Everything you need to know about calories

The basis of any diet plan is calories. We adjust the amount of calories depending on our goal: whether we want to lose weight or lose weight.

What are Calories?

Basically, one calorie (cal) is the energy required to heat 1 gram of water by 1 ° C. When it comes to nutrition, calories are energy released from food during the digestion process. On declarations, the energy value is usually stated in kilocalories, that is, kcal, and as a rule, when the word calories is used in speech, it means kilocalories. The declaration also states another measure of energy, kilojoules (kJ). 1 kcal = 4.2 kJ.

How many calories does the body need?

Whether we are going to gain weight or lose weight, grow (in muscle volume) or not depends on your calorie intake and consumption. The basic energy balance is simple: if you consume less energy than necessary, you will lose weight. And vice versa, we can't expect progress and muscle growth if we eat too little.

There are two ways to determine your calorie intake: experimentally or Computing

Experimental determination of daily intake

Experimentally determining your daily intake is as follows: at least three days a week, and preferably every day, you need to write down what you have brought in from your food and drink.

In addition to the main meals, this includes coffee with a little milk, fruit juice, and that little cupcake you get at the cafe. If you only write for three days, then it would be good for two days to be working and one non-working day.

For each food item, write down the amount of energy it contains. Sum up your energy intake for all days, divide by the number of days and you get your average daily calorie intake to maintain your existing body weight.

The advantages of this concept are that we can see exactly how much the input is and take into account personal differences such as adaptation of the organism, which is not so when calculating according to the equations. The downside to this is that when they start writing down what they have eaten, people tend to reduce their intake automatically and unconsciously.

Calculation of daily intake

The calculated, daily calorie intake is based on the Harris - Benedict equation and is multiplied by the physical activity factor (TA).

The Harris - Benedict equation determines the level of basal metabolism. Basal metabolism is the number of calories the body consumes at rest. So while we sleep our body consumes energy for the heart, breathing, muscle maintenance, brain, lung, and all internal organs. BMR (basal metabolic rate) takes into account age, height, body weight.

For men:

BMR = 66 + (13.7 x body weight in kg) + (5 x body height in cm) - (6.8 x years)

So for a 30-year-old 100 kg and 178 cm tall:

BMR = 66 + (13.7 x 100 kg) + (5 x 178 cm) - (6.8 x 30)

BMR = 2122 kcal / day

For women:

BMR = 655 + (9.6 x body weight in kg) + (1.7 x height in cm) - (4.7 x years)

So, for a 28-year-old, weighing 70 kg and 175 cm high, BMR is:

BMR = 655 + (9.6 x 70 kg) + (1.7 x 175 cm) - (4.7 x 28)

BMR = 1493 kcal / day

Activity level:

Activity factor - Activity level

1.0 sedentary - do nothing hard, sleep, spend free time in front of your TV or computer

1.2 very light physical activity - you go to work, the job is sedentary, there is no organized physical activity

1.4 light physical activity - sedentary work, and additional organized light physical activity during the day (walking)

1.6 Medium Active - You don't do physical work, but you are active during the day and do some type of training during the day, or several times a week. That's where most people find themselves.

1.8 very active - hard physical work and in addition organized physical activity, or training twice a day

2.0 Extreme Activity - Hard physical work and daily hard training

If we multiply everything at the end, our 70 kg woman, whose basal metabolism is 1493 kcal, goes to the gym 3 times a week and walks occasionally, so her activity factor of 1.6 will have to enter 1493 × 1.6 to maintain her existing body mass. = 2389 kcal.

The problem with the calculation is that the equation does not take into account the adaptation of the organism to longer reduced or increased food intake and the composition of the organism. If our average woman had lived at 2000 kcal for a long time while maintaining her weight, she would have started to gain weight on this entry. On the other hand, if our girl is muscular she might be 2389 kcal too small. So what is this whole calculation for? It serves as one initial reference. With that, we start and adjust the input over time and the results obtained.

The thermodynamic effect of food

Before we go any further, let's look at this term, popularly referred to as "negative calories". The thermodynamic effect of food (TDE) is the energy consumed by the body to digest food.

Hard-to-digest foods consume more energy while some things like table sugar are absorbed quickly. Equations usually take this into account, but then we get high scores that have nothing to do with reality. Others like to abuse the term, so they use it as an excuse to bring in excess "hard to digest" foods. I ignore it for that reason, and I take no account of it. Training and nutrition stages need to be reached to make it relevant.

Adjusting your calorie intake depending on your goal

If you want to lose weight you will reduce your intake by about 500 kcal. If you want to build more muscle, you will increase your intake by about 500 kcal. Keep track of yourself and the results you want. If after two weeks there is no movement on the scale, remove or add another 250 kcal.

Energy values of foods

Considering macronutrients:

1 g of protein gives 4 kcal,

1 g of carbohydrates also gives 4 kcal,

1 g of fat gives as much as 9 kcal, while

1 g of alcohol 7 kcal.

Now you see why cakes and puff pastry (lots of fat, fast carbs) are not the best idea. And now it is clear why one chocolate contains energy as well as an average lunch that makes 150 g of grilled chicken, a cup of cooked rice and a salad with a tablespoon of olive oil.

To see what foods contain, turn and read the declaration, everything should be written. If you are buying unpackaged food (ham, meat, fruit), you have to look online for value.

Several programs on the internet offer calorie spreadsheets, the ability to keep track of daily intake by day, and apps on smartphones so you can keep track of everything while you're away from home. You can also find detailed nutritional values of foods in the library (eg Kulier I., Food Tables - Chemical Composition of Foods, Croatian Farmer, Zagreb).

Extra tip: use a kitchen scale. It will come in handy at first and you will not be able to fool yourself. And another practical thing when calculating calories, keep in mind that usually everything is expressed per 100g of food unless otherwise stated. And be careful, if it says raw chicken breast, then weigh the chicken breast before cooking. If it says roast, then you take the weight of roast chicken (eg when you buy ready-made food at the supermarket).

Conclusion

Go in line, weigh, weigh, determine your daily intake, by any of the following methods. Adjust it according to your goals and make the first step. It is best to weigh yourself, and measure the volume of your chest, waist and hips, and even other parts, depending on your preference. If you have the will, ask someone to paint you. This is the best way to monitor progress because the balance is not always the most reliable.

Over time, and as you progress toward your goal, you will need to adjust your calorie intake and make fewer mistakes.