Know calorie requirements
Studies show that people who know calorie requirements of the body and keep calorie intake optimum are healthier, never get out of shape and are youthful. It is necessary to restrict your calories as early as possible in life to ensure longevity and wellness. Whatever your reasons may be to count your calories, you can definitely start seeing the benefits.
Getting into shape is only one aspect of restricting calories. And those who are trying to lose weight are advised to select food that though less in calories can fill you, like broccoli. Vegetables are generally low on calories and rich in fiber. Fiber aids the digestive system, and also helps to lower cholesterol in the body. Starchy vegetables like potato can be avoided.
You don’t have to know calorie requirements to lose weight. You have to simply strike a balance between calorie intake and physical activity. That is you can reduce a pound in a week by reducing calorie intake by 500. Other wise you reduce intake of 300 calories and sweat the rest of them out. For someone who has been binging, reducing up to 1000 calories a day will not be difficult.
Calorie requirement depends on various factors like age, sex and weight. Also if the person is physically active and has a high rate of metabolism, he may require more calories. Studies determine that women between 31 and 50 need 1,800 calories a day compared to men, who require 2,200 calories. Men and woman who exercise for more than 30 minutes a day can have 200 calories more. Those who are younger require more than this figure, and obviously those older, less.
It is easy to know calorie requirements, as you have need of about 12 calories per pound of your weight, and the figures can slightly vary depending on how active a person you are. If your weight is less than minimum, that is 5% less than the optimum weight, you need to increase the number of calories you consume.
The fat your body needs is about 0.011 times the calorie requirement, and the consumption of saturated fat has to be lower for people with a high cholesterol level.
Dietary Guidelines show that a person, who keeps optimum weight, can indulge in discretionary calories, which is the optional number of calories taken through junk food like chips. The number of discretionary calories varies with the calorie requisite of the individual, and if you know calorie requirements, you can decide how much junk you can afford to eat.
If someone needs 2,200 calories, it means seven slices of bread, and about seven helpings of fruits and vegetables. On the other hand someone who needs only 1,600 calories can have five slices of bread, but serving of fruits and vegetables must be increased up to ten.
In order to understand and plan your diet, you have to know how much energy you need. There are two main ways to determine your body’s requirement of energy, the ‘accurate way’ and the ‘easy way’. In the accurate way, BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), energy spent in physical activities and TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) are taken into consideration. In the easy way there is a formula to calculate the calories burnt for energy. It is body weight multiplied by 20, for the active, body weight multiplied by 17, for the moderately active, and body weight multiplied by 14 for the inactive. About 60% of the energy is expended by the body for metabolism, and exercise or any kind of physical activities uses up to 30% energy.
To manage weight, you have to manage the energy that goes into the body and the energy expended by the body, properly. So try to know calorie requirements, and improve your lifestyle for the better.
