Everyday there are more and more advances being made in the dieting and nutrition field, some good and some bad. Due to inclement weather conditions that have me house bound for the day I feel it is necessary to take this time and provide the people of this forum with the new age way of FITNESS dieting. I say FITNESS dieting because that is exactly the image I have for the Canadian Forces and its people, the fitness elite of our great country, because lets face it, the Canada's guide to nutrition isn't exactly updated on a regular basis (if you all remember those charts we seen in school, they have pretty much remained the same over the years). So without further ado, lets get on with the show!
The following will allow you to calculate the number of calories you burn daily based on you activity level. Its is broken into 2 steps. The first step is your BMR (basal metabolic rate), this is the number of calories you burn daily doing no activity whatsoever. The method shown here is the Harris-Benedict Formula. The second step uses your BMR along with constants based on your daily activity level to calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).
Step 1
Calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate):
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
Remember 1 inch = 2.54cm and 2.2 lbs = 1 kg.
Step 2
Calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This will tell you the average number of calories you burn based on your BMR and your daily activity level.
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise and a desk or still standing job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise or sports one to three times per week)
Moderately active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise or sports three to five times per week)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise or sports six to seven times per week)
Extremely active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise or sports and a physical job, or twice a day training for an athletic event such as for a marathon or intense competition)
So the figure you come up with will be the average number of calories you burn daily. This number is crucial so you can adjust caloric intake in order to bulk (add mass) or cut (reduce body-fat) or even to maintain if that is your goal. Remember this will only be as accurate as the data you put in as well as how honestly you assess your daily activity level.
How many meals per day should I eat?
This is a highly debated topic in the fitness community. Some people can eat 1 large meal/day and get great results. Some fast for several hours/day, then go through a feeding phase. For the purpose of this article, stick with the generally accepted standard of 6 to 8 smaller meals per day. I try and keep my meals about 3 hours apart. If you can only do 2 hours apart, do it.
How many calories should I eat?
So your TDEE is 2500. You know that if you eat 2500 calories per day, you should maintain your weight. You also know that dropping calories too low is a terrible idea. So, what is the answer? The fact is, there is no set answer as we are all different. However, the general rule of thumb is to start with a deficit of 300-500 calories. You will need to monitor yourself closely and continue to adjust until you hit your 'sweet spot' (you'll know when you do). In my example, I'm going with a 500 calorie deficit, so daily intake will be 2000 calories per day.
I've figured out my TDEE, but have no idea how much protein, carbohydrates, and fats I should eat to reach that number?!
For the sample diet, we're going with a TDEE of 2500 calories, with a 500 calorie deficit. The diet will be 2000 calories a day. There are countless macro percentage splits (macros = macro nutrients, the stuff that makes up your food, i.e. protein, carbohydrates, and fats), but a widely accepted starting point is 40% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 20% fats, shortened to 40/40/20. So 40% of 2000 calories = 800 calories (2000 x .40 = 800). That means 800 of your calories will come from protein, and 800 will come from carbohydrates. 20% of 2000 = 400. 400 of your calories will come from fats. Protein and carbohydrates each contain 4 calories per gram, and fats contain 9 calories per gram, therefore this diet will consist of 200g protein, 200g carbohydrates, and 45g fat.
From this point, you can play with the numbers a bit to your liking. You may want to adjust slightly to make it 250g protein, 150g carbohydrates, and 45g of fat. In so doing, the total of 2000 calories hasn't changed, only the macro split has.
I don't know how I should combine my proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. What should I eat, and when?
Great question! Now you know you'll be eating 2000 calories/day, at 40/40/20, then modified a bit to bring us to 250g protein, 150g carbohydrates, and 45g fat. In our example diet, we will break this down across 6 meals, spaced 3 hours apart.
There are plenty of opinions on when to eat what, but one that I think everybody will agree on is to have a protein source in every meal. To make our sample diet easy to follow, I am going to break our 250g protein down evenly across our 6 meals. Remember, this is just a sample. So 250g protein / 6 meals = roughly 40g protein per meal. When the fat macro is relatively low like in our example, I would do the same - break it down evenly across all meals. So 45g fat / 6 meals = 7.5g fat per meal. That leaves us with carbohydrates.
On a diet where cutting bodyfat is the primary goal, Keep carbohydrates focused around your high energy activity, namely, your workout. Pre and Post workout is an ideal time to consume the majority of your carbohydrates. Your first meal of the day is also a great time for carbohydrates for other reasons. The sample will have carbohydrates in meals 1, pre, and post workout. 3 meals - i.e. 150g / 3 meals = 50g carbohydrates per meal.
Even if this information helps one person I have achieved what I set out to do. I hope I posted it in the right area of the forum! I'd like to thank everyone for their time!
PS. use your head, clean foods only. You wouldn't lose the excess weight your carrying eating Oreo's and BBQ chips.
This is a compilation of data I've gathered over the span of a 2 year period from various fitness professionals that I am unable to list. I in no way take credit for the information contained, I merely put it all together in this thread for you!