Counting calories and macronutrients is a big part of the fitness industry. More and more average Joes looking to lose or gain weight are taking the calculative approach in their fitness journeys by tracking everything they are putting into their mouths. At what stage does this become too consuming and how do you find the right balance to make it sustainable?
So where do you start with working out how many calories is right for you? Firstly, I think it is important to know what your lean body mass is, your bodyfat percentage and daily activity levels. Then what is your goal factor, to lose, maintain or gain weight? Without this information how do you have any idea how much food to eat to reach your goals?
The best way to determine your lean mass and bodyfat is through a scan from a reliable bodyfat analysis machine or through a Bioprint analysis. There are many different types of machines such as Dexa scan, bodpod and Inbody to name a few. These machines provide information such as lean mass and body fat percentage. Some also provide information like the amount of visceral fat, comparisons of girths of arms and thighs and girth of the trunk.
Bioprint is an advanced 14 site calliper test that calculates ones body fat percentage. The 14 sites make up 5 profiles that determine why we are storing body fat in these areas. The client is given a priority profile protacol that explains how to 'spot reduce' the priority areas. This is definitely one of the best ways to monitor progress to really know where you are increasing or decreasing body fat.
Activity levels are the other thing to consider when designing a diet. For example let's say we had 2 identical twins both looking to maintain their bodyweight. One is an office worker that trains for 1 hour a day and the other is a labourer out in the sun all day that also trains an hour a day. Obviously the labourer is going to need more calories just to maintain his body weight than the sedentary office worker.
Once you have calculated your lean mass and determined your activity levels you can then calculate what your baseline calories are. There are different ways to do this, different opinions and formulas. Where a lot of people go wrong when dieting is they start in what is already an extreme deficit of baseline calories and they continue to reduce down and then they plateau. At this point there is no room to move down further because they risk damaging their metabolisms and they are not getting enough nutrients required to function optimally. The brain alone uses at least 30g of glucose a day! In this situation the best option is to bring them back up to baseline for a refeed and then slowly reduce down again from there.
I think if you have a weight loss or gain goal then tracking to some degree is important. Like the saying goes if your not assessing your guessing and guess work will only get you so far. There is different software and Apps that make tracking easier but at what point does this become tedious or too time consuming? let's be honest if your not competing in a bodybuilding competition you don't want to be weighing every gram of food do you? Meal prepping for a week is definitely an easier and less time consuming way to be accurate with portion sizes without doing it on a daily basis.
Another method is to get an idea of what your calories look like in portion sizes and just be somewhere in the ball park. When you need to make changes to your nutrition just simply reweigh your meals for a day again and then you will have a ball park picture again. In the last few years healthy meal companies have surfaced everywhere and have become big business in the fitness industry. Targeted at gym goers, the calories and macro's are all labelled making it easier to track what you are taking in.
If you are counting reps and sets in the gym and following training programs then why wouldn't you want to get the other equal important aspect right of monitoring your nutrition. Nutrition is such an important part of your fitness journey and will yield far better results if you are assessing and not guessing! Write down some goals and get a nutrition plan in place. Most importantly find something that is sustainable for YOU! No point getting a plan with 6 meals a day if your lifestyle only allows for you to eat 3 times!
Get experimenting yourself or see a professional to design a plan for you but bottom line monitor what you put into your mouth to some degree. Make it as painless as possible. Take the calculated approach and smash goals! Happy eating 😉
So where do you start with working out how many calories is right for you? Firstly, I think it is important to know what your lean body mass is, your bodyfat percentage and daily activity levels. Then what is your goal factor, to lose, maintain or gain weight? Without this information how do you have any idea how much food to eat to reach your goals?
The best way to determine your lean mass and bodyfat is through a scan from a reliable bodyfat analysis machine or through a Bioprint analysis. There are many different types of machines such as Dexa scan, bodpod and Inbody to name a few. These machines provide information such as lean mass and body fat percentage. Some also provide information like the amount of visceral fat, comparisons of girths of arms and thighs and girth of the trunk.
Bioprint is an advanced 14 site calliper test that calculates ones body fat percentage. The 14 sites make up 5 profiles that determine why we are storing body fat in these areas. The client is given a priority profile protacol that explains how to 'spot reduce' the priority areas. This is definitely one of the best ways to monitor progress to really know where you are increasing or decreasing body fat.
Activity levels are the other thing to consider when designing a diet. For example let's say we had 2 identical twins both looking to maintain their bodyweight. One is an office worker that trains for 1 hour a day and the other is a labourer out in the sun all day that also trains an hour a day. Obviously the labourer is going to need more calories just to maintain his body weight than the sedentary office worker.
Once you have calculated your lean mass and determined your activity levels you can then calculate what your baseline calories are. There are different ways to do this, different opinions and formulas. Where a lot of people go wrong when dieting is they start in what is already an extreme deficit of baseline calories and they continue to reduce down and then they plateau. At this point there is no room to move down further because they risk damaging their metabolisms and they are not getting enough nutrients required to function optimally. The brain alone uses at least 30g of glucose a day! In this situation the best option is to bring them back up to baseline for a refeed and then slowly reduce down again from there.
I think if you have a weight loss or gain goal then tracking to some degree is important. Like the saying goes if your not assessing your guessing and guess work will only get you so far. There is different software and Apps that make tracking easier but at what point does this become tedious or too time consuming? let's be honest if your not competing in a bodybuilding competition you don't want to be weighing every gram of food do you? Meal prepping for a week is definitely an easier and less time consuming way to be accurate with portion sizes without doing it on a daily basis.
Another method is to get an idea of what your calories look like in portion sizes and just be somewhere in the ball park. When you need to make changes to your nutrition just simply reweigh your meals for a day again and then you will have a ball park picture again. In the last few years healthy meal companies have surfaced everywhere and have become big business in the fitness industry. Targeted at gym goers, the calories and macro's are all labelled making it easier to track what you are taking in.
If you are counting reps and sets in the gym and following training programs then why wouldn't you want to get the other equal important aspect right of monitoring your nutrition. Nutrition is such an important part of your fitness journey and will yield far better results if you are assessing and not guessing! Write down some goals and get a nutrition plan in place. Most importantly find something that is sustainable for YOU! No point getting a plan with 6 meals a day if your lifestyle only allows for you to eat 3 times!
Get experimenting yourself or see a professional to design a plan for you but bottom line monitor what you put into your mouth to some degree. Make it as painless as possible. Take the calculated approach and smash goals! Happy eating 😉
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