Calorie Balance and Caloric optimum

Calorie Balance and Caloric optimum ,  Everything about eating in calories and weight

This article will teach you everything you need to calculate a food menu. It will not make it easier, but possible! Understanding and applying the principles and laws set forth in this article makes the last crucial step between the beginner intermediate fitness enthusiast regarding the fitness diet.

Calorie balance

This is the ratio between the amount of energy consumed by the athlete’s food and the amount of energy expended in training, work and everyday life. The most important thing for an athlete is the daily caloric balance. This is the ratio between the energy obtained through food intake (proteins, fats, carbohydrates and organic acids), as well as through alcohol on the one hand and the energy expended on the other to maintain its biological optimum (golden environment).

The value of the caloric balance depends on the total amount of energy released during the oxidation of the individual metabolites (nutrients) and the newly received energy in the food. According to the proportions we distinguish 3 types of bodily conditions:

• when we consume more energy with food than we expend, the body falls into a state of excess calories and is ready to store energy or build tissue with it;

• when we expend more energy than we take in with food, the body falls into a state of calorie deficit and begins to break down tissues to cope with the energy crisis;

• when we expend approximately as much energy as we take in with food, the weight practically does not change. Every body needs a certain minimum of calories to maintain its weight constantly. The energy that the body loses to maintain weight is called passive energy expenditure. However, this is only part of the energy expended for the day. To calculate the total daily energy consumption we will need the sum of passive and active energy consumption. Active energy consumption are all work processes (mental, physical, sports, including disease processes). It is interesting to note that due to differences in metabolism between individuals, a purely mathematical approach allows a wide tolerance in the calories needed to maintain weight.

How to determine your individual daily caloric optimum?

There are many factors that determine the optimum of the quantitative intake of nutrients – sex, metabolic rate, age, weight, height, level of digestion and absorption of food, type of diet, the proportions between the substances taken in one meal, the specifics of training, training frequency, health condition, etc.

There are only two people who can tell you how to eat according to your unique individual body needs! One is your nutrition consultant and the other is you! Therefore, we will offer you only approximate limit values ​​and equations for calculating the approximate caloric optimum. The body’s need for energy decreases with age.

It is accepted that the need for energy decreases by about 2% per decade of life. This amount should be deducted from the daily maintenance minimum of calories. There is also a difference between women’s and men’s energy needs. It is usually 5-10% more energy consumption in men (data are for people of the same weight). Because the formulas below are tailored to the differences between men and women, you won’t have to change them.

How to tentatively clear calories to maintain body weight (basal metabolic rate, BMR)?

We will use the Harrys-Benedict formula:

• Formula for calculating the caloric minimum for women: 655 + (9.6 X weight in kg) + (1.8 X height in cm) – (4.7 X age in years) =? (BMR – basic metabolic rate in kcal.)

• Formula for calculating the caloric minimum for men: 66 + (13.7 X weight in kg) + (5 X height in cm) – (6.8 X age in years) =? (BMR in kcal.) After calculating the daily caloric minimum, it multiplies the coefficient of the degree of your physical activity:

• If your lifestyle is rather sedentary, then your activity rate is 1.2;

• If your lifestyle is moderately active (sports 1-3 times a week), then your odds are 1.375;

• If your lifestyle is active (sports 3-5 times a week), then your activity rate is 1.55;

• If your lifestyle is intensely active (sports 6-7 times a week), then your activity rate is 1.725;

• If your lifestyle is extremely active (sports every day with hard physical work or two workouts), your activity ratio is 1.9. To get the approximate level of daily calories you should eat according to this equation, multiply your BMR (your daily calorie minimum) by the value of the daily load index.

How far do we go in gaining muscle mass in a month?

Muscle growth per month has a natural limit, it is individual for each person and depends on the amounts of testosterone and growth hormone in the blood. They are different for each person, but the natural limit in the increase of muscle tissue even in beginners (there the jump is fast) is up to 2.5 – 3 kg per month. Many would argue because they have uploaded so much more in so long.

This is true, but let’s not forget that unlike muscle, the limit for increased fat is much higher, and the body can retain a lot of water. Another reason for the natural limit in increasing muscle mass is the ability of the digestive system to digest and assimilate a limited amount of food – again individually to the size and mainly the genetics of the individual. Therefore, the approach to gaining muscle mass is consistency in weight gain.

How far do we go in lowering subcutaneous fat in a month?

The reasonable amount of fat that the body can lose in a month without falling into a state of stress is about 5 to 8% of body weight, and the loss should be distributed up to 2% of weight per week. Sudden weight loss of more than 10% per month or 3% per week leads to a state of energy starvation, as a result of which begins an intensive breakdown of muscle tissue and tissues of internal organ tissue, and a decrease in burned fat. The body keeps its fat because it does not know how long the “starvation” will last.

What is the reliability of the calculators? for Calorie Balance and Caloric optimum

This question is difficult to answer. Calculators are designed to give only some limits on calorie intake, according to the limits within which you want to gain, lose or maintain your weight. They can help you maintain your weight within certain limits, but these limits may be only a small part of your real capabilities. Calculators are compiled after processing statistics, so we should not look at them as a last resort.

Calculate your caloric needs indirectly? Yes but how?

We will now calculate the upper limit of calories needed to maintain weight in the mass case – natural athletes in a high-carbohydrate diet. Usually the limit increases according to the type of metabolic rate. The athlete “X” weighing 90 kg is male. Eat a high-carbohydrate diet to increase muscle mass. He took the maximum recommended values ​​for each of the nutrients in the menu for the given regime, and in order to form his ceiling, he multiplied their total weight by their energy cost:

• Total protein = 2.2 x 90 (weight in this case) = 198 g x 4 kcal = 792 kcal;

• Total fat = 1.2 x 90 (weight in this case) = 108 g x 9 kcal = 972 kcal;

• Total carbohydrates = 6 x 90 (weight in this case) = 540 g x 3.7 kcal = 1998 kcal Total: 3762 kcal. Then he divided the obtained maximum calories by his own weight, in this case: 3762: 90 = 41.8 Conclusion: the number 42 is the maximum theoretical coefficient for weight gain with VVD. Of course, it is relative to professional athletes.

The disadvantage of indirect calculation is that you have to change your calories to a minimum every 7-10 days, at the rate of changing weight.

Odds? What are they for?

Every individual involved in sports has their own metabolic optimum. Once discovered by an athlete weighing 90 kg, he can support it through odds. These are values ​​obtained by dividing the total caloric intake of food by its current active weight.

These coefficients are in the limit values ​​between the maximum optimal coefficient and the minimum one. The maximum theoretical weight gain ratio with a balanced diet and a low-carb diet is also 42 (the same calories are divided by the same weight), and the minimum is 26.1. As you can see, it is difficult to rely on mathematics, so the empirical approach will help us.

There are different approaches in finding the ideal environment. The main criteria for assessing the effectiveness of a diet on the individual are related to changes in the curves between strength, weight and percentage of subcutaneous fat in the athlete’s body.

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