I’ve done it, so I know you have too. I’ve purchased every kind of calorie guide, from those dinky $0.99 checkout pamphlets to the $50 books hot off the new release section in the bookstore. And I’ve counted and watched and read labels and looked things up in my books until I was cross-eyed – and then of course, after not knowing what the point was, I gave up. Just like you. So, I was totally dubious when they told me at SWENDO that I was going to have to keep a record of my calories.
What I’ve never had the pleasure of before was a more comprehensive explanation of my goals and complete record-keeping. Before you start looking at the calories you are eating and what you’re aiming for – you need to calculate what it will take for you to maintain your current weight. At SWENDO, I got on a metabolism reading machine to do that, but there are websites all over that will help you do it too.
Before you read onwards – I need to warn you that the rest of this post includes a heavy dose of math – and some accounting. I LOVE math, and accounting, and formulas and logic – so maybe that’s why I am sticking to this diet so well, right now. Hope you like it too, or that I can explain it in a way that you can accept.
Here’s a good way to find out how many calories will keep you going – your Total Daily Calorie Needs:
First you need your BMR – your Basal Metabolic Rate:
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age in year )
Now whatever your number is (mine is 1748.3) is the number of calories needed to keep you at your same weight if you did nothing but lie around in bed.
You need to find out what your level of daily activity adds to your daily caloric needs. Using the Harris Benedict Formula:
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:
- If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
- If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
- If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
- If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
- If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
I’m fairly sedentary – so I used factor #1: 1748.3 x 1.2 = 2098 (rounded). I have been upping my exercise, but I think before I catalogue myself as a lightly active person, which would increase on paper what my daily caloric needs are – I’m going to err on the safe side.
Great – so now I have my numbers – now what?? Yep, now comes the lovely part of counting calories. I have a free account on Calorie Count’s website: www.caloriecount.about.com – this website allows you to put in your starting info – specify a goal – and track your progress daily or in any period of time you want.
My SWENDO program also provided what looks like a checkbook register log. It is really helpful – all you have to do is document how many calories you eat and any EXTRA exercise you do. REMEMBER: Always overestimate your food calories and underestimate your exercise.
At the end of the week, you total day by day what your deficit (we hope there’s a deficit) of calories becomes. For example, if I only ate 1150 calories, and exercised for a total of 300 calories, I would add the 300 to my 2098 that I need to keep my weight the same: 2398. Then I would subtract the food I ate: 2398 – 1150. This gives me a deficit of 1248 calories I’m missing to keep me the same weight. Let’s pretend that I’ve been awfully good and kept this up for seven days. Over seven days the exact same calculation would result in a total of 8736 calories.
Here’s another piece of trivia. It takes 3500 calories to lose 1 pound. So, if I have been very good and have not deprived myself of water or other nutrients in this whole endeavor, I should have lost 8736 divided by 3500 to get 2.496 or 2.5 pounds. Only the scale will tell – and it might fluctuate. It should average out over the longer period – don’t get discouraged. Each week, you should recalculate your Total Daily Calorie Needs, because your weight changed.
This is what I learned at the end of week 1 – at this point I could have happily left the program – except that I had pre-paid and I might as well get my money’s worth in the included classes and follow-up consultations and doctor’s visits.
In my next post – I’ll address WHAT I can eat – now that we’ve covered how MUCH I can eat.
Tags: BMR, Calories, Math, Total Daily Calorie Needs, weight loss
