So why tracking calories is important?
First of all, I have to mention that I am really not a good "article writer". Especially for a subject where I'm not an expert in. But given the fact that this is the first question everyone new to "the fitness hype" is asking, I will attempt an answer.
Before we get into that, we first have to understand what the heck does a calorie mean. You'd be surprised to see how many gym goers have no idea what is a calorie. They just know they need a certain amount of them and that's pretty much it. While this could work for you to reach your goals, I recommend you to get educated in everything that maters to you. Tracking calories, losing weight, gaining muscle, are all actions that are better done if you understand the "why" behind them. And to understand the "why", you need to have a good grasp on the "what".
What are calories?
A calorie (also known as a kilocalorie or large calorie) is the amount of energy required to heat up one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.
In other words, use use calories to measure (potential) energy. Our bodies need energy in order to function. It gets that energy from food, therefore the food has a so-called "potential energy" measured in calories.
As you surely know, not all foods have the same amount of potential energy; some are "low in calories" (provide less energy), some are "high in calories" (provide more energy).
How many of these calories things do I need?
The answer to this question is highly individualised (each person is different) and depends on a few factors.
First of: your goal. What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to lose weight, or do you want to put on weight? Or do you want to maintain?
Before we dive into the amount of calories you need based on your goal, we'll have to explain a few things.
Your body is a living machine. It functions using energy and the energy derives from fuel. If you want to do more with it, you'll have to provide more fuel; if you don't do much with it, it can run with a minimal amount of fuel. This is a crude analogy, but it's useful to understand the following concept: The minimum amount of "fuel" (calories) your body needs to survive (without doing any activity besides physiological functions), is the called "Basal Metabolic Rate" or BMR and is measured, you guessed, in calories. As you can imagine, a small machine needs a smaller amount of fuel, while a big machine, needs a bigger amount of fuel. Therefore, the BMR for us humans, varies from person to person, because our bodies are different from one another. While I can survive just fine with 1200 calories per day, a huge guy will starve to death in a few days.
Knowing the BMR is essential when you try to establish how much food you need. Based on this number, taking into account the activity you normally do during the day, you can determine how many calories do you actually need. That amount is called "Total Daily Energy Expenditure" (TDEE) and is calculated multiplying the BMR with a certain amount variable based on your activity level. And this answers the question "how many calories do I need". So if you are looking to maintain your weight, you just eat the TDEE amount of calories. If you want to lose weight, you eat 20% to 25% less calories than TDEE. If you want to gain weight, just eat more than that number. Easy, huh?
OK, Easy, but how do I find out the TDEE?
The good news is, this site calculates everything for you. You don't need to worry how, but I'll explain anyway :). If you create an account, you'll see it will give you your BMR, TDEE and a recommandation on the amount of calories you'll have to maintain, to reach your declared goal.
To get your TDEE is as simple as multiplying BMR with a small number (I'll tell you how to get that in a minute). This site is using rather "aggressive" multipliers (higher than recommended by the formula) as follows:
- TDEE = BMR x 1.05 for weekly workout hours less than 1
- TDEE = BMR x 1.1 for weekly workout hours less than or equal to 3
- TDEE = BMR x 1.25 for weekly workout hours less than or equal to 6
- TDEE = BMR x 1.35 for anything more than that (you shouldn't workout more than that anyway) :)
Cool beans; how do I get the BMR?
Again, the site calculates this automatically. But I know you're curious so I'll explain.
There are a few matematical formulas developed throughout the years to calculate the BMR. Have a read here about it.
The most effective formula, used on this site as well, is the "Katch-McArdle" and it looks like this:
BMR = 370 + (21.6 * LBM)
The "LBM" is the "Lean Body Mass". The amount of "non-fat" you have in your body. To calculate your lean mass, there are several methods, but the one recommended is using a simple fat caliper.
As you can see, reaching your fitness goals, is very matematical. Tracking calories is not easy without a good tool, and this is why this site was created. After you enter your personal details, all you need to do is enter your every meal, and you follow the written recommandations.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer it as soon as possible.
