{"id":2508,"date":"2015-05-14T21:19:40","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T20:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fit4mum.com\/?p=2508"},"modified":"2015-05-14T21:19:40","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T20:19:40","slug":"more-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/more-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"More Numbers…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calories\u2026<\/p>\n

So how many calories do we actually need?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question I\u2019m asked quite often
\nand
\nthe answer is slightly different for us all.<\/p>\n

One thing that is universally beneficial though
\nis
\neating a healthy diet and maintaining
\ngood hydration.<\/p>\n

So do we really need to count calories to be healthy?<\/p>\n

Well, yes
\nand
\nno.<\/p>\n

Nutrition and a healthy lifestyle
\nshould be kept as simple as possible
\nand
\nto be honest
\nif we eat a diet full of unprocessed
\nplant based foods
\nthere will be no need to
\n\u2018count\u2019
\n&
\nit can actually be really simple
\nand easy to maintain for
\n\u2018life\u2019
\nResult.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you first embark on a healthier
\nway of eating
\nI think you need to learn about energy needs
\nand where calories come from.<\/p>\n

So to start with
\nyes,
\ncount calories.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Well
\nit\u2019s important to know
\nwhat you are currently eating
\nand identify where you can make changes
\nto become healthier.<\/p>\n

That said\u2026
\nonce you start looking at calories,
\nplease
\ndon\u2019t veer off into the
\nworld of
\n\u2018low cal\u2019.
\nOften that stuff is full of fillers and artificial sweeteners
\nto make it appear like the \u2018real\u2019 thing.<\/p>\n

The girls at
\nEat & Think<\/a> used a good example
\nin one of their blog posts recently.<\/p>\n

Low fat yoghurts
\neaten as a daily
\n\u2018sweet treat\u2019
\nby some,
\nare only 100 – odd kcals
\nbut health wise
\nthey\u2019re not great.
\nHow about a nice homemade fresh fruit crumble
\nonce a week instead?
\nI know, it\u2019s not every day
\nbut hear me out\u2026
\nIt\u2019s
\npacked full of vitamins and soluble fibre<\/p>\n

OK,
\nI know you\u2019re not sold yet\u2026
\nbut wait<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more like 300 kcals
\n(& therefore immediately tastier!!)<\/em>
\nadd a bit of creme fraiche
\n(added calcium)<\/em>
\n(added creamy yumminess)<\/em>
\nand it\u2019s now more like 400 kcals
\nbut think…
\nyou\u2019ve just saved yourself 300 kcals
\nand
\na weeks
\nworth of pointless processed desserts!<\/p>\n

So yes
\nstart learning about calories,
\ncount how many you eat daily
\nwrite it all down even,
\nso you can see where you get yours from
\n(you\u2019ll be surprised where some calories are hiding!)<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you need to
\n\u2018count\u2019
\nforever?
\nI hear you sigh…<\/em><\/p>\n

NO.<\/p>\n

Every now and then
\nyou may need a
\n\u2018re-check\u2019
\nbut generally,
\nfor life,
\nNo.<\/p>\n

Why not?<\/p>\n

Well as I said earlier,
\neat natural foods and there is no label to read or count
\nand \u2018real\u2019 foods tend to have less calories.<\/p>\n

Just one little caveat on this though\u2026
\nPortion size.
\nWe talked about it before,
\ndon\u2019t over do it.
\nEven a healthy food can be overeaten and
\ncause weight gain.<\/p>\n

Balance is also key.
\nNuts, salmon & avocado to mention a few
\nare great foods, full of goodness
\nbut also calorie dense.
\nIf we are counting calories, we may avoid them.
\nDon\u2019t.
\nWant to avoid calorie dense foods?
\nThen skip the nutrient-less ones containing empty calories
\nlike
\ncakes,
\nbiscuits, chocolate, crisps.<\/p>\n

Still want to know how many calories you need a day?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with BMR\u2026
\nBasal metabolic rate.<\/p>\n

These are the calories you burn at rest,
\n24 hours a day
\nand they
\nmake up 60-75% of your
\ntotal daily calorie expenditure.<\/p>\n

Take your weight in kg
\nand
\nmultiply by 8.7
\n(men multiply by 11.6)<\/em>
\nthen
\nadd 829
\n(men +879)<\/em><\/p>\n

eg
\n52kg x 8.7 = 452.4
\n+ 829 = 1281.4 = BMR<\/p>\n

Next we need to add in our activity level.
\nThis is a rough measure of lifestyle activity.
\nChoose the most suitable one below:<\/p>\n

Mostly inactive or sedentary (mainly sitting) 1.2
\nFairly active (include walking & exercise 1-2 weekly) 1.3
\nModerately active (exercise 2-3 x weekly) 1.4
\nActive (exercise hard more than 3 x weekly) 1.5
\nVery Active (exercise hard daily) 1.7<\/p>\n

Got one?<\/p>\n

Now take the number next to your activity level
\nand multiply your BMR\u00a0 by it.<\/p>\n

eg
\n1281.4 x 1.5 = 1922 Kcal
\nthese are your maintenance calorie needs<\/p>\n

So a 52kg female who is active more than
\n3 times a week at a fairly hard intensity
\nneeds roughly
\n1,922 Kcals to maintain their weight
\nassuming they have an average body composition.<\/p>\n

Now,<\/p>\n

if you wanted to lose weight
\nyou would multiply your
\nmaintenance calorie needs
\nby 0.85<\/p>\n

eg 1,922 x 0.85 = 1,633 kcals
\nfor an active woman of 52kg to lose weight
\nshe would need to consume
\n1,633kcals per day.<\/p>\n

Done.<\/p>\n

So if you want to,
\ngo do your calculations\u2026
\nlearn a little about your lifestyle habits
\nbut
\nmost importantly
\nenjoy our food.<\/p>\n

Go and have some fun.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t start a diet that has an expiration date
\nfocus on a lifestyle that will last forever \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

See you tomorrrow<\/p>\n

Melissa<\/p>\n

xx
\nTodays Healthy Menu<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Mugs of hot water and slices of lemon<\/p>\n

Breakfast – Homemade Granola with fresh raspberries and milk<\/p>\n

Snack – Handful Raisins<\/p>\n

Lunch – Wholegrain Bread with Smoked Salmon, Cottage Cheese, Rocket, Spinach, Baby Plum Tomatoes<\/p>\n

Snack – Hot water and lemon handful Grapes<\/p>\n

Dinner – Roast Salmon with Peas Potatoes and Bacon<\/a> served with homegrown fresh Asparagus<\/p>\n

8 x 8oz glasses water<\/p>\n

Thursdays LISS Workout<\/strong><\/p>\n

60 minute Hill Hike<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Calories\u2026 So how many calories do we actually need? It\u2019s a question I\u2019m asked quite often and the answer is slightly different for us all. One thing that is universally […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2510,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[46,48,56,57,70,80,87,107],"class_list":["post-2508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-bmr","tag-calories","tag-exercise","tag-exercise-workout","tag-health","tag-nutrition-2","tag-recipe","tag-workout"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fit4mum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/food.jpg?fit=500%2C500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fit4mum.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}