Calculating Your Caloric Needs

Everybody's caloric requirement for survival is as individual as their fingerprint. In order to calculate the amount of energy one needs to consume daily, we must consider determining factors such as metabolic rate, age, gender, height, weight, environment, activity levels and how their body responds to particular food sources. For the human diet, all consumable food and liquid can be broken down into four categories. Protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol. Humans require all except alcohol for optimal health and body function.

FIRST THINGS FIRST - ENERGY IN VS. ENERGY OUT

Every day, every single person burns a certain amount of energy just by being alive. This includes all primary voluntary and involuntary functions such as breathing, talking, walking and even sleeping. The energy required to perform these functions is known as your `Basal Metabolic Rate`. It is the exact number of calories you need to consume every day at complete rest to maintain your current bodyweight. For example, if you burn 1200 calories in a 24 hour period, you must eat 1200 calories a day to maintain your current bodyweight. If you choose to eat more than 1200 calories, you will gain weight. If you eat less than 1200 calories you will lose weight. This summarizes the basic theory of body composition, ‘Energy In VS Energy Out’.

Wow! Never knew it was that simple right? So how does one calculate their own caloric requirement?

Once again, the crafty team at Fat Burner's Only have banded together to create a guide of how to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate or ‘BMR’.

Let's do this FBO Fam!
 

CALCULATING YOUR BMR

Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kg ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kg ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

Imperial BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in lbs ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in lbs ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

Okay, so know we've got your BMR figure, let's move on to other considerable factors as follows:

FACTORING IN YOUR ACTIVITY LEVEL

Harris Benedict Formula

Once you have calculated your ‘BMR’, multiply it by the factor that most accurately describes your activity level. As listed:

•        If you are sedentary (little to no exercise): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.2
•        If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days per week): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.375
•        If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days per week): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.55
•        If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days per week): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.725
•        If you are extremely active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Now that you've calculated your daily caloric requirement including your activity level, you can determine how to divide that figure into a ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat.

THE MACRONUTRIENTS:

PROTEIN: Amino acids that rebuild and repair muscle and cell tissue.

CARBOHYDRATES: The energy source used by your body to fuel your muscles during activity and movement.

FATS: The energy source primarily stored by the body as fuel, also vital for healthy hormonal production, digestive, immune system and organ function.

As it stands, our three essential macronutrients per gram possess different numbers of calories per gram weight.

Here's what we mean:

•        1 gram of Protein = 4 calories
•        1 gram of Carbohydrates = 4 calories
•        1 gram of Fat = 9 calories

Contrary to popular belief, the human body requires ALL three of these macronutrients in order to thrive at it's peak of health and physical performance. We suggest choosing from these listed macronutrient ratios to achieve the most accurate body composition change desired:

TO LOSE WEIGHT

(Subtract 200-500 calories from your calculated figure, then set your macronutrient ratios as follows)

50% Protein / 30% Carb / 20% Fat

TO GAIN LEAN MUSCLE MASS

(Use calculated figure and set macronutrient ratios as follows)

40% Protein / 40% Carb / 20% Fat

TO GAIN WEIGHT (BULK PHASE)

(Add 200-500 calories to your calculated figure, then set macronutrient ratios as follows)

30% Protein / 50% Carb / 20% Fat

Example: If your daily caloric requirement was 1200 calories and you wanted to gain weight, you could add 500 additional calories to your figure (1200 + 500 = 1700) then divide the macronutrients accordingly as follows:

Protein: 30% of 1700 = 510 cal (510 ÷ 4 = 127.5 g Protein)

Carbohydrate: 50% of 1700 = 850 cal (850 ÷ 4 = 212.5g Carb)

Fat: 20% of 1700 = 340 cal (340 ÷ 9 = 37.5g Fat)

Total = 1700 Calories (127.5g Protein / 212.5g Carbohydrate / 37.5 g Fat)

TRACKING YOUR CALORIES AND THEIR MACRONUTRIENTS

Here's where the fun really begins, eating time! But wait, before we let loose and go on a bender - how do we keep track so we know when to stop?

1. Use a calorie counting App

When it comes to selecting a calorie counting app, convenience and simplicity is the name of the game. We suggest downloading MYFITNESSPAL. With its easy user interface, seemingly endless food inventory and even a 'barcode scanner' option. This app will make tracking your calories fast, easy and most importantly - it's free.

2. Use the 80/20 rule
Here's the beauty of 'tracking macros'. There is no set menu, diet or tiny list of foods that you have to choose from that you develop a complete aversion to after day or two of shoveling them into your mouth and washing them down with water. No. With macros, any food is fair game, as long as it fits within your daily requirements. In saying this, we suggest setting yourself a rough 80/20 ratio of 'whole foods' to 'naughty foods', this is strictly to maintain health, optimize recovery and provide yourself with the best chance of staying consistent and feeling great!

Here's a few tips to remember when tracking macros:

•         Set your macros and stick to them. Once you have calculated the number of calories you require each day, set your macros and do not stray from them until you feel it is time to update your requirements.
•         Stick to the 80/20 rule of 80% healthy, non-processed healthy whole foods against 20% of 'naughty foods'. Perhaps your favorite foods or special treats that you enjoy in your day.
•         Eat regular meals. One common mistake made by those who are new to tracking macros is minimal eating while busy throughout the day while thinking "it's okay, I will fulfill my calories this evening when I am free and not busy". This is an extremely counter-productive thought process and can often lead to over-eating, night-gorging and the inability to maintain a healthy ratio of whole foods to junk foods.
•         Do not under-eat, less is not better. The human body is an amazing survival machine. Evolutionarily, we are designed to store our excess energy (body fat) in case of having no accessible food sources available. However with so much concern about surpluses and excess, one critical factor is often (almost always) overlooked, and it's a silent killer. It's called Under-eating.Caloric requirements are determined by metabolic rate, so when we under-eat, our (super efficient) body slows down our metabolism according to our energy intake and prepares to store as much fat as possible. Great for survival, not so great for our waistline.
•         Enjoy your weight loss (or gain) process! Wait. Did you just say 'weight loss' and 'enjoy' in the same sentence? That's illegal in some countries you know.

That's right, we said it and it is possible. By reading this article and implementing this method responsibly you now have the power to change your body all the while not having to give up your favourite foods.

Best of luck!

Team FBO