A tale about basal metabolism. I made a calculator in which you can calculate the norm and level of basal metabolism. You will learn the extreme minimum of calories, followed by exhaustion and much more interesting things. Go!
“There is nothing more dangerous than experiments on your body,” stated Ivan Tsarevich, picking his teeth with a rusty needle. “Neither an egg, nor a duck, nor a hare will help.” Old Koschey tormented himself. And he kept repeating: “I eat according to science, I count calories!” Poor fellow! “Bury him, guys,” he commanded the gravediggers...
Hello friends! Basal metabolism, what it is, is not clear to everyone the first time. The topic, however, is not just vitally important, but glaring. And it has matured in our time, when the passion for diets and the desire to lose weight to the point of a skeleton has become overgrown with advertisements, most of which are murderous and cause irreparable harm. But first things first…
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What will we talk about
Unfamiliar words, incomprehensible to some people, are simply translated: basic metabolism. Everyone should know what it is.
I propose to memorize it as an equation of life: for any process in our body - respiration, cell repair, enzyme production, the breakdown of proteins into amino acids, the combination of amino acids into new proteins, the breakdown of long molecules of polysaccharides into glucose, the functioning of brain cells, the work of the heart muscle, the burning of fat and pr.pr.pr. — we need energy, those same kilocalories that we are so afraid of.
70% of all calories that food provides goes to this basal metabolism, and we use only thirty for physical activity.
Calculations are approximate and relative
Basic metabolism depends on a bunch of factors:
- age;
- weight;
- gender;
- features of the constitution;
- concomitant diseases;
- genetic characteristics;
- ambient temperature;
- ratio of muscle and fat mass;
- work of the thyroid gland and other internal secretion organs;
- other external and internal differences.
In order to find out your BM level, that is, how much your body needs for its own needs, you can use different methods. The most accurate: place yourself in a chamber with a moderate temperature and calculate how much heat you generate over a certain period of time.
Since not everyone has access to such an experience, various scientists and semi-scientific men have developed special formulas for calculating basal metabolic rate:
- by weight, height and age;
- by weight minus body fat;
- by gender - 1 kcal per hour per kg for men, 0.9 for women;
- per square meter of body surface (approximately 915 for men and 854 for women);
- and also calculators based on the formulas of Muffin Jeor, Ketch-McArdle and other smart researchers.
And here is the online basal metabolic rate calculator:
And yet we must understand that all formulas are very approximate, not a single calculation gives the true picture. The results can only be used to give yourself a starting point . And we should not forget: the calorie consumption calculator shows only the needs of the body itself, without taking into account how much you spend on everyday activities and physical activity.
Formulas for calculating metabolism
There are many formulas for calculating metabolism. The most mentioned in the scientific literature are the Scofield, Harris-Benedict and Oxford (Henry) equations. It is the last equation, Henry, presented above, that well-known British scientists consider the most accurate when applied to the ordinary, healthy population.
Many people are familiar with the terms “fast” and “slow” metabolism. There are many remedies that promise to “accelerate” the metabolism, from a regular glass of cold water with lemon on an empty stomach to green tea, hot pepper and various pills with exotic extracts. Unfortunately, many of these remedies have not found scientific confirmation, or the effect is so insignificant in itself that there is no point in recommending them for weight loss.
But don’t give up - a guaranteed way to speed up metabolism still exists, but not in the form of a nutritional supplement, but in the form of strength exercises, since muscle mass is the main engine of metabolism.
A tale about a great secret that everyone knows
Reveal a terrible secret? The less you eat, the slower you lose weight.
By creating an artificial nutrient deficiency, you slow down your metabolic processes. If we are fools and start starving ourselves, our body has to defend itself without our conscious knowledge. He is not a fool, and he perceives hunger as a signal to accumulate.
This is one of the reasons why vegetarians and fasting monks get fat. If inadequate and meager nutrition continues for a long time, vital organs are at risk, which lack proteins to restore dying cells and carbohydrates to function.
Then the body begins to use up its NZ. And when they run out, it “eats” itself. Starts from the periphery in favor of what is more important. The muscles become exhausted, the bones become brittle, and the skin becomes flabby. The internal omentum, which everyone has, even the fittest ones, completely disappears.
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Finally, the moment comes when the main organs are irreversibly damaged: the brain, heart, liver, kidneys, lungs. From this stage it is no longer possible to go back, and you, more or less quickly, continue on to the cemetery.
Conclusion: starvation diets only slow down the process of losing weight and cause irreparable harm to health. And don’t flatter yourself with the hope that “they are starving there incorrectly, or their diet is imperfect.”
By depriving your body of the calories it needs to repair itself, you are erasing years from your life.
“The Theory of Relativity” in our life
So, the formulas are approximate, the numbers are not exact, the tables are relative. We have only purely empirical data that cannot be used in practice without modification. What to do? How to understand your level? Act logically.
The best coach is a professional athlete. The best theorist is a practicing doctor.
There are medical standards for daily consumption for adults:
- 1200 kilocalories is the absolute minimum, followed by exhaustion (this value should be taken as the starting point in calculating your basal metabolism);
- 2000 kcal - for a bedridden patient;
- at least 2300-2500 - for a person leading a less active lifestyle;
- from 3000 - for heavy physical activity.
I have made an online calorie intake calculator for you:
Other calculators are here.
How to calculate total calorie expenditure
Everyone knows that if you reduce the number of calories consumed too much, your metabolic rate will slow down, your thyroid gland will reduce its hormone production, and your muscle mass will begin to decrease. How much should you reduce your calories then? There is definitely a limit below which cutting calories can have negative health effects.
. For some people, especially thin people, 1000 calories may be too much of a deficit.
. But even these quantities are very small. It is best to determine a safe level of calorie deficit based on your weight and DA (daily calorie requirement). Reducing your calorie intake by
from SPK is a very good start. Sometimes a larger deficit may be needed, but then it is best to increase your exercise while maintaining the same caloric deficit.
Example 1: Your weight is 54.5 kg Your BAC is 2033 calories Your caloric deficit for weight loss is 500 Your optimal calorie intake for weight loss is: 2033 – 500 = 1533 calories Example 2: Your caloric deficit for weight loss is 20% of your BAC (20% of 2033 = 406 calories) Your optimal calorie intake for weight loss = 1627 calories
Why do you need to calculate your basal metabolic rate?
There was such an advertising stunt about 15 years ago: they demonstrate an exercise bike with a screen that shows the burning of calories eaten. For example, a girl displays an apple on the screen and is forced to pedal intensely for several minutes so that it “eats” in the picture of the simulator.
No basal metabolism is taken into account here, but what advertising! A person should feel with all his fibers how much he eats! It’s scary to think how much you’ll have to sweat pedaling if there’s a steak instead of an apple!
Everything is different in life. Counting calories is often necessary when a person cannot determine why he is weak even though he does not have any obvious diseases. He just collapses after work and is unable to move. He starts counting calories - it turns out that he consumes too few of them.
Another example: a bedridden patient is not recovering well, despite the calculated diet - you need to calculate whether he is getting enough calories. It is possible that he should be fed more energy-intensive food, because the body does not have enough energy to restore its own cells.
If someone wants to lose weight, they must first take into account the ratio of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in food. Food should remain complete. In order not to disfigure yourself, it is better to add physical exercise, start walking, visit sites with exercise equipment, give up snacking on all kinds of fast foods and chocolates, eat small portions five to six times a day, and get rid of bad habits. It's healthier, especially if you live this way for the rest of your life.
Change your calorie intake gradually
So, you already know your SPC. The next step is to adjust the number of calories you consume depending on your goal. The math behind calorie balance is very simple. To maintain your weight at the current level, you need to adhere to the SPC. If you want to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit in your body, to do this, reduce your BAC (or consume the same amount of calories, but increase physical activity).
It is not recommended to make drastic changes to your diet. If, after calculating your daily calorie requirement (DAC) and adjusting it based on your goal, you realize that the required amount of calories is significantly different from your current level of consumption, then you definitely need to change the amount of calories gradually.
For example, you have determined that your optimal calorie intake per day should be 1900, but previously your level was only 900 calories per day. If you suddenly increase your calories, your metabolism will slow down. A sudden jump to 1900 calories per day can cause an increase in body fat, because your body is already accustomed to consuming less and a sudden increase in calories will contribute to obesity. The best way is within 3-4 weeks
from 900 to 1900. This will allow your body to adapt and speed up your metabolism.
Main conclusions
- A starvation diet is enemy number 1.
- It is better to use calorie indicators accepted in official medicine as a basis.
- The amount of energy for basal metabolism, no matter what formula it is calculated by, cannot be underestimated.
- The table must be balanced according to the used/f/u ratio.
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