How Much Should You Eat for Your Goals!?

Hello Internets!

This blog is in request to one of my bootcamp ladies, but I know this is a question a lot of people have. Nutrition is one of the most, if not the most, difficult things to get right when looking to live a healthier lifestyle.

The burning questions usually include, what, how much and when should I eat? I'll try my best to answer these questions in a three part blog (because there is so much information), but keep in mind everyone is different and I am NOT a nutritionist by any means! I'd love to hear from some nutritionist out there on the subject.

Step 1: Determine What Your Nutritional Goals Are

What are you looking for in your eating? To eat healthier? To lose body fat? To gain muscle? A little bit of everything? Well you must determine what your concrete goals are before moving forward. If fat loss is one of your goals than this blog post is for you. Stay tuned for gaining muscle, performance eating and a little bit of everything.

Step 2: Now That You Identified Your Goal (i.e. Fat Loss) Determine Your Approach

This is probably the hardest part. I've done pretty much everything in regards to nutrition to determine what works and what doesn't. Here are some different ways to approach fat loss in nutritional sense...

• Calorie Counting:
• Calorie counting works to an extent. The effectiveness of this method is really dependant on where you are standing from a weight loss perspective and your personality type. If you have a lot of fat to lose then this may work for you initially, but if you are looking to lose that last 10 or 5lbs calorie counting might not be enough.
• Portion Control & What You're Eating:
• I personally prefer portion control and paying attention to what I'm eating rather than the caloric content. I make sure to stay within a "rough" range of the calories I should be eating, but I try and make sure my potions are appropriate and my food worth it nutritionally.

There are other "methods" for fat loss promoted by the fitness industry. However, I do not agree with a lot of them. Why? Because they set you up for failure so they can keep taking your money. Here are some methods I suggest to stay AWAY from....

• Carb Cutting
• Please do not cut carbs. This is because the only thing that fuels your brain cells is carbohydrates and ketone bodies. When you starve yourself of essential carbohydrates the ketones take over, which can make your body shut down essentially. You may loose "weight" cutting carbs, but it is mostly just water weight. You will also gain most if it back if not more when you start eating carbs again, which you will.
• "Juice" Diets
• These are also horrible for you. You lose weight because you are not taking in enough calories, yes, but the problem with this is that you slow your metabolism down to a crawl. When you start eating again, which you will, you will gain back what you lost if not more.
• Restricting: AKA "Salad Eaters"
• I used to do this and I regret it. I'd just not eat as much when I wanted to loose a few. Now, my metabolism is super slow so I have to be very very careful of what I eat. DO NOT RESTRICT.

Step 3: Determine Roughly How Many Calories to Eat a Day

This is important for the two methods I suggest. Obviously if you are calorie counting you need to know how many calories you are eating a day, and for portion control, you don't want to consume too much a day even though your portions are ok.

First, you need to determine your basal metabolic weight. This is how many calories your body burns just existing. You may be surprised at your number.

Lots of websites can help you calculate this, for example http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ can do this for you.

Let’s say, for example, your BMR is 1200calories/day. Great! Now we have to determine roughly how much you burn extra a day. Here's an awesome list of everyday activities to use http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm and there are lots more out there.

For example, I usually work out about an hour a day, plus house work. This adds 413calories (aerobics) plus 148calories (cleaning) roughly to my BMR for a total of 1761calories per day if I'm working out.

I recommend calculating your rough calorie consumption for a heavy day (i.e. working out) and a light day (i.e. sitting on your butt all day at work then watching T.V) so you can track your calories better.

Step 4: Determine How Many Calories You Need To Eat To Lose Weight

This is the final step for fat loss. Firstly, you will be most efficient at loosing fat if you eat 5-6 small meals a day rather than 3 or 1 big meal. Make sure the food you are taking in is rich in nutrients and is good for you. Lastly, make sure you are getting enough protein (3-4 servings a day if you are not looking to gain muscle).

To lose weight the recommendation is to be in a caloric deficit of 500calories/day for 1 pound/week. 

Keep in mind, if you want to lose more than 1 pound a week this can get dicey with your metabolism if you restrict too much. I would recommend increasing your physical activity rather that decreasing calories. 

Returning to my example, if I have a work out day I should be eating roughly 1261calories/day to lose 1 lb per week.

So that it! As always, I could get into much more detail regarding fat loss nutrition, including what types of food speed fat lose and meal design. We'll save that for another day.

Any questions let me know. Stay tuned for next week’s installment of this subject!

Stay Strong

Byn