Using maths to lose fat or gain muscle. Counting calories effectively
Rest day from exercise, plenty of sleep to help muscle regeneration along with the high calorie meals of yesterday for now though as i won't have any lifts to post up i'll do a short write up on how to effectively count calories to either lose fat (not just weight) or to add mass to that flimsy frame.
To get started you need to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - this is the number of calories you would need to maintain weight at a vegetative state.
MEN: BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] - [4.92 x age (years)] + 5
WOMEN: BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] - [4.92 x age (years)] -161
I'll do some examples as we go through to help get an idea of the sort of numbers you may be looking at.
E.g. for a women at 10 stone 3 pounds (143lb), 5"6, 21 years old
to convert lbs to kgs 143 / 2.2 = 65lb
to convert feet and inches to cm;
1 foot = 12 inches so 5"6 = 66 inches
So the BMR = [9.99 x 65] + [6.25 x 167.64] - [4.92 x 21] -161 = 1432.78 calories
This is a typical value and will be slightly higher for a man at around the same height weight statistics. Remember it is the amount of calories you should consume if you were basically in a coma.
You now need to multiply this number by your activity factor. This number will be based on the amount of activity you do in a given day.
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)
Therefore using the example again from above.
Lets say that this young lady is moderately active exercising 3 or 4 times a week and has a reasonably active daily routine.
1432.78 x 1.5 = 2149.17 (maintenance calories)
So on a given day to maintain her current weight she would need to consume ~ 2150 calories.
also studies have shown that 1lb of fat under laboratory conditions contains 3500 calories. this means that to lose 1lb of fat she would need to go 3500 calories below her maintenance calories over a given period of time. lets say she wanted to set a healthy fat loss goal of around 1lb of fat per week.
By working at a deficit of 500 calories per day therefore eating 1650cals per day over a week
(7 x 5 = 3500) she would reach her goals.
Here's where the calories should come from
Macronutrients (often referred to as Macros)
The 3 groups of Macros for your bodies are, Proteins, Fats and Carbs.
Proteins generally kept at 1g per pound of lean body mass (lbm) for women losing weight or 1-1.5g per pound of lean body mass (lbm) for men gaining mass
lean body mass refers to the mass of your body mass with the mass of fat deducted. So lets say someone who weighs 60KG with 20% bodyfat
weight - ((weight/100) x bodyfat percentage) = lean body mass
so for the above example lbm = 48kg
to convert to pounds 48 x 2.2 = 105.6
so ~ 105ish grams of protein a day for weight loss. This is to make sure the weight loss is not from muscle wastage from all that exercise and from the fat burned in the workout.
Fats are once again easy to calculate, try to keep them between 0.5-1g per lb of lbm for both men or women although when looking into intermittent fasting and keto diets the numbers vary (I won't comment on these as i have yet to research them further than info on the web)
Using the example above again
so within this range is a healthy amount of fat for a given day. remember to stay away from saturated fats and try to keep to Omega 3 and 6's in fish and chicken/eggs as well as polyunsaturated fats in good oils.
Carbs generally make up the rest of the calories of that daily needs,
so say you have a maintenance of 2000cals and you were aiming for 1600 a day, you have eaten the amount of protein and fats to meet your macro requirements you calculated above you can make up the rest of your calories with complex carbs.
Now let me explain where people tend to trip up.
- The calorie estimates are not 100% accurate. They are accurate, but not 100% so when people lose a pound 1 week and then not the next they get discouraged even though the next week the results may be back on track. remember consistency is key.
- the activity factor can really sway the amount of calories you can consume lets look back at the example above.
1432.78 x 1.5 = 2149.17 (maintenance calories) for moderate activity
say a workout wasn't as intense as you may have thought so you use a slightly lower activity factor
now lets say that for another day activity was very intense.
the difference is around 100-200 calories in each instance and even a difference of 0.5 activity factor can have a huge effect on the maintenance value for calories for the day leading to weight loss stalls and muscle gain stalls. if you calculate yours and you're not losing effectively just gradually tone the calories down slightly and sensibly and you will begin to see the results.
- people tend to think certain foods make them fat and certain foods will not
THIS IS THE BIGGEST LIE IN FAT LOSS
you could spend all day eating chocolate at a calorific deficit from your maintenance and you would lose weight. Fact. you may not be very healthy from it and it is very ill advised (but tasty) but it will work.
Therefore people tend to stick to a diet for a while cheat here and there and eventually give into temptation and then feel discouraged and quit. If these people factored in these calories and just ate a little less in other areas to compensate they would still meet their goals.
- As you lose weight your BMR will decrease accordingly, at regular weight loss intervals recalculate and re evaluate to lose weight otherwise you will experience weight loss plateaus.
- The first week of weight loss may cause more weight than you was expecting to happen, this is from water weight and may go back on when you begin eating at maintenance again when you reach your weight goals.
- Do not go too far below your maintenance, generally going under by 400-500 calories is acceptable for consistent weight loss. going under by too far (thinking meh my maintenance is 2000 calories I'll go for 1100 a day and lose extremely quickly) will cause you to burn out, have less intense workouts and force your body into starvation mode. starvation mode is where your body will conserve fat as it thinks that it is about to starve so saves the most important energy reserves as a last resort. Losing weight slowly allows your body to adapt to the change and realise it doesn't need the excess fat.
- On workout days you will need slightly more calories than rest days. higher carbs are generally recommended for a workout day with lower fats and vice versa for non workout days.
eat high protein for weight loss and gain (around 1-1.5g per pound of lean bodyweight). Proteins are awesome as they help preserve the muscle during weight loss and for muscle gain the amino acids are used as the building blocks of protein in your body.
Fat doesn't make you fat, most fats are essential for hormone production as well as other bodily functions, please don't neglect this vital food group (have a bacon sandwich on some nice wholewheat bread and factor the calories into your day).
Meal frequency is another myth in weightloss, 6 small meals a day, 3 meals a day, 1 huge meal a day. it doesn't matter, Calories in Vs Calories out is all that counts, in fact the 6 meal a day plan recommended for weight loss can often lead to cravings and gut bacteria not having time to regenerate (leading to flatulence).
Generally go ~400-500 calories below maintenance for weight loss or ~400-500 for weight gain.
Don't listen to weight loss myths and quick fix tips, eating carbs after 8 doesn't matter, you cannot get a 6 pack in 4 weeks, you can get gradual results with consistent training and careful healthy dieting.
Enjoy yourself and stay healthy
