Some Calorie calculators that I wanted to share

To help us out, I just wanted to point out that even though exercise goes a long way to ensuring our physical health (and for me, it's downright addictive!), our nutrition is just as, if not more important than ensuring we exercise each day. There's a saying that you can't out train a bad diet. I don't want us to feel like we're wasting time because we're not making any physical progress because we have forgotten the simple idea of calorie deficit. We need to be in a calorie deficit of 3500 calories per week to be able to lose 1 pound, and to do so effectively would incorporate a loss from both portion control and energy expenditure.

Here are a few calorie counters that I wanted to share that helped me ballpark my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) from which I calculate my caloric needs, and then the 20-30% caloric deficit I need to help me attain my goal of losing 10 pounds of fat, and maintaining (or gaining!) lean body mass.

The quick method of figuring out daily caloric intake: (low number for lightly active, middle number for moderately active, high number for very active).

For fat loss: 10-12 calories/pound of body weight

For maintenance: 14-16 calories/pound of body weight

(For me, that would be: 130X11=1430)

This formula is more accurate, and the one I use: (for fat loss, I take a 20% deficit to my maintenance, ensuring a good balance of aggressive fat loss and yet not lose any of my lean body mass)

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 year)

1 inch=2.54 cm
1kg = 2.2 lbs.

For me:
I am 30, 167.6 cm, 59.1 kg, so my BMR is: 655+567+302=1524

Now I can find my daily activity multiplier to calculate my maintenance level (also known as TDEE): Multiply your BMR by the number following activity level:

Sedentary=1.2 (little to no exercise; desk job)
lightly active= 1.375 (light exer/sports 1-3 days/week)
moderately active=1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days a week)
very active: 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week)
Extremely active: 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports and physical job or 2X day training, i.e. marathon, competition, etc)

I choose to say that I am moderately active so my TDEE is: 1524 X 1.55 = 2362
So, 20-30% deficit would be a safe range, and I choose 20% so that I wont lose the lean muscle that I've worked hard to acquire and still burn fat, which takes me to 1889 calories. divide that by 5-6 meals a day, and I get approximately 300-380 calories per meal. That is actually what my goal is: 300 calories per meal. Of course, sometimes I need snacks, but I just adjust those calories for my "overall count" of the day.

If you're wondering, I don't take notes for the most part, I preplan my meals so that I know I'm having the most optimized meal day. I'm almost to the point that I can approximate how many calories I'm eating based on my fullness, the portion size and what I'm eating. for example, I'm about to eat my dinner of cubed meat stir fried in onions, cup of broccoli, cup of rice = approx 450-500 calories. But, I also know that I had a great breakfast and lunch and snack, and I will be doing lots of exercise tonight with only a protein shake to help recover, so I feel like I can justify my calories. Plus, I would have only consumed 1453 calories today, including dinner. my protein shake is 120 calories, and I usually burn 250 calories/workout. so, overall, I'm still at my planned calorie deficit!

Another friendly reminder: don't go to starvation extremes! because I wouldn't want you to lose any of your lean muscle, which the body loves to eat in the absence of other food sources. Feed your body the nutrients that it needs to maintain a healthy body composition, and you will make greater long term gains!

Be patient; be consistent; eye on the goal!

Love you all!

PS, I took those calorie calculators from my book, The Body Fat Solution by Tom venuto, but I'm sure there are others out there online, or that the info is also available in other sources....I'm hungry, need to eat!!