Working with Calories, part 1: Just how many Calories do I burn each day?

It’s the beginning of the year and everyone is taking a good hard look at what they are eating and what they need to do to lose unwanted pounds.

With that in mind, I find it useful to at least have a rough idea of how many calories you are burning each day.

Now I know many people do not want to count calories, and thats cool I find I only do it for 2-3 weeks a couple of times per year at most.  But knowing how many calories you are burning can be useful.

So lets get straight to it.

We can get an approximation of your daily calorie expenditure using the 'Harris Benedict' formula, a 2 stage calculation that will tell you how many calories you are burning each day.


Part 1; Calculating BMR
Your BMR (Basal metabolic rate) is the number of calories you burn every 24 hours if you remained in bed.

It's a bit lengthy but here are the calculations;

In order to calculate BMR for Women;

Metric     BMR= 655.1 + (9.563 x wgt in kg) + (1.850 x hgt in cm) - (4.676 x age)

Imperial  BMR= 655.1 + (4.35 x wgt in Ibs) + (4.7 x hgt inches) - (4.7 x age)


To calculate BMR for Men;
Metric  BMR= 66.5 + (13.75 x wgt in Kg) + (5.003 x hgt in cm) - (6.775 x age)

Imperial BMR= 66 + (6.2 x wgt in Ibs) + (12.7 x hgt in inches) - (6.76 x age)

Let's quickly run through it using me as an example;

BMR= 66.5 + (13.75 x 80Kg) + (5.003 x 172cm) - (6.775 x 39)
           66.5  +    1100             +         861             -        264      = 1763.5kcal/day

So there we go, if I didn't move from my bed I'm still burning 1763.5kcal per day.


Now this is just your BMR and in no way accounts for your day to day moving around.  When we factor in your activity as well we create your TDEE-Total daily Energy Expenditure.

Part 2; Calculating your TDEE

Now we have our BMR we must consider our activity factor using the scale below;

• If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) BMR x 1.2 = TDEE
• Light active (sports/ exercise 1 - 3 times per week) BMR x 1.375= TDEE
• Moderately active (sports/exercise 3 - 5 times per week) BMR x 1.55= TDEE
• Very active (hard exercise/sport 6 - 7 times per week) BMR x 1.725= TDEE
• Extra active (Exercise 2 x day/physical job) BMR x 1.9 = TDEE

Once again using me as the example;

BMR = 1763.5 x 1.55 (moderately active)=2733kcal

So there we go, now that you have worked through that you should have your Total daily Calorie expenditure.  Do keep in mind though, this is an approximate figure not an absolute, but for our intent and purposes it works just fine.

Now we have this information what do we do with it?

Keep a look out for that in my next post where I will show you how to use the above results and apply it to achieve desired weight change. 

The Diet everyone is doing this year is?

Apparently the Keto (or Ketosis) seems to be the diet of choice this year.

What is the Keto diet?

Simply put, the Keto diet is dietary plan that will have you limiting the amount of Carbohydrate in your diet.  This will in time lower your blood sugar levels, as the blood sugar levels drop your body will adjust and better use body fat as a fuel source.

So in truth you may already know it under the name Low-Carb diet or Atkins diet.

Better at using body fat as a fuel source... sounds good right?

Yes I'm sure most of us want to be better at burning fat, however the very limited Carbs approach can be difficult.

For example most people practising this diet will cut the following from their diet: 

• Rice, Potatoes, Quinoa, Pasta, Bread
• Beans, Chickpeas and Legumes
• Cakes, Ice Cream, Sweets, Chocolate (no shocker)
• Fruit
• Starchy vegetables such as Carrots, Sweetcorn

Basically the foods you like are out (thankfully you can still eat Steak!).

Why is it so popular?

I think there is a couple of reasons for this, the first reason being that in the short term it works well.  I have seen people drop up to 10Lb in the first week of doing the diet.  In the first week of successful dieting you are using up glycogen (the energy form of sugar) levels in the body which causes you to lose water which could account for 5Lb of that first 10Lb.

Over the longer term weight loss rates are more inline with other diets in which you restrict calories from all food groups.

The second reason it is so popular is, the fitness industry and media typically like to demonise whole food groups.  We are right now in a fad of saying all sugars are bad, quite simply it sells.

Does it Work?

Yes, I have seen it work to great effect in the first month, and there is plenty of evidence to support its short term effectiveness, in the long term-the jury is still out and it does have associated risks including;

• Low energy levels
• digestive discomfort
• Bad breath
• Brain fog

In practise I am not sold on it.  The list of foods restricted is very strict and would be difficult to stick 100% to the plan because who doesn't want to enjoy some cake, or beer, or the occasional bag of crisps, doughnut, ice cream, roast potatoes... sorry where was I?

Do you follow a Keto diet?  Did you? Why did you stop?  How did you get on?

Please do let me know.

Till next time,

D.

Always consult your GP before commencing any diet (they know more than Sally on reception).