The problem of excess weight worries a lot of people in the modern world. Everyone asks the question: "How to lose weight without diets and physical activity?" The answer has long been known: it is almost impossible. If a person does not want to change something in his diet and lifestyle, then nothing will work. But dieting doesn’t help your body stay healthy, and all the kilograms lost will not only return, but will lead to even more weight gain. The solution is very simple - proper nutrition and an active lifestyle.
Calorie intake
Any food that enters our body is a source of energy for it. Its amount is usually measured in kilojoules or kilocalories. If a person eats too much food, then the excess of incoming energy turns into adipose tissue and is deposited evenly throughout the body until that time when it is needed. If, on the contrary, starvation occurs, these fatty tissues are consumed for normal human life. Thus, each person should consume such an amount of food, the energy from which would be equal to that spent throughout the day. In this case, neither mass gain nor decrease will occur. Therefore, calculating calorie intake is so important. If you establish its deficit, then you can safely lose weight and not feel negative effects on the body.
How to calculate energy consumption?
Today, there are formulas that can very accurately show how much energy an individual needs to consume. Calorie calculation is based on simple indicators, such as weight, height and age. Also, it is worth adding a level of physical activity. In order to calculate exactly how many calories you need, you can use equations such as the Harris-Benedict formula or a later version - the Mifflin San Geor formula.
The concept of basic exchange
The main exchange is the level of energy expenditure in the body that is inherent in a person in a calm state. After all, even if you don’t move, but just sleep, for example, many processes constantly occur in our body that we don’t even think about. These include breathing, the work of the cardiovascular system, the production of gastric juice, the reproduction of new skin and blood cells and their replacement, the growth of nails and hair, as well as millions of other chemical reactions. Each of them requires a constant expenditure of energy throughout life. Calculation of the norm of calories will provide a person with an understanding of what he needs for a full-fledged existence. Many factors affect the basal metabolism. In children, for example, it is higher, as they are in constant growth. And the elderly are lower, because their metabolism is slowed down. Also, gender and physical condition affect this indicator. For example, if a woman is breastfeeding a child, then she spends much more calories than in ordinary life.
Harris-Benedict Basic Exchange
One of the two most common equations to help you calculate your basal metabolic rate is the Harris-Benedict formula. It shows the calorie content of the diet is not for weight loss, but only to maintain the weight that is available at the moment. This formula is suitable for people who do not engage in sports systematically, because bodybuilders, for example, have very different needs. As mentioned above, the need for calories is different for different sexes, so the formulas for them are slightly different.
The Harris-Benedict formula for women looks like this: 655.1 + (9.6 × body weight in kg) + (1.85 × human height in cm) - (4.68 × age in years). This will help any woman who does not lead an active lifestyle to find out how many calories she needs to consume per day to maintain her existing weight.
The Harris-Benedict formula for men looks like this: 66.47 + (13.75 × body weight in kg) + (5 × height in cm) - (6.74 × age in years).
Basic Mifflin San Geor formula
The second equation that helps you calculate your basal metabolic rate is the Mifflin San Geor formula. It is considered more reliable, since the Harris-Benedict formula was derived back in 1919, and the pace and rhythm of life of ordinary people has changed a lot since then. This led to the fact that she has an error of about 5%. This is not the case in the Mifflin San Geor equation, since it was deduced in 2005 and is more oriented to modern man. It is also divided by gender.
For men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) + 5.
For women: (10 × body weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age in years) - 161.
After this coefficient is calculated, it is still necessary to determine the degree of physical activity of a person. Certain activity is indicated by a number from 1.2 to 1.9. Therefore, the main exchange, which has already been calculated, is multiplied by the degree of activity. This helps to more accurately determine how much energy is needed specifically for your body.
The use of formulas
If a person is concerned about his health and wants to maintain himself in a certain form, the formula of Harris-Benedict or Mifflin San Geor will become a good assistant for him. After all, when you know your main metabolism, you can decide how many calories are worth consuming. If your weight suits you, but you do not want to gain kilograms, just do not consume excess energy. If you want to lose weight, then just create a deficit in the norm of calories, and your body will begin to reimburse it from internal reserves.
Thus, knowing your basic metabolism will greatly help those who want to lose weight. Calculating it is easy if you select one or both of the options. Keep in mind that the Harris-Benedict formula will be older and less useful. A calculator, of which there are many options, and they are available, will do all the complex calculations for you.