LOW CALORIE DIETS

LEAN BODY MASS PERCENTAGES (LBM%)

2009-11-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

Lean body mass is the weight of bones, muscles and organs. Sum of everything other than fat and water in your body. For accurate results know your body fat percentages from your doctor. Below are the rough body fat percentages found from various references.

Body fat percentages for women:

   Age         Underfat             Healthy           Overweight      Obese
20 - 39     less than 21%     21% - 33%      33% - 39%     over 39%
40 - 59     less than 23%     23% - 35%      35% - 40%      over 40%
60 - 79     less than 24%     24% - 36%      36% - 42%      over 42%

Body fat percentages for men:

   Age         Underfat              Healthy            Overweight      Obese
20 - 39     less than 8%         8% - 19%       19% - 25%      over 25%
40 - 59     less than 11%      11% - 22%       22% - 27%     over 27%
60 - 79     less than 13%      13% - 25%       25% - 30%     over 30%

calculate the lean body mass,

LBM = 100 - (body fat % / 100) X weight in kg

DAILY CALORIE CONSUMPTION USING ACTIVITY LEVELS

2009-10-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

To calculate daily calorie needs, BMR value is multiplied by a value between 1.2 and 1.9 based on the persons activity level or active metabolic rate(AMR).

Sedentary = 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job,sitting,driving)
Lightly active = 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Modarately active = 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job i.e. a full time worker)

Since we know our physical activity level we can calculate our daily calorie rate.

                                Cal/day = BMR X AMR

Using previous BMR example from Harris-Benedict equation (i.e. Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years) & Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)).
Let the women's BMR from prevoius example be 1511 cal,

Now if the womens activity level is Sedentary (1.2)i.e. no exercise,

                              Cal/day = BMR X 1.2

                                           = 1511 X 1.2

                                           = 1813 cal/day

Since the women has no exercise, her BMR is multiplied by 1.2, which gave her Cal/day should be 1813 cal.
If the womens activity level is moderately active (i.e. 1.55), then her Cal/day would have been 2342 cal. That means her intake should be 2342 cal/day and her calorie burn per day should be 831 cal (2342 - 1511 = 831). This is to maintain the weight. To loose weight, increase your activity level or burn your excess calories than you should be burning/taken.
Similarly your cal/day can be calculated using MD Mifflin and ST St Jeor equation(P(BMR) = (9.99m + 6.25h - 4.92a + s) cal/day where s is +5 for males and -161 for female).

Since all these equations give approximately the same calorie value, calculate your cal/day value using one of the equations and keep a track on your daily calorie intake. Let us think your goal calorie intake should be 1802 but your intake is 3000 cal. Donot directly reduce your cal intake from 3000 to 1802.

This is the wrong way of loosing the weight.Reduce the intake day by day.Weight yourself after a month and adjust your diet accordingly. If you think your loosing or gaining weight too fast, increase or decrease your calorie diet acordingly.

BASAL METABOLIC RATE / BMR

2009-10-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

BMR is the amount of energy expended while at rest. The release of energy in this state is sufficient for the vital function of the body i.e. heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc. This BMR differs from person to person depending on gender, age, height, weight. Several prediction equations exists for BMR. Most notable was Harris-Benedict equation, which was created in 1919. He created two different equations for men and women.

              Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

              Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

His equation was the best prediction until recently, when MD Mifflin and ST St Jeor in 1990 created new equation:

               P = (9.99m + 6.25h - 4.92a + s) cal/day

Here P is the total heat production (BMR),
s is +5 for males and -161 for female,
m is for weight in kg (1kg = 2.2lb),
h is for height in cm (1inch = 2.54cm)(1foot = 12inch),
a is for age.

For example if we take a female, 25 year old, say her goal or present weight  is 68kg(refer to the conversion rates above), 178cm height , her BMR would be as follows.
(pls note that iam using the same female example for all the equations)

BMR from Harris-Benedict equation:

                 BMR = 655 + (9.6 X 68) + (1.8 X 178) - (4.7 X 25)

                          = 655 + 652.8 + 320.4 - 117.5

                          = 1510.7 i.e. app. 1511 cal

BMR from MD Mifflin and ST St Jeor equation:
Let us take the same values of the above female and check them.Here s is -161 for female and +5 for males.

                   P = (9.99(68) + 6.25(178) - 4.92(25) -161)

                      = 679.32 + 1112.5 - 123 - 161

                      = 1508 cal

These two equations calculate BMR using total body weight .Later came a equation which calculates BMR with lean body mass which is more accurate.
Katch-McArdle's formula which is based on lean body mass. Since this equation is based on persons lean body mass, this is more accurate than formulas based on total body weight.
Katch-McArdle's formula using lean body mass, since this formula is based on LBM its the same equation for male and female.

                        BMR(men & women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

Lets see how to calculate the lean body mass,

LBM = 100 - (body fat % / 100) X weight in kg

Lets take the same female example from above,

         LBM = 100 - (30/100) X 68
                  = 52.4
(i took 30% since the female is 25 yrs old and suppose she is healthy,her % would be between 21%-30% (Pls refer to the rough body fat percentages from my 'LEAN BODY MASS PERCENTAGES' post), remember these are rough values. Consult your doctor for exact fat levels.)

Taking the above female example, lets calcutate BMR from Katch-McArdle's formula,

                                BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 52.4)

                                          = 1502 cal

Now we know our BMR values and in the next post lets calculate our calorie per day (cal/day) using activity levels. Since all these equations give approximately the same calorie value, calculate your BMR value using one of the equations.
Pls visit my 'DAILY CALORIE CONSUMPTION USING ACTIVITY LEVELS' post to calculate your daily Calorie.

CALORIE OVERVIEW

2009-10-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

First lets start with what a Calorie is. The calorie is commonly known as unit of food energy. Food energy is the amount of energy in food that is available through digestion. Most of them think loosing weight is reducing calorie intake and increasing physical activity. May be this is because not knowing exactly what a calorie is.
This blog is about learning how many calories to be taken and how many excess calories to burn each day.
Keep a track of your daily intake of Calories starting from breakfast to latenight snacks. Do not miss your
tiny-bitty snacks between because everything counts. Do this for a week and you will know how many less or more calories you had been consuming than the actual. For this you should be aware of how much amount of Calories should be taken per a day. This depends on your basal metabolic rate also known as BMR.
Next post will be about what a BMR is and how we calculate BMR. And also using Activity Levels.
Pls visit my 'BASAL METABOLIC RATE' and 'DAILY CALORIE CONSUMPTION USING ACTIVITY LEVELS' posts.