Nutrition Step 2. Calorie Tracking

Nutrition Step 2. Calorie Tracking, Getting Your Calories Right

Before proceeding with this, please ensure that you are in good habits set about from step 1’s blog – good nutrition habits. I wouldn’t advise going straight into calorie tracking until you are first in the routine of good nutritional habits.

Getting Your Calories Right
As I have said prior for weight loss or weight gain, calories are king.

How many calories should I be eating?
Calories for weight loss: I would never advise dropping your calories below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and unless you are macro tracking (step 3) I would keep it slightly higher than this. Your BMR is the minimum number of calories your body needs to function. If your body does not receive the minimum level of calories it requires, then it will eat up its own lean muscle tissue, this is known as catabolism or ‘going catabolic’. The downside of your body going catabolic is that lean muscle boosts your metabolism and actually burns calories, even when you’re at rest. You want to lose fat, not muscle. This is why many crash diets fail because after you’ve lost your weight your metabolism has reduced so you pile fat back on.

I want to lose weight
To work out your calories for weight loss multiply your bodyweight in kg by.
Males x 24
Females x 20
This is your sedentary metabolic rate and combined with exercising 2-5 times per week should see a steady drop in body fat and weight. Unless you are doing ultra-endurance training (1 hour +) or training twice daily then this should be a good amount of calories to consume to lose fat safely and effectively.

I’d like to maintain my weight but get leaner/ tone up.
Combined with training 2-5 times per week, a good amount of calories to eat can be achieved by multiplying your bodyweight in KG by
Males 30-33
Females 24 – 27

I’d like to put on muscle mass/ weight
Combined with training 2-5 times per week, a good amount of calories to eat can be achieved by multiplying your bodyweight in KG by

Males 40-45
Females 32-37

How to calorie track
We are going to use a popular app that you can get on your mobile device and via your desktop – MyFitnessPal. We are not using this app to give you its own interpretation of calorie intake, nor do we want to use it to track exercise – it is just a calorie tracker for you to use with the calories I have recommended. We will show you how to do this
Setting up your mobile calorie tracker couldn’t be easier….

Step 1: Go to www.myfitnesspal.com
Step 2: Create profile and input your details, you are welcome to put your weight, height, age etc. and see how much their recommendations deviates from mine?
Step 3: Once on the main page click on ‘goals’ in the top display bar
Step 4: Edit your daily calorie input and put in the amount I recommend from the formulas I have given you.

Using the app

• It is easy to use, but initially can be time consuming.
• Weigh all foods to ensure that you are eating the correct amount, breakfast cereal is surprisingly high in calories as most ‘serving’ on the packet is based on 30g and many people will consume three times this amount.
• Track everything you eat or drink other than water. Although most inputs on Myfitnesspal are verified occasionally there are some ‘rogue entries’ for most food choices there are two to three options, make sure you see which one is most applicable.
• It will remember popular food choices so that you have had prior so it will become easier to use, the more you use it.

Make sure you never drop more than 200 calories below the recommended figure I have given you and never exceed this amount.
This is the second step to you becoming mindful and creating your own nutrition strategy that will work for you. It will give you a real insight into the calories that you are eating. Still remember your previous rules as you progress

• Eat Breakfast
• Drink Water
• Reduce Junk

And then…..

• Track Everything
• Stay Within Your Calories/ Stay Consistent

Next blog we will look at macro tracking and learn to take things to the next level.
Good luck guys, email me with any feedback you have.

Neil Perkins
neil@henriettastreetgym.com