Dt. Bina Chheda
Certified Diabetes Educator , Sports Nutritionist, Registered Clinical Dietician · Dietitian/Nutritionist · yesterday
How To Measure Your Body’s Calorific Requirements
Your daily calorific requirements are based on the premise that your body is like a machine and to function properly it needs the right quantity or amount of fuel. This “fuel” is measured in terms of CALORIES or convertible ‘energy’ that the body will use up for its daily needs.
Every food item that we consume throughout the day consists of calories. For example, Mango is made up of seed and pulp (a rich mass of fiber and fructose which is responsible for that special sweet taste) and a host of essential vitamins and minerals. Since Vitamins and Minerals are found in trace amounts, their calorific value is considered negligible. However, a Mango is considered to be highly calorific due to its high fructose content. Fructose, a glucose derivative, when taken in large amounts gets stored in the body as “fat.”
A small cup of sliced mango is about 99 calories. To burn 99 calories, one will have to walk at least 25-30 minutes continuously at fairly fast pace. An average 5 feet woman needs at least 900 Calories daily. Assuming she has a desk job and her daily activity level sums up to almost nothing; yet her daily caloric requirements will be a minimum of 1200-1500* while for a man of average height and built it’s about 2200-2600 per day.
Caloric requirements for each individual differ, depending on the following 6 factors. Identify your.
1.Body Frame – Large, Medium or Small.
2. Gender – Males need more calories than females as their metabolic rate as well as muscle mass density is higher in comparison
3. Height – For increase in height, per inch, females add 2 kgs to their body weight whereas for men its 3Kgs
4. Age – The metabolic rate of the human body starts to slow down with age. At 30, your basal metabolic rate or BMR would be slower than it was when you were in your 20’s. This is simply because as you age, your body also starts to slow down depending on the damage it has encountered through the years.
5. Lifestyle - Excessive drinking, smoking combined with stress can make your body age at twice the normal rate therefore bringing down your BMR rate down drastically which in turn will lead you to piling on those extra few kilos!
6. Activity Level – Most may not have the time to dedicate an hour at the gym everyday but even little things go a long way in maintain good health. Taking the steps instead of the elevator, walking down the last two blocks to the office instead of driving or using the public transport, walking the kids down to the park for half an hour of pure ‘masti’ - all add up to an active lifestyle that can easily accommodate an additional slice of blueberry cheese cake!
So do an honest assessment of your daily activity level, factoring in your lifestyle quotient along with your current age, body weight and height to determine the precise caloric requirements for your body.
Your daily calorific requirements are based on the premise that your body is like a machine and to function properly it needs the right quantity or amount of fuel. This “fuel” is measured in terms of CALORIES or convertible ‘energy’ that the body will use up for its daily needs.
Every food item that we consume throughout the day consists of calories. For example, Mango is made up of seed and pulp (a rich mass of fiber and fructose which is responsible for that special sweet taste) and a host of essential vitamins and minerals. Since Vitamins and Minerals are found in trace amounts, their calorific value is considered negligible. However, a Mango is considered to be highly calorific due to its high fructose content. Fructose, a glucose derivative, when taken in large amounts gets stored in the body as “fat.”
A small cup of sliced mango is about 99 calories. To burn 99 calories, one will have to walk at least 25-30 minutes continuously at fairly fast pace. An average 5 feet woman needs at least 900 Calories daily. Assuming she has a desk job and her daily activity level sums up to almost nothing; yet her daily caloric requirements will be a minimum of 1200-1500* while for a man of average height and built it’s about 2200-2600 per day.
Caloric requirements for each individual differ, depending on the following 6 factors. Identify your.
1.Body Frame – Large, Medium or Small.
2. Gender – Males need more calories than females as their metabolic rate as well as muscle mass density is higher in comparison
3. Height – For increase in height, per inch, females add 2 kgs to their body weight whereas for men its 3Kgs
4. Age – The metabolic rate of the human body starts to slow down with age. At 30, your basal metabolic rate or BMR would be slower than it was when you were in your 20’s. This is simply because as you age, your body also starts to slow down depending on the damage it has encountered through the years.
5. Lifestyle - Excessive drinking, smoking combined with stress can make your body age at twice the normal rate therefore bringing down your BMR rate down drastically which in turn will lead you to piling on those extra few kilos!
6. Activity Level – Most may not have the time to dedicate an hour at the gym everyday but even little things go a long way in maintain good health. Taking the steps instead of the elevator, walking down the last two blocks to the office instead of driving or using the public transport, walking the kids down to the park for half an hour of pure ‘masti’ - all add up to an active lifestyle that can easily accommodate an additional slice of blueberry cheese cake!
So do an honest assessment of your daily activity level, factoring in your lifestyle quotient along with your current age, body weight and height to determine the precise caloric requirements for your body.
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