Caloric requirement

[John Budnik]

Short of going to some lab, how do you determine how many calories you need to consume in a day. I've gone to numerous "expert" resources and they give me numbers that diverge from each other by hundreds of calories. Then the "experts" go on to say that you should lose weight by limiting your calories by 500/day. How do you do that when the numbers they give are possibly off by that many calories? Are there any definitive answers to this?

 

[jrstevens]

Short of going to some lab, how do you determine how many calories you need to consume in a day. I've gone to numerous "expert" resources and they give me numbers that diverge from each other by hundreds of calories. Then the "experts" go on to say that you should lose weight by limiting your calories by 500/day. How do you do that when the numbers they give are possibly off by that many calories? Are there any definitive answers to this?

if you are near a university that performs metabolic testing you can likely get a RMR test done which would pretty much be the gold standard short of staying in a metabolic chamber for 24 hours. alternatively find a health practitioner who owns a Bodygem unit which is not perfect but better than most formulas out there.

JS

 

[ebola]

Short of going to some lab, how do you determine how many calories you need to consume in a day.

I gather the general method is graph weight & intake. Over a period of time factor in the loss/gain at 7000kcal/kg in addition to intake. Takes a long time though - getting enough data to filter out the noise. when i did this i did get it showing figures that made ballpark sense for (base metabolism+average of non-cycling training) + cals per mile cycled.

 

[OscarC]

Basically to lose weight you should consume less calories than you burn in a day but you first have to figure out what you burn in a day.

calories burned equal to calories consumed = maintain weight
calories burned less than calories consumed = gain weight
calories burned more than calories consumed = loss of weight

Do a search for a calorie burn calculator to help you figure that out. A good site will help you calculate calories burned (approximate) based on your weight. It will count by activity, I.E. sleeping 8hrs, walking hrs per day, sitting, washing dishes, etc. Once you enter all of the day's activities you will end up with what you burn in 1 day. I weight 145lbs. so I burn in a typical work day about 1700-2000 calories per day. If you ride say 1hr at 20mph. That's about 750 calories burned. (remember these are all estimates) So in a typical work day with excerise I will burn 2450-2750 calories. for this day, I would probably want to consume about 1,800 calories. Good food though, not junk.

The 500/day rule is very general. I believe 1lb equal about 3,500 calories.

This approach is mathematical so if you burn a little more than you eat, you should lose weight a little at a time. You don't want to lose to fast anyways.

Ultimatley once you get to know your body, you'll figure out what you should consume depending a your day's activites.

Short of going to some lab, how do you determine how many calories you need to consume in a day. I've gone to numerous "expert" resources and they give me numbers that diverge from each other by hundreds of calories. Then the "experts" go on to say that you should lose weight by limiting your calories by 500/day. How do you do that when the numbers they give are possibly off by that many calories? Are there any definitive answers to this?

 

[Geoff2010]

Without having access to any sort of RMR/BMR testing facility, you will have to keep careful track of your caloric intake and caloric expenditure. Write down everything you eat, and all activities you do. Use one of those inacurate calculations as a starting point. This is by no means going to give you a 100% accurate figure, but it will get you in the ballpark. Not having a 100% accurate figure is OK in the weight loss arena... there are so many variables, that the best you can do is guesstimate, and adjust as you go.

I would say to take an average of all the calculations you have received and start there. Adjust the base number for on any extra calories you burned that day (walking, cycling, etc) then subtract your 500... that should be your target. Do that for 1-2 weeks... If you are really in a 500 calorie/day deficit, you should be losing about 1lb per week. It will take at least a week for your body to stabalize to the new diet, so don't try to micromanage your intake too soon.

I would also suggest getting some body fat calipers. They allow you to roughly measure your body fat percentage. Just because you are losing weight, doesn't necessarily mean you are losing the fat you want. If you cut off too many calories too soon your body will try to preserve its fat stores and will try to breakdown muscle for fuel. Whenever you lose weight, there is always a percentage of muscle lost, but you don't want to lose too much.

Just stick with it, and be patient. After a few weeks you should have your calorie requirements nailed down... then you can start playing with intake/output ratios to find what works best for you. Also, do some reading on proper nutrition for weightloss. You don't want to be taking in 2000 calories of ****... natural whole foods will promote healthy weight loss better than processed garbage.

Good luck
-Geoff (Lost 50 lbs in 5 months)

 

[gassy]

Checkout Fitday.com

 

[ebola]

I'm 6weeks into a period of fatburning at present, using the graphing method I mentioned to track it. Last time I did this I determined I was using ~2800 average per day.

This time round i've managed to stay of alcohol
The resulting speedup in metabolism and how much more time/energy I've got for training, plus the gains in cycling fitness from all the lunch-hour rides this summer shows me needing ~3340 kcals/day including averaging out over the rest days. Again this is making ballpark sense for time/dist on the bike + other training.

I'm finding this figure quite motivational. I guess i'm an obsessive character so this method really works well for me. I wish i discovered it before..

I like the notion that the more cals I need the more 'serious' a cyclist I am becoming. Seems so much more mentally posative to burn off fat through a relatively small % calorie deficit and directly through training rather than through 'starvation', knowing it's going to speed me up come next spring..

The past 2 weeks this has been done on the stationary bike which i'm learning to love (i used to hate the thing) to see me throught the winter without destroying my joints on a treadmill.

It's rather dampened my social life though, it's taking some adjusting.. so I dont know how long I can keep it up. When I'm as lean as I want to be (another 4weeks I think?) I'll return to some sort of balance I hope..