Joined: 04 Dec 2009 Posts: 34 Location: Longview,TX
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:21 pm Post subject:
How to determine your daily caloric needs
Once you understand the importance of calories, you’re ready to figure out how many you need. The first step in designing your personal fat loss plan is to calculate the total number of calories you burn up every day. This is known as your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level," because this is the level where your calorie “deposits” are exactly equal to your calorie “withdrawals.”
TDEE is the total number of calories your body burns in 24 hours, including basal metabolic rate and all activities. Once you know your maintenance level, you will have a reference point from which to start your program.
Some typical calorie averages
Before you learn how to calculate your own calorie needs, it will help you to know the average person’s calorie requirements. According to exercise physiologists
William McArdle and Frank Katch, the average maintenance level for women in the United States is 2000-2100 calories per day and the average for men is 2700-2900 per day.
These numbers are only averages, of course. Actual calorie expenditures can vary widely and are much higher for athletes or extremely active people. Some triathletes and ultra-endurance athletes may require as many as 5000-6000 calories per day or more just to maintain their weight! Endurance cyclists often slog down energy bars and high calorie carbohydrate drinks on the saddle, just to keep from losing weight by the hour! Calorie requirements can also vary among people with the same activity levels because of differences in inherited metabolic rates.
Typical calorie averages for men and women:
For maintaining weight (TDEE):
Men (average): 2700-2900
Women (average): 2000-2100
For losing weight:
Men (average): 2200-2700
Women (average): 1400-1800
For gaining weight:
Men (average): 3200-4000+
Women (average): 2200-2500+
The 6 Factors influencing your daily calorie needs
Your daily calorie requirements depend on six major factors. The formulas for calorie calculations you are about to learn take into account all six of these factors to getthe most accurate estimate possible.
1) Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
BMR is the total number of calories your body burns for normal bodily functions,
including digestion, circulation, respiration, temperature regulation, cell construction, and
every other metabolic process in your body. In other words, your BMR is the sum total of
all the energy used for basic bodily functions, not including physical activity. BMR
usually accounts for the largest amount of your daily calorie expenditure - about twothirds.
BMR is at its lowest when you’re sleeping and you’re not digesting anything.
BMR can vary dramatically from person to person depending on genetic factors. You
probably know someone who can eat anything they want yet they never gain an ounce of
fat. This type of “fast metabolism” person has inherited a naturally high BMR.
2) Activity Level
Next to BMR, your activity level is the second most important factor in how many
calories you need every day. The more active you are, the more calories you burn; it’s that
simple. Become more active and you burn more calories. Sit on the couch all day long
and you hardly burn any.
3) Weight
Your total body weight and total body size are also major factors in the number of
calories you require. The bigger you are, the more calories you’ll require to move your
body.
4) Lean Body Mass (LBM)
Total body weight correlates with the number of calories you require, but separating your
total weight into its lean and fat components allows you to calculate your calorie needs
even more accurately. The higher your LBM, the higher your BMR will be. This is very
significant when you want to lose body fat because it means the more muscle you have,
the more calories you will burn at rest. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, and it requires a great deal of energy to sustain it. The best way to increase your BMR is toincrease your LBM. This is why you could say that weight training helps you lose body fat, albeit indirectly.
5) Age
Metabolic rate tends to slow down with age. Therefore, the number of calories the
average person requires also goes down with age. Fortunately, you can prevent and even
reverse the age-related slowdown in metabolism by developing more muscle through weight training and nutrition.
6) Gender
Men usually require more calories than women. The average male has a maintenance
level of 2800 calories per day. The average female requires only 2000 calories per day to
maintain. The reason for this difference is not so much a sex-related issue as a body
weight and muscle mass issue; the average man carries much more muscle mass than the
average female and this explains the spread in calorie requirements between men and
women. Except for individual genetically-related differences in BMR, a 140 pound man
and a 140 pound woman would have the same calorie requirements if their activity levels
were identical.
Methods of determining caloric needs
There are many formulas you can use to determine your daily calorie needs using
these six factors. Any formula using LBM in the calculations will always be more accurate than one based only on bodyweight. However, you can still get a very accurate estimate of your calorie expenditure just from body weight alone.
Katch-McArdle formula (BMR based on lean body weight)
Since the Katch-McArdle formula accounts for LBM, this single formula applies equally to both men and women and it is the most accurate method of determining your daily calorie needs.
BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)
Example:
You are male
You weigh 172 lbs (78 kilos)
Your body fat percentage is 14% (24.1 lbs fat, 147.9 lbs lean)
Your lean mass is 147.9 lbs (67.2 kilos)
Your BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 67.2) = 1821 calories
To determine TDEE from BMR, you simply multiply BMR by the activity factor:
Continuing with the previous example:
Your BMR is 1821
Your activity level is moderately active (you work out 3-4 times per week)
Your activity factor is 1.55
Your TDEE = 1.55 X 1821 = 2822 calories
Adjust your caloric intake according to your goal
Once you know your TDEE (maintenance level), the next step is to adjust your calories according to your primary goal. The mathematics of weight control are simple:
1) To keep your weight at its current level, you should remain at your daily caloric
maintenance level.
2) To lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit by reducing your calories slightly
below your maintenance level (or keeping your calories the same and increasing your
activity above your current level).
3) To gain lean body weight, you must increase your calories above your maintenance
level (and engage in a program of progressive resistance training).
NOTE: Adjusting for fat loss!!!
Reduce your calories by 15-20% below maintenance for optimal, safe fat loss
A more precise way to determine your correct calorie deficit would be to use a percentage deficit relative to your maintenance level. Reducing calories by 15-20% below maintenance level is a good place to start.
A larger deficit (25-30%) might be necessary in some cases, but the best approach would be to keep your calorie deficit from diet small, while increasing your activity level to create a bigger deficit, if needed.
Remember, the larger of a deficit you create, the sooner your body will catch on that you
are dieting and the sooner it will start slowing your rate of calorie burning.
Minus 500 method:
Your weight is 172 lbs.
Your TDEE is 2822 calories
Your calorie deficit to lose weight is 500 calories
Your optimal caloric intake for weight loss is 2822 - 500 = 2322 calories
Percentage method:
Your calorie deficit to lose weight is 20% (.20% X 2822 = 564 calories)
Your optimal caloric intake for weight loss = 2258 calories
Adjust your calories according to your weekly results
All caloric expenditure formulas are just estimations for giving you a starting
point. The ONLY way to tell if your estimate is accurate is to get started and watch your
results carefully. To see how your body responds to your initial calorie calculations,
measure and record your results in terms of weight and body composition using the
instructions in chapter three. If you don’t get results you expect, you should adjust your
caloric intake and exercise levels according to the instructions in chapter four, “charting
your progress.”
Thank you Tom V. for this information... _________________ "Do or do not, there is no try"
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