What is your body burning?
Calories in vs. calories out…. Meaning food vs exercise, what are you taking in and burning are you burning through exercise. Most people assume that 2,000 calories is the correct amount of calories but in reality every single body is different in how they consume energy as well as how they burn it. They say no 2 bodies look alike so why would 2 bodies work the same either?
Metabolism- the process by which the body converts what you eat & drink into energy.
Knowing what your body burns within 24 hours is beneficial because overeating is usually the main reason people can weight! It only takes 3500 calories to gain a pound of fat! That’s about 500 calories per day.
Below is the Harris-Benedict Formula that can be used to determine your total daily energy expenditure.
Note: 1in = 2.54cm
1kg = 2.2lbs
STEP 1
For women:
655 + (9.6 x wt in kg) + (1.8 x ht in cm) – (4.7 x age in yrs) = Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
For men:
66 + (13.7 x wt in kg) + (5 x ht in cm) – (6.8 x age in yrs) = Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
STEP 2
Take your BMR and multiply it by your exercise lifestyle.
Sedentary (no exercise, desk job): x1.2
Light Activity (1-3x week): x1.375
Moderate Activity (3-5x week): x1.55
Very Active (6-7x week): x1.725
Extreme Active (Daily, 2x day): x1.9
This number represents your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Depending on your goal, you’ll need to adjust this rate by 15-20% or 500-1000 calories. If you are looking on losing weight and you cut your calories too low you decrease your thyroid output which results in lean mass loss instead of fat mass.
When you do diets that deplete your caloric intake you slow down your bodily functions of digesting, absorbing nutrients, transporting and storing food. This will force your body to go into survival mode and you’ll start to conserve calories instead of burning them. Most people refer to this as a “slow metabolism”. To get your metabolism back on track you’ll need to know what your body burns and then consume those calories throughout the day in small portions. Portion sizes are key because your body’s ability to digest and use the calories as energy depends on your metabolism. If you only eat twice a day, you give your body all the time in the world to use the calories you just consumed. When you’re eating smaller portions throughout the day, the time between meals is shorten therefore forcing your body to work faster.
This process of losing weight takes time, I highly doubt you put on the weight over night so you can’t expect it to come off over night. Making your food intake a priority and taking the time to plan and prepare will lead you to success. Be consistent and patient and you will achieve your goal!