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).

How I set about helping a client drop 48.4Ib in 8 months.

Keeping in practice with providing client privacy I will we refer to the client as B.

I began working with B in mid February, with a goal similar to many of wanting to lose weight and body fat with the added goal of building some muscle.

I write this Mid October, so 8 months have passed and to date B has lost 48.4Ib.

The initial goal was to bring up B's fitness.  This was achieved by focusing primarily on Cardio Vascular work training in two 30 minute sessions each week.

As B's fitness increased and we were seeing weekly weight loss of anywhere from 1-4Ib week we were able to introduce some more strength based work.

At this point a 30 minute session would consist of half the session focusing on compound (whole body) strength lifts, such as;

• Squats
• Military Press
• Deadlifts

The second half of the session would consist of Fitness work with the object of raising the heart rate for increasing periods of time.  Great exercises that worked for this were;

• Step Ups
• Burpees
• Planks

This was serving us well up until the 2 month point but we jointly decided it was time to make further changes to further progress in light of the increased fitness levels.

So the changes we made were firstly add a third 30 minute training session, secondly it was now that we finally decided to make some dietary changes.

Yep, we made no dietary changes until week 9.  Why?  Well beginning an exercise and dietary regime both at once can be too much change for some people.

So what diet changes did we make, well just a couple of simple rules;

1. Add protein to breakfast, in this case B eats a couple of eggs each morning followed by a piece of fruit.
2. Eat 3/4 times per day with Protein at each meal.
3. Reduce starchy and sugary carbs as much as possible.  All veg and fruit was still kept in the diet.

I will add now that whilst this seems a pretty strict strategy, by being tougher now what has happened is that we have primed B's body in such a way that at fairly regular intervals we have been able to add food into B's diet as he simultaneously loses weight.

So after 2 months of increasing strength and fitness B is now in a position to still be losing weight whilst eating more and continuing to increase strength.

There's the nuts and bolts but what does B have to say about this?

I am really enjoying my time working with Darren who has understood my goals from the get go.  I've seen consistent improvements in both my fitness and wellbeing.  

Sessions are always preplanned, challenging and varied.  Very pleased with my current progress and I've received several comments from friends and and colleagues about my weight loss.

So there it is, how I have helped B lose 48Ib + in 8 months.

If you implement anything from this into your own weight loss strategy be sure to let me know how you get on.

Darren.

1 Simple change you can make to Improve your kids school grades.

As a child and teen did your parents put you through the same routine when you got home?

• Shoes and coats away
• Drink
• Upstairs homework?

Every weekday that same routine, sound familiar?

Strangely now as a parent, I do the same with my girls, and I'm betting you do the same with your kids.

In the last academic year spelling became a big focus for my eldest daughter Evie, and so my wife would sit with her for 20 minutes before bed to practice spelling whilst I read to Erin, our youngest.

Well Evie's spelling showed some really rapid improvement, her test results were up and her confidence to sit and write grew as well as her confidence.  in the work she was doing.

Now I decided I would take some credit, the school suggested they practice each word once every day for a week.  I had Evie write each word 5 times, my theory being that with repetition some muscle memory would kick in.

Was I right, or was it the timing of when she was practicing?

In a Boston study 2 groups of learners were compared.

• The first group did a learning early in the day for a few days
• The second group did the learning just before bed.

When they repeated the learning, referred to as a practice session, the first group of early learners saw a slight decay in what they had learnt,

Compared to...

the second group who when they returned to practice the following evening they showed no sign of decay, and furthermore they were able to do further learning!  Boom, yes please!

And its not just Sleep that improves learning ability.

In another study conducted with students at the University of Michigan, 2 groups were compared after completing cognitive tasks designed to fatigue the brain.  

• One group was asked to go for a 50 minute walk around an arboretum
• Group 2 took a 50 minute walk down a busy high street.

As you can probably guess the group that took the walk around the arboretum showed better test results after the walk, and to test fairness the groups were swapped, now group 1 took the busy high street walk, and this time they showed the weaker test results.

Now, please do not think I am telling you how best to parent, by all means tell me to "mind my own business" - I'm just a guy that does exercise.  

Your still reading so thank you.

What I do want to do is present ideas that may help you to help your children.

This is what lead me to get involved in youth exercise (yep, here comes the cheap sell!), I am looking to help kids become happy kids, great kids become awesome teens, become successful/happy adults and I am sure you all want the same for your kids.

Till next time,

Darren.

YES! Your kids SHOULD lift weights. Here's 7 reasons why.

It has always been considered "unsafe" for children to lift weights, but is that really true?

Today I go over a few reasons why your child should be grabbing those dumbbells and "pumping some Iron".

Now to start with I will address some very justified concerns "The dangers to growth plates-found at the end of long bones are real," says Michael Meija, C.S.C.S>, Mens Health fitness advisor whom specialises in youth Athletic training.

However, Meija is also quick to point out that any injuries that do occur to youths are due to excessive loads for the exercise and the use of improper technique.

So to summarise this, it appears that youths can lift weight-as long as it is does done safely and correctly.

Now we have established that they can here is why they should.

Reason 1 -keeps your child maintaining a healthy weight

• In the 2018 publication Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health for West Berkshire- the following statistics were highlighted;

-8.5% of children aged 4-5 are Obese

-This Increases to 28.2% of children in year 6 which are overweight or Obese

-59.2% of adults are overweight or obese

With this upward trend in likelihood of becoming overweight, it becomes increasingly important that we provide avenues for youths to learn how to maintain a healthy weight through exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

Where does weight training come into this?

Weight training is a great way to increase the total volume of active muscle in the body by having people move through more demanding exercises than everyday lifestyle demands.

Lifting weights can create an increase in heart rate, and rate of breathing higher than that which a long run could do, this will achieve stronger heart and lungs which if maintained can keep them fitter and healthier for longer.

Reason 2- Stronger Muscles and Skeleton

Elimination of Weakness.

Sorry that sounded like some sort of Hunger games, post apocalyptic movie (my bad-but it made you look)!

If we take a look at the older generations it is likely we know someone who has had a slip, trip or fall which has resulted in a surprisingly severe injury where normally someone may just be bruised.  Often the degree of injury will be influenced by how strong (or not) that person is.

By introducing and regularly practising weightlifting not only do we strengthen and build balance and control in the muscles, we also increase bone density.  Now bone density typically does not become an issue until later in life, but the most opportune time to build that bone density is during adolescence.

Reason 3- perhaps your child doesn't get on with team sports

I'm not going to get into this one as we are getting outside of my scope as a Personal trainer and exercise specialist.  It will be the case that some kids no matter how hard we encourage team sport it just isn't for some kids- and that's ok.  We just have to find something else, for them to channel their efforts into.

Often with team sports your child may not feel like they are good at it and so shy away from it.  With weight lifting it is different, they only have themselves to beat.  If for example in week 1 they do 10 press ups, next week they try for 11.  If they return and get the 11 they can enjoy the feeling of success and achievement-with good planning and coaching this can be a weekly achievement. 

Reason 4-your child's self worth

When they reach adolescence you may have already seen they are more conscious of what other people think of them and so will begin reacting to that in their behaviour and the decisions they make. With weight lifting and other fitness pursuits they can have a positive influence on how they physically develop which will improve their self worth both in training and beyond.

Reason 5-improve family bonds

As your child gets into their teens you probably feel as though they are becoming more distant, however, if you and your youth both exercise then this becomes something else you have in common.  You don't have to exercise together (although it can be a very powerful tool in building strong bonds) but you do have a shared common interest that can be chatted about over the dinner table.  This is a great way for you to encourage them in a positive pursuit that you can really get behind.

Reason 6-Exercise reaches beyond the gym

There are many lessons that can be learnt from regular exercise.  If your child can stick to regular exercise and see, feel and experience the positive changes it makes to them, those disciplines can carry over into other avenues of life.  

I'm not saying exercise will stop the wild teenage partying or the stupid decision making but something that can ground them and give them a physical outlet could reduce their outbursts elsewhere in their lives.

Reason 7-Equal opportunities

Weight training is for everyone.  There is no weight class, no height preference and no sex discrimination.  In my Teen fitness class, I have tall, short, male, female, fast, slow and any another distinction you can think of. 

The way I operate my class, is you all do the same exercises but you beat yourself.  The majority of the time I operate on a circuit basis, this means that everyone is doing something different in the moment but at the end of the class they have all done the same work-everyone has accomplished the same.

If you would like your child to become more involved in exercise it will require some input from you

in facilitating their ability to do it, whether it is the funding, the taxiing, googling to fid the activity near you or simply you to say "yes you can do that"

I teach a teen fitness class as well as family group personal training at Accomplish Fitness-Hungerford.

For any further details;

Email; darrencarroll.pt@gmail.com

Web; accomplish-fitness.co.uk 

-Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health

https://info.westberks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=45849&p=0

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU...AGAIN?!

January is almost upon us, and again many of us will be setting our resolutions for the New year.

For how many people is that resolution going to be

"This year I will lose weight"

Wasn't that last years goal, oh yeah and the year before that?

Sound familiar?

Stay with me...

This IS just more to help you realise that you can't keep doing the same thing and expect/ hope for a different result.

How many times over the last few years have you told yourself you are going to lose weight?

And in all that time how much has your weight dropped?

It stated that 65% of those that have dieted will return to their pre weight diet after 3 years!  Does that sound familiar?

It's a real shame if the above stat is true, all these dieters with all the best intentions and putting in some great effort to initially lose that weight but then its all undone.

A big part of the problem is buying the book reading the article saying drop 10Lb in Weeks, you get a great 10 week plan with shopping lists and menus but at the end of the 10 weeks nothing, where do you go from there?

Can you do things better?.....Heck yes!

For a start have a clear idea of Your aims, but be very clear don't let the magazine tell you your goal or what tim to do it in.  When I say have a clears idea what I mean by that is  'This year I will lose weight", to be honest sucks as an aim and gives you nothing to work for or with.

A better goal would be "I am aim to lose 10Lb", even better "I aim to lose 10Lb in 10 Weeks".

Now we have a clear goal and clear time limit that you must keep yourself accountable to.

But we're still not done.  Now we have established the goal its time we figure out how to go about it.

So using our weight loss example, part of your strategy may be to attend the gym more.  Again be specific, "I will attend the gym 3 times per week, and I will do 1 class at this time on a Monday and 2 gym based sessions on Thursday and Saturday"

Another part of your weight change strategy will be dieting, so write shopping lists, write meal plans, prepare lunches and snacks so you are not caught without food and find yourself buying high calorie fast foods.

Most importantly track as much as you can.  For my clients I have their training pre planned, I know the exercises they must complete, the sequence I want them completed in, How fast they move in the exercise, what weight to lift.

I track the training to such as extent I can tell if someone did or did not have breakfast!!

Also tracking your diet is much simpler than it used to be with tools such as 'My Fitness Pal' the calorie counting Phone App being freely available.  I also keep my clients accountable by using a simple 1-10 scale,  1 being a bad day and 10 being spot on, daily you self score out of 10 how well have you achieved what we set out and planned to do.

Now don't panic scoring 10 doesn't mean my clients are eating rabbit food, what it does mean is they have had a days good nutrition with a small amount of the enjoyable stuff.  For some that could be as much as 20% of their daily calories or as little as 5%.  That is very much determined by the individual and how driven they are to achieving their goal.

With any training or nutrition plan the most important thing is, is it sustainable?

If it's not reconsider your approach, lets go back to the 'Lose 10Lb in 10 Weeks' client, if at the end of the 10 weeks this person cannot continue the diet and training plan they worked with, in time we will see that 10Lb go back on so in all honesty what was the point?

Make yourself accountable, all my clients know they have to answer to me as I am setting weekly weight loss goals which they do not take lightly, if they don't achieve it I want to know why and we find a solution to the problem that we are both happy with.

To make yourself accountable set a clear target and tell everyone about it so you become accountable to them also.

If you want help in setting out clear goals they feel free to get in contact with me using the links below;

Email; darrencarroll.pt@gmail.com

Facebook; Darren Carroll-PT (join the conversation here too).

MERRY CHRISTMAS..MAKE IT A GOOD ONE FOR YOU AND 

ESPECIALLY FOR EVERYONE AROUND YOU.

Low Calorie Mince Pies

Not to sure if you know, but a bought mince pie will typically contain 200-300 Caloires.

This recipe brings things down to a diet friendly 102Kcal per PIe.

Ingredients

• Pastry Ingredients:
• 130g Chobani Fat Free Greek Yoghurt
• 130g Doves Farm Gluten Free Rice Flour
• 1/2tsp Salt
• 1/2tsp Xylitol (4g) or Sweetener/ Sugar of your choice.
• 1/3tsp Xantham Gum (optional but helps bind!)

• Filling Ingredients:
• 190g Dried Mixed Fruit (Sultanas, Currants, Raisins, Candied Lemon Peel)
• 1 Large Apple (150g)
• 1tbsp Lemon Juice (15ml)
• 1tsp Nutmeg
• 1tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2tsp Ginger

Nutrition Info

• 1 Mince Pie
• 102kcals Calories
• 2.4g Protein
• 23g Carbs
• 0.3g Fats

Instructions

• 1.To begin, mix all of your pastry ingredients in a bowl and knead with your hands. Push and squeeze the dough, working it for around 5 minutes. To begin with it will look dry and crumbly but by kneading it eventually you will end up with a smooth dough. Wrap this in cling film and place in the fridge whilst you make your filling.
• 2.For the mincemeat filling, grate your apple into a saucepan using a cheese grater (and including the skin), then add in your dried fruit, lemon juice and the rest of the spices.
• 3.Place the saucepan over the hob on a low heat, and let it cook away for 15-20 minutes, stirring it often and with each stir mashing the mixture a little too. It may stick to the pan so be prepared for a fight when washing up, but to get it to that sticky filling stage it is a must! Taste a little bit and adjust spices and flavours to suit your needs if anything wants changing! Once your filling is ready, leave it to one side to cool.
• 4.Pre-heat your fan oven to 200 degrees celsius and prepare a shallow 12 hole bun (or muffin) tin with a little spray oil or grease to make sure the mince pies don’t stick. I wouldn’t advise a silicone tray as they will cook cakeier rather than crisping up a little.
• 5.On a flat work surface, spread a little bit of flour and place your pastry in the middle. Grab a rolling pin and carefully roll the pastry out to the thickness of a 50p piece. I found by rolling it bit by bit, flipping the dough over a few times and working it from different angles, I was able to achieve a nice even roll. You may have to sprinkle a little extra rice flour a few times to stop it sticking.
• 6.Using a 7cm Circular Cookie Cutter (one large enough to span the top of your muffin tin), cut out a circle and place it inside a space on your muffin tin. It should fill the whole muffin space to the top. Repeat this process with the rest of your pastry until you have 12 empty mince pie cases ready to fill. (You should have some dough left over for the tops!)
• 7.Spoon your mincemeat filing into each of the mince pies, packing it down tightly so that they are all even and level to the top of your mince pie pastry casing. Now all you need to do is add the final topping.
• 8.I re-rolled my dough so it was nice and thin, then using a 5cm cookie cutter this time, I created 12 ‘lids’ to top my mince pies and I wasn’t left with any remaining dough, it was the perfect amount. Hopefully if you haven’t made your pies too thick you will achieve the same.
• 9.Now your mince pies are ready, place on the middle shelf of your fan oven and cook for around 20 minutes at 200 degrees celsius. Half way through I pushed down the tops to make sure that the mincemeat was nice and compact and the tops stuck on.
• 10.After 20 minutes, remove from the oven, let them cool slightly and enjoy your guilt free mince pies! Let me know how you get on, and Merry Christmas.