Guys,
Since recently deciding to make more of a concerted effort regarding my diet, I've been looking into just exactly how I should calculate my daily requirements for each of the following: Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs.
I've tried to research what I can, and have collected together the info I think I need, but I'd like confirmation that my sums are correct, from those of you more familiar with this if possible. Here is the way I'm working it out at the moment. Please bear with me, I may be suffering from information overload somewhat, and fully expect to have at least some of this backwards!
Anyway, here is the way I'm thinking so far..
First, to assertain my daily maintenance calories, I used the info from Lyles eating for size article, so I do this
Multiply my Weight in kilograms x 24 (hours) = my basic metabolic rate (BMR) x my Activity Factor = my Daily Caloric Needs (for maintenance)
Activity Factors
Very active = 1.4 - 1.5 (Daily Intense exercise + construction work most of day)
Active = 1.3 1.4 (Daily exercise + work on feet most of day)
Light active = 1.1 - 1.2 (Regular Exercise 3 times/week + desk job or at home most of day)
Sedentary = 1 (No exercise + desk job or at home most of day)
Ok, that bit seems pretty straightforward. Now, I figure on the following;
In order to BULK, I'd increase maintenance calories by approximately 500 calories/day
In order to CUT, I'd decrease maintenance calories by approximately 500 calories/day
Reasonable so far ?
Ok, I'll go on to individual nutrients breakdown now, and here is where I probably screw it all up. I'm calculating my figures like this:
For protein (1gram protein = 4 Calories) my daily requirement = 0.8 to 1gram protein per pound of bodyweight, so to convert this to kilograms I'll multiply 2.2 * Bodyweight (kg), and this should tell me how many grams of protein I need each day. Now, if I multiply this grams/day value by 4 this will tell me the amount of calories per day coming from protein. Right ?
Moving on to Fats (1gram fat = 9 Calories) I believe the idea is to aim for approximately 30% of overall calories coming from fats, so my calculations here are as follows;
I'll take 30% of my overall daily caloric rate and allocate that for fat calories required. Then I'll divide this figure by 9 to give a daily value in grams. Hope this is still making sense..
Now, I'm assuming that the remainder of my calories can now be made up of carbs (1gram carbs= 4 Calories) so I'll subtract both the protein and fat calories from my overall daily total to give me a calorie figure to allocate for carbs. This can be divided by 4 to convert it to grams per day from carbs.
Phew. Right, that's the way I think it should work, but I'm far from certain here, and would much appreciate any comments from those in the know. If I can confirm that my workings are correct, then I plan to make a simple calculator up, so I can just input my weight and say whether I plan to bulk or cut, and it'll give me all the figures I need to work to. Then it should be just a simple matter of making small adjustments where necessary as I feel the need to.
If you got this far.... thanks for reading!
Rob.
Since recently deciding to make more of a concerted effort regarding my diet, I've been looking into just exactly how I should calculate my daily requirements for each of the following: Calories, Protein, Fat, Carbs.
I've tried to research what I can, and have collected together the info I think I need, but I'd like confirmation that my sums are correct, from those of you more familiar with this if possible. Here is the way I'm working it out at the moment. Please bear with me, I may be suffering from information overload somewhat, and fully expect to have at least some of this backwards!
Anyway, here is the way I'm thinking so far..
First, to assertain my daily maintenance calories, I used the info from Lyles eating for size article, so I do this
Multiply my Weight in kilograms x 24 (hours) = my basic metabolic rate (BMR) x my Activity Factor = my Daily Caloric Needs (for maintenance)
Activity Factors
Very active = 1.4 - 1.5 (Daily Intense exercise + construction work most of day)
Active = 1.3 1.4 (Daily exercise + work on feet most of day)
Light active = 1.1 - 1.2 (Regular Exercise 3 times/week + desk job or at home most of day)
Sedentary = 1 (No exercise + desk job or at home most of day)
Ok, that bit seems pretty straightforward. Now, I figure on the following;
In order to BULK, I'd increase maintenance calories by approximately 500 calories/day
In order to CUT, I'd decrease maintenance calories by approximately 500 calories/day
Reasonable so far ?
Ok, I'll go on to individual nutrients breakdown now, and here is where I probably screw it all up. I'm calculating my figures like this:
For protein (1gram protein = 4 Calories) my daily requirement = 0.8 to 1gram protein per pound of bodyweight, so to convert this to kilograms I'll multiply 2.2 * Bodyweight (kg), and this should tell me how many grams of protein I need each day. Now, if I multiply this grams/day value by 4 this will tell me the amount of calories per day coming from protein. Right ?
Moving on to Fats (1gram fat = 9 Calories) I believe the idea is to aim for approximately 30% of overall calories coming from fats, so my calculations here are as follows;
I'll take 30% of my overall daily caloric rate and allocate that for fat calories required. Then I'll divide this figure by 9 to give a daily value in grams. Hope this is still making sense..
Now, I'm assuming that the remainder of my calories can now be made up of carbs (1gram carbs= 4 Calories) so I'll subtract both the protein and fat calories from my overall daily total to give me a calorie figure to allocate for carbs. This can be divided by 4 to convert it to grams per day from carbs.
Phew. Right, that's the way I think it should work, but I'm far from certain here, and would much appreciate any comments from those in the know. If I can confirm that my workings are correct, then I plan to make a simple calculator up, so I can just input my weight and say whether I plan to bulk or cut, and it'll give me all the figures I need to work to. Then it should be just a simple matter of making small adjustments where necessary as I feel the need to.
If you got this far.... thanks for reading!
Rob.
