the body lacks the energy to live and various types of chronic illnesses can arise.
- 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 means that the stomach and intestines are constantly busy working, the feeling of hunger is less bothersome and the diet as a whole becomes much more pleasant.
- It is necessary to monitor not only calories but also nutrients. The diet should be varied so as not to provoke vitamin deficiency and other health problems.
- We must not forget the water. Drinking large amounts of fluid accelerates metabolic processes in the body and removes toxins. This is a great help for rapid 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 ratio of nutrients in the diet. And if the correct 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 for 5 classes in a fitness club, it turns out that she no longer needs 1966. 8 calories, but:
((85x10) + (180x6, 25) - (35x5) -161) x 1, 55 = 2540, 45 calories.
That is, it turns out that if you do the math, she even needs to improve her diet a little and start eating more high-calorie foods. And at the same time, she 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 seems 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 day of fasting once a week creates positive stress and can actually accelerate weight loss. With longer fasting, fewer 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 disrupted;
- 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 the end of fasting, weight gain quickly occurs.
It's better to keep track of how many calories you need to eat to lose weight and not rush into anything. Healthy eating experts advise against suddenly losing 5-10-15 kg by reducing calories. Natural weight changes should be around 1-1. 5 kg per week. This is the most comfortable rate of weight loss for an average person that we should strive for.
How to calculate daily calorie intake
Any diet, regardless of the goal, 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, weight 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 the body needs to support vital processes. The human body constantly uses calories for breathing, digestion, blood circulation and other physiological processes, even at rest. Daily calorie intake must be higher than BMR, otherwise the body cannot function normally.
The level of basal metabolism can be determined in two ways: 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, and then the PBM is calculated. This research method is the most accurate, but at the same time inaccessible.
With the indirect method, the basal metabolic rate is calculated using a special formula. Today there are several main calculation methods. Let's list the main ones.
Calorie calculation using the Harrison-Benedict formula
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 is still relevant. 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 that the body needs for normal functioning. To calculate how many kcal you need to eat to maintain weight, you need to multiply the resulting value by the coefficient of physical activity:
- 1, 2 – minimal (sedentary work, lack of physical activity);
- 1, 375 – low (exercise for at least 20 minutes 1-3 times per week);
- 1. 55 – moderate (exercise 30-60 minutes 3-4 times a week);
- 1, 7 – high (exercise 30-60 minutes 5-7 times a week; heavy physical work);
- 1, 9 – extreme (several intensive training sessions a day, 6-7 times a week; very labor-intensive work).
Calorie calculation using the Mifflin-San Georg formula
The method for calculating daily calorie intake was developed by nutritionists under the guidance of doctors Mifflin and San Georg. The formula was developed relatively recently, but today it is the most accurate. It helps to calculate the required amount of calories for a person aged 13 to 80.
Simplified version (excluding 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). Information about height, age and gender is not included in the formula, 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 for calculating your daily calorie intake:
- For women aged 18 to 30 years (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 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 – average, 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 food by 10-15% (if very overweight by 20%), taking into account physical activity. 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 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 results in a loss of about 500 grams of fat mass per week. After six months of such weight loss or upon reaching your ideal weight, it is recommended to recalculate the daily calorie intake taking into account new indicators.
To lose weight more effectively, you should not reduce your calorie intake as much as possible. A loss of 250-500 grams per week is considered physiologically and health-safe. Exceeding these values means loss of muscle and fluids.
Proteins, fats and carbohydrates when counting calories
Effective weight loss is not only about maintaining daily calorie intake, but also about the correct distribution of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. A balanced diet based on the BJU ratio looks like this:
- For weight loss: 30-35% proteins, 30-35% fats, 30-40% carbohydrates;
- For weight maintenance: 25-35% proteins, 25-35% fats, 40-50% carbohydrates;
- For weight gain: 35-40% proteins, 15-25% fats, 40-60% carbohydrates.
This distribution of BJU in food provides the body with adequate 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 intake, health status, metabolic rate and other factors. Even a diet compiled by a specialist may not work in individual cases due to the individual characteristics of a person. When building a beautiful, strong body, you should listen to your feelings and, if necessary, change your diet and KBJU ratio.
Watch your diet, exercise and the results will not be long in coming!