Why you are probably underestimating what you eat and overestimating how much you are burning and how it is affecting your goals.
You've had it.
You are overweight or at least unsatisfied with your current appearance
in the mirror. You decided to do
something about it and set a goal. You have taken the
hardest step which is giving a crap but the most crucial steps are the ones
that follow. You decide to track the
food that you are eating. You start
writing down everything, “estimating” what you are eating. How accurate are you though? Are you weighing everything? Should you be?
The Art of Estimation
So how do you accurately estimate what you are
eating? The first step is to buy a food
scale. For the first few weeks of
estimating you should always weigh your food.
Weigh everything! (I prefer using
grams for the unit because they will give you the best accuracy) That tbsp. of peanut butter might look like a
tbsp. but weigh it out. You might find
that what you thought was a tbsp. is actually closer to 2 tbsp. That steak you though was 8 oz. is actually
closer to 12 oz. This scale will slowly
help to program you to where you can fairly accurately estimate what you are
taking in. After a week or so you will
see how much better you become. Start
estimating in your head before you throw it on the scale. See how far off you are. Treat it like a game, do whatever you have to
do to get yourself more accurate.
After your initial few weeks with a scale you can
continue to use it or slowly phase it out.
I recommend that you still use it for foods that are easily
underestimated. Mainly fats like nuts,
PB, avocado, dressings etc. Good rule is
that if it’s calorically dense you might want to check it on the scale before
you eat it. They will be the hardest to
judge and the most detrimental if underestimated. I would also use it every few months of so to
make your stomach isn't causing your eyes to underestimate which they will tend
to do.
Weighing food is great but what are you using as a
reference? I've found the most accurate
and convenient website to be www.calorieking.com. It has yet to let me down. I also use MyFitnessPal to track calories but
be careful if you are using this app to estimate food. The library is user updated and can be highly
incorrect. I recommend using calorieking
at first and find a way to translate those numbers into MFP. Calorie labels can be off by 10% ish but they
are at least a reference point when it comes to food that has them. Another tip is to not bother about counting
anything green, leafy or just about any non-starchy vegetable. As long as you consistently don’t count them
you will be fine. If you do count them
though, be consistent and ALWAYS count them.
The key is consistency. If you are looking for some better food choices to add to your diet you can read my article about what should be in your refrigerator.
Estimating Calories Burned
Estimating the calories you burn in a day is
something that can be done by anyone with a few free minutes and access to
Google. It’s fairly simple. Take your BMR (calculate that here)
and multiply by your activity level. I
know you are all super studs and elite athletes so you will choose an activity
level that is moderate to very active but this is where that overestimation
comes in to play. 98% of people I work
with I will start at the sedentary level of activity. Why you might ask? Few reasons, (1) People will almost always
underestimate the calories the eat (2) People will almost always underestimate
the calories they eat (3) It’s easier to add calories in after a few weeks of
assessment than it is to get someone to eat less than they are already eating
after we find out my initial assessment was too high. For these reasons I use a multiplier of 1.2
for just about everyone I work with.
Let me give you an example. We will take an average male, 25 y/o, 70
inches and 180 lbs. According to the
calculator his BMR is 1906. Using a
sedentary activity level (1.2) that would put him at a caloric intake of 2287
to maintain his weight of 180 lbs. We
can play around with that number depending on if he wants to gain muscle, lose
fat etc. The number you get from this
calculation is just an estimate. There
are a few fancy calculators out there that will help you estimate how many
calories you burn in a day but know that all of them are just educated
estimations on what your body is actually burning. They can’t take into account things like
genetics, fidgeting and other small factors that can add up over time. The number you end up with is what any
trainer will use to base your nutrition plan off of.
If you want to lose weight and eat at a consistent
deficit (something I don’t recommend) then take 500 calories off per day and
you will end up with a 3500 calorie deficit at the end of the week. Theoretically you should have lost 1 lb. that
week. If you want a real good plan that
utilizes calorie and carb cycling that help offset the hormonal and diet
adherence issues that occur from eating at a daily deficit then have someone
like me design you a carb cycling plan.
A plan that will have you eating over that number at some points in the
week and under that number on some other days.
I am getting completely off topic and into another article but I will
finish my thought before we get back on track.
If you use anything over the sedentary activity level then you are
setting yourself up for failure. Don’t
do it.
Do I Account for my Physical Activity?
I am sure I will get this question/statement so I
will address it now. “But I do P90X,
Insanity, (Insert latest workout fad here) etc.
I am burning like 1000 calories when I do it so shouldn't I take that in
account? Short answer is no you shouldn't. Long answer is No, because you are more than
likely not burning anywhere near the calories you think you are burning.
Since this is semi on topic I will touch on
it a little more in detail now. That
sedentary man above is burning nearly 100 calories an hour by simply being
alive and doing his daily routine. If he
decides that he wants to do 60 min of exercise, let’s say the elliptical or
running at a 12 mile/hr. pace, he will have burned about 500 Cal (a fairly high
estimate that is assuming he is in good shape). That’s 60 minutes of straight up running or elliptical work. Take that 500 Cal and minus what he would
have burned had he of done nothing and you are left with 400 actual calories burned
during that hour. Remember this is a 180
lb. male in good shape. Females will
typically have a lower bodyweight and BMR so that number will be lower for
you. In my opinion that hour would have
been better spent doing something else more productive like sleeping, planning
your diet for the week etc. Not to
mention that aerobic exercise is great at stimulating your appetite which is
the opposite of what you want while trying to lose weight. It also leads to that whole “I worked out
today so I deserve a reward” type attitude which leads down a road with
chocolate pavers lined with doughnut trees and candy bar bushes. If you really want that additional 400
calorie deficit than create it in your diet, not by upping your activity
level. Now I’m not saying that aerobic exercise has no
place in your weight loss plan so please don’t miss quote me. I am just saying that
it should not be a primary focus nor should it really be taken into
consideration when you are planning for your nutrition unless you are doing
butt loads of it which would lead me to believe you are either training for a
marathon, a masochist or just love running (my beautiful wife is in this category). If you start with aerobic activity at the beginning
of a weight loss plan you will only have two choices when you hit your first
plateau. Take away more calories or
start sweating for longer periods of time.
That 60 min just became your baseline and now you must do 90 min to see
weight come off again. Taking calories
away is never fun so most people resort to more cardio and see very little
additional results for the time they are putting into it. Save it for the a little closer to your goal and
you might find that you don’t even need it.
Worst case, it gives you another tool in your arsenal to use if you do
hit a plateau. Now when to use cardio as a tool for fat loss and how to best use it to reach your goals is a topic for another day.
Bringing It All Together
The point I want to hammer home in this article is that you should have some consistent and accurate way to account for all of the calories you are consuming in a given day. The key word to remember in all of this is consistency. If you are consistent, even if you are off by 10-20% you can account for that in the changes to your caloric goal. Have I said consistent enough?
Do not account for physical activity when calculating your estimated calories burned throughout the day. You WILL over estimate and end up reaching your goal either extremely slowly or not at all. That sedentary 1.2 number is as good as gold.
First look to your diet to create the caloric deficit you require to lose weight. Don't use exercise as your only tool. Allow your diet to do the work. Cardio is a very viable tool for fat loss but it should be used sparingly for the vast majority of individuals.
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