What’s a Calorie?
It measures the energy that your body gets from food and beverages. Calories are used by your body as fuel, and without it, your body cannot function well or at all. Your body burns this fuel to power your brain, your muscles, your breathing and all the fundamental processes that you need to live.
Every food or beverage contains a certain amount of calories. Some are low in calories (example: a one hundred gram tomato has 17.7 cals) and some are high in calories like a fifty-eight grams Mars bar – 260 in Cal.
While some food products do contain the amount of calorie written on their wrapper, some foods do not. So here is a guide on how you can count your calories for your diet:
BMR
BMR stands for basal metabolic rate, and it measures your calorie deficit depending on your age, sex, weight and height.
So here are the two Harris-Benedict equations that are used to calculate the basal metabolic rate:
- For Men: BMR = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) + 5
- For Women: BMR = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) – 161
So to explain this, if you are a thirty-three old man with a height of 176 cm and weight ninety kilograms you will have a basal metabolic rate of 1962 calories per day if you engage in no physical activity. The basal metabolic rate of 1962 calories compared to the recommended calorie intake of 2354 calories results in 400 calories difference for the thirty-three old man..
Calorie Counting
To complete your calorie counting, you must have a kitchen scale so you can weigh your food.
After that you will now need to access a calorie counter online or using a phone app so you can measure your calories.
Here is an example of how you can use both of these:
Let’s say you have a chicken breast that weighs about two hundred grams. The application shows that the chicken breast has 160 calories for every one hundred grams.
By using the scale and app, you determine that the right amount for you might be just half of your chicken breast. In other words, you will consume just one hundred grams of chicken breast that has 160 calories..
Besides the example above, try to determine your recommended intake for maintaining your weight.
For example: If you do moderate exercise per week (three to five days) your recommended intake should be like this: your BMR x 1.55. If you are sedentary, your recommended intake should look like this: your BMR x 1.2.
Conclusion
A good diet is filled with healthy food, but if you want to gain muscles or lose weight faster, it is recommended that you should also do some physical exercise by doing some jogging around the park or by getting a gym membership.
Try to avoid junk food, even if they might be low in calories and you should always ask a nutritionist for some advice before starting a diet.