Macronutrition - Part 1
Macronutrition - What is it? Why should you care?
To understand what my application is about and why I am creating it I thought I would share with my readers the problem I will be solving - Managing the reduction of my body fat percentage through diet and exercise.
My application will be for the people who realise what it takes to get that washboard stomach, and are willing to do it to get there.
With all the lose fat quick schemes that are around today it surprises me that people are willing to try them and pin all there hopes on them due to clever marketing without actually taking the time to learn how their body actually uses food for energy, and why it stores some of the intake as fat.
The primary source of energy for our bodies is via food in the form of calories. Calories are made up of macronutrients, carbohydrates, protein and fat.
Losing body fat is not just about what you eat and what exercise you do; its about math.
Take note of the following information :-
1g of Fat contains 9 calories
1g of Protein contains 4 calories
1g of Carbohydrates contains 4 calories
1lb of Fat equals 3500 calories
As you can see eating the same weight in Protein or Carbohydrates results in less calories consumed than if you ate the same amount of Fat. We can also see that to burn away 1lb of fat we need to have a deficit of 3500 calories which should be spread over the week.
So how many calories should you be getting?
This is where we use the Harris Benedict Equation to calculate. Its has slightly different constants for men and women but the formula is still the same.
BMR for Men = 66 + (13.7 x Weight in kg) + (5 x Height in cm) - (6.8 x Age in Years)
BMR for Women = 655 + (9.6 x Weight in kg) + (1.8 x Height in cm) - (4.7 x Age in Years)
Once you have your Base Metabolic Rate you need to perform one more calculation to figure what your daily calorie intake should be.
Little or no exercise = x 1.2
1 - 3 times per week = x 1.375
3 - 5 times per week = x 1.55
6 - 7 times per week = x 1.725
Very hard twice daily = x 1.9
Take your BMR and multiply it by your selection from the above table and that is the amount of calories per day your body needs to consume to maintain. I cannot stress how important it is to be honest here, it’s about what you actually do not what intend to do, you can always change this figure as you progress and you will need to as you lose body fat anyway.
Summary
So now you know how to work out how many calories per day your body needs to maintain it’s current position. You also know that to loose a lb you need have a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. This deficit needs to be over a week so 3500 / 7 = a daily deficit of 500 calories from your daily allowance.
In part 2 I will be educating you on the best ways to create that deficit and where Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats come into to play.
Posted to Nutrition
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Weight Loss Guide…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…
Trackback by Weight Loss Guide — October 1, 2007 #