Today I will be discussing caloric intake through the lens of weight loss. First, let's do a little recap of last week's post. Calorie is the term for energy - the energy we intake in food and the energy our body expends. We expend energy in three ways: thermic effect of food, resting metabolic rate and physical activity. In food, calories are made up of macro-nutrients. Fat, protein and carbohydrates all have different caloric densities. You can figure out how many calories you are consuming by counting your macros, but if you just count calories you don't know where they are coming from. If you want more detailed information go back and read last week's blog posts HERE and HERE
So how do we use all of this information to our benefit and, in this instance, weight loss? To achieve weight loss, you have to have a calorie deficit. This means that there is a shortage in the amount of calories you are consuming relative to the amount of calories needed to maintain your current body weight. In order to achieve a calorie deficit, you either need to decrease your calorie intake, increase your calorie output or a combination of the two.
In order to know where we need to go we must have a starting point. This starting point is your maintenance calories. There are apps/websites that have maintenance calorie calculators based on gender, height, weight, physical activity and age. However, everybody's resting metabolic rate is different depending on a lot of factors so a calorie calculator is not the best way to figure out your maintenance calories. You can pay for a very expensive test, but that's not realistic for everyone. A more accurate and affordable way to figure out your maintenance calories for your specific body and your level of activity is to track your calorie intake and weigh yourself every day for 10 days. As long as your weight stays generally the same over the 10 days, you will take your total caloric intake for that period and divide by 10. This is your maintenance calories - what your body is using to maintain your current state.
To decide your caloric deficit subtract 500 from that maintenance number. Studies have shown that the average pound is about 3,500 calories so if you want to lose one pound per week you would cut 3,500 calories or 500 calories/day. This is pretty sustainable and something your body can tolerate. Not necessarily easy, but sustainable. This does not mean you have to decrease your calorie intake by 3,500/week or 500/day. You could decrease your intake by 250/day and increase your output by 250/day through exercise. This is where the balance of fueling your body with nutrition and exercise comes together.
I want to finish this post with a real life example of why starting with maintenance calories is so very important. Let's say you are a person who is overweight and is taking in 2,500 calories/day. You go to someone who doesn't know your maintenance calorie intake and they tell you your macro intake should be 1,700 calories/day based on the calculated factors listed above. You are now cutting 700 calories/day, which is 4,900 calories over the course of a week. This is not something your body is going to be able to maintain. You are going to feel like you are starving yourself, and your body will put you into that mode of storing energy which is ineffective for weight loss. You must know where you are starting to know where you should go.
Let's summarize quickly
So how do we use all of this information to our benefit and, in this instance, weight loss? To achieve weight loss, you have to have a calorie deficit. This means that there is a shortage in the amount of calories you are consuming relative to the amount of calories needed to maintain your current body weight. In order to achieve a calorie deficit, you either need to decrease your calorie intake, increase your calorie output or a combination of the two.
In order to know where we need to go we must have a starting point. This starting point is your maintenance calories. There are apps/websites that have maintenance calorie calculators based on gender, height, weight, physical activity and age. However, everybody's resting metabolic rate is different depending on a lot of factors so a calorie calculator is not the best way to figure out your maintenance calories. You can pay for a very expensive test, but that's not realistic for everyone. A more accurate and affordable way to figure out your maintenance calories for your specific body and your level of activity is to track your calorie intake and weigh yourself every day for 10 days. As long as your weight stays generally the same over the 10 days, you will take your total caloric intake for that period and divide by 10. This is your maintenance calories - what your body is using to maintain your current state.
To decide your caloric deficit subtract 500 from that maintenance number. Studies have shown that the average pound is about 3,500 calories so if you want to lose one pound per week you would cut 3,500 calories or 500 calories/day. This is pretty sustainable and something your body can tolerate. Not necessarily easy, but sustainable. This does not mean you have to decrease your calorie intake by 3,500/week or 500/day. You could decrease your intake by 250/day and increase your output by 250/day through exercise. This is where the balance of fueling your body with nutrition and exercise comes together.
I want to finish this post with a real life example of why starting with maintenance calories is so very important. Let's say you are a person who is overweight and is taking in 2,500 calories/day. You go to someone who doesn't know your maintenance calorie intake and they tell you your macro intake should be 1,700 calories/day based on the calculated factors listed above. You are now cutting 700 calories/day, which is 4,900 calories over the course of a week. This is not something your body is going to be able to maintain. You are going to feel like you are starving yourself, and your body will put you into that mode of storing energy which is ineffective for weight loss. You must know where you are starting to know where you should go.
Let's summarize quickly
- For the general person to lose 1 pound/week a caloric deficit of 3,500 calories/week or 500 calories/day is necessary
- Caloric deficit can be achieved through decreasing intake, increasing output or a combination of the two
- In order to find your deficit number you must know your starting point (maintenance calories)
- An accurate and cost-effective way to determine maintenance calories is to track your calorie intake for 10 days and divide that total number by 10.
- Calorie deficit = maintenance calories - 500.
Disclaimer: I am a Doctor of Physical Therapy. I can provide you with nutrition education, but I do not provide individualized nutrition assessment or counseling. Assessment and counseling can only be given from a Registered Dietitian or a Certified Nutritionist, which I am not. All opinions expressed are my own, but I can give you resources to further your personal education and assessment if needed.
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