I'm looking for a site where I can plug in my stats and see how many calories I'm burning in a resting state and then plug in how many calories I'm eating a day to calculate wieght loss. Anyone know of such a site or program?
I don't believe in counting calories and/or trying to balance what's coming in and what's going out. That's little bit a risky game. My reason is that physical activity (activities of daily living plus your workout calories)only counts about 15% of your daily caloric expenditure. Most people seem to underestimate that just being alive (basal metabolism) costs us about 70% of total daily caloric expenditure and this is extremely different from person to person. And the rest is digesting our food efficiently, which is also different depending on your GI tract health, is about 15%.
My point is that it is hard to estimate the spending calories, because everybody has a different basal metabolic rate (thyroid function, lean muscle mass etc.)and different rate and efficiency of digesting their food. If our goal is to loose fat, instead of trying to balance the calories, our focus should be on increasing the basal metabolic rate (gaining lean muscle-resistance training)and improving digestion (eating according to our metabolic type, smaller and more frequent meals, proper hydration, reducing the non-food items such as processed foods, refined sugar, most cereals and most beverages)
I hope this helps, good luck.
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Train smarter, not harder. Your mind is your best supplement!
How did you know about John Berardi's web site? He is one of my references, and I luv his article on Massive eating 1 and 2. Do you also know about Paul Chek?
__________________
Train smarter, not harder. Your mind is your best supplement!
Saircon,
While your information is good and useful, don't discount counting calories. The novice makes a lot of progress with creating a caloric defecit. This can be done by reducing the intake but, as you have suggested, increasing the calories burned through exercise and by building more "calorie hungry" muscle mass. Counting calories does work and is a first step to more sophisticated methods of controlling weight, losing body fat and building muscle mass.
In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
How did you know about John Berardi's web site? He is one of my references, and I luv his article on Massive eating 1 and 2. Do you also know about Paul Chek?
i was referred to his websites and articles by the always helpful people on this forum.
I'm not very good with names so it may be possible that i have read something by him, but if he's anything like Berardi then point me in his direction. I'm always interested in learning about nutrition and weight training.
Thank you for your comments. Paul Chek is my mentor and I learned the inefficiency of counting calories, or reducing them from him. I want you to read this article, (and all of you of course), and tell me what do you think. I believe that reducing empty calories (such as sodas, processed foods, refined sugars etc.) absolutely necessary. However it is almost impossible to estimate someone's daily caloric expanditure because activities of daily living can vary in a very wide range (between 100 and 1000 calories) for people depending on their genetics and muscle mass.
Saircon, i think you may be missing Mahler's point. Most people here already have eliminated soda, refined sugars, etc...(or have at least minimized them).
Whether im trying to gain or lose, i count (or at least ballpark) everything i eat. Sure, its tough to just go by a forumula to determine how many calories you burn in a given day, but over time with experimenting you can find out the number of calories you need to maintain your bodweight. If i know the number of calories it takes for my body to maintain its current state, then i can more easily cause changes to my body by increasing or decreasing the calories that i eat. I dont understand why its a risky game.
Did you read the article I copied? Then you will realize that why instead of making caloric changes in your diet, it is better to eat high quality food (food that we are designed to eat), to tune your macronutrient ratios according to your metabolic type and to start a resistance training program. Did human beings needed to count or calculate their calories for thousands of years? I don't think that obesity was exist during those years.
__________________
Train smarter, not harder. Your mind is your best supplement!
If you're willing to pay (free to try, though), Calorieking.com has a great program. You can even choose to run it on your PocketPC or Palm PDA, or PC or Webbased options, too.
I've used it for over two years (on my Palm PDAs) and really like it.
Thank you for your comments. Paul Chek is my mentor and I learned the inefficiency of counting calories, or reducing them from him. I want you to read this article, (and all of you of course), and tell me what do you think. I believe that reducing empty calories (such as sodas, processed foods, refined sugars etc.) absolutely necessary. However it is almost impossible to estimate someone's daily caloric expanditure because activities of daily living can vary in a very wide range (between 100 and 1000 calories) for people depending on their genetics and muscle mass.
Saircon,
I think we are on the same page here. Tracking calories as well as what you eat is a tool. It's not the end of the line. I am saying that you CAN become familiar with your body's daily "routine" (if you will) by tracking what you eat for a period of time. Most of us eat as routinely and as mindlessly as any other activity. It does not end there. Paul Check's info is great, but I feel that counting calories is a good way to assess where you are. The average person has no idea how much junk and empty calories they consume, let alone how poor their macronutrient breakdown is. As I have mentioned calorie counting does not involve just reducing intake. Paul covers this and justly dismisses it as the media hype of the diet industry. And, I completely agree that using a calorie counting "gadget" or the counter on a treadmill or step machine is the wrong way to go. I love the part about using these to then reward yourself with a certain amount of food. I am talking about logging what you eat and what your activities are and, over time, getting in tune with your body by understanding your overall metabolism. For me the term "diet" has no place in fitness. There is good nutrition and bad nutrition. People who simply cut calories or try to expend more calories are dieters and know nothing about nutrition. Paul gives a good example of the person who works out vigorously but still gets fat because he and his trainer did nothhing about nutrition. I won't go into further detail, but agree with almost everything in the article. I am just saying you have to start somewhere and counting those calories is going to be a wakeup call for most. I still count calories, but not as a way to lose fat. I am pretty well aware of my body's needs now and using a tool like fit-day helps me to make sure I am giving it the right amount of food and the proper breakdown of macro-nutirents for my goals. I have hyped my metabolism and built muscle mass through exercise. I use shorter, more intense workouts. I don't overtrain. I rest from time to time to give my body and central nervous system a break. I change routines often. All of this is covered in the article you cited. So I think, in essence, we agree.
In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Did you read the article I copied? Then you will realize that why instead of making caloric changes in your diet, it is better to eat high quality food (food that we are designed to eat), to tune your macronutrient ratios according to your metabolic type and to start a resistance training program. Did human beings needed to count or calculate their calories for thousands of years? I don't think that obesity was exist during those years.
I think that were talking about two different types of people, and Mahler pretty much said everything that needs to be said. If you are talking about the average person out there who may not even workout out and doesnt really have their diet under control, then counting calories without regard to the type of calories they are eating, then i agree with you.
A good many guys and girls on this forum do have their diet under control, are eating the right foods and are on a good training program. For these people, i think if you know how many calories you should eat to lose or gain weight, then you can accomplish much more with your physique than if you just ate the "right" foods and didnt keep track of how much of those foods you were eating.
I think I'm an example of the good and the bad of calorie counting. I've been doing it for over two years. I lost about 65lbs, then put 20lbs of muscle back on. Counting calories was a big part of my personal success. But, it wasn't all good...
In the beginning, I merely counted calories, choosing low fat and low sugar foods because they tend to be lower in calories. Therefore, I could eat more of them. Ah, the good ol' days of eatin' Healthy Choice hot dogs with light buns! You can eat a VERY satisfying amount of those and still keep your calories low, I'm telling you.
I did lose weight. I'm 6'1" I went from 232 to 190, but still had a ton of fat. I never did a body fat test until I got down to 190. I was still over 25%! While I lost a lot of fat, lean mass was gone, too. My overall health, while better, was still not so great.
At that point, I started making better food choices. But, having been an overeater for my whole life, counting calories was really the only way to relearn the right amounts to eat. I'm a lot better at it now. I can go a day or two, then log it all in and find that I was pretty close to target. I've learned, to some extent. But, in my mind, I'm adding up portions, calories, and grams. It's a constant struggle for me, since I always feel hungry. Always.
My good food choices (not too far from Dr. Check's recommendations) have helped me to put on more muscle and lose more fat. Plus, I'm healthier and far more satisfied with the good foods than I was with the bad ones.
By the way, the John Berardi that Dr. Check references uses calorie counting in virtually every nutrition plan that he writes. Only "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutrition" doesn't rely on calorie counting, but one can also argue that these are 7 "habits" to apply to whichever nutrition plan that you choose to follow.
As to the accuracy of counting calories. It's only one tool. And, you have to adjust, over time, to compensate for things like activity, changes in RMR, etc. But, it at least gives people who have no idea of how much to eat an idea of where to start. Mileage may vary.
Thank you for checking the article. It's great that you all don't agree with dieting. Yes, we are exactly on the same page for that particular point [img]smile.gif[/img]
Now, for both of you, AS and Mahler, I'd like you guys to give your opinions about my real point...
What I am saying and also what Paul is trying to say, (if I understood correctly)is that:
IF, someone is eating the RIGHT FOODS:
1) Eating according to someone's metabolic type (depending on someone's ancestors; either protein type, carbohydrate type, or mixed type)
2) Eating foods that are as close as to the mother nature (certified organic, not packaged, not frozen, not pasteurized, not homogenized, without chemicals/additives included, not refined, grass fed, free range, not genetically modified, etc.)
IF he/she is eating them on the RIGHT TIME
1) Healthy circadian rythm (sleep/wake cycles)
2) Having a breakfast within 15-30 minutes of waking up, and making that breakfast as the largest meal of the day
3) Eating every 2 to 3 hours after breakfast throughout the day
4) No more meals after 7-8 PM so that our growth and repair hormones can focus only on the muscle growth, instead of digestion
IF, he/she is is following a science based resistance training program (All the points that Mahler mentioned, a workout that is not draining people, short, intense enough to create an anabolic response)
IF, he/she is properly hydrating (at least half of their body weight in ounces)
AND FINALLY IF, this person has a normal functioning thyroid, plus not using any medications that might be effecting the speed of his or her metabolism)
These people (most of the forum readers, who we assume that doing everything that I mentioned) do not have to keep track of the calories because, THEIR INSTINCTUAL APETITE WILL NATURALLY DETERMINE THE CORRECT AMOUNT THAT SHOULD BE COMING IN AND THEY WILL STABILIZE A HEALTHY WEIGHT FOR THEMSELVES! THIS MIGHT NOT BE A FIGURE THAT IS COVERING A FASHION MAGAZINE, BUT WILL BE A WEIGHT THAT IS LEAN ENOUGH FOR THEM TO FUNCTION AND LIVE HEALTHY FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
Unfortunately, we can not turn this the other way around for people who are not in their healthy weight. This is because not following the guidelines above for SO LONG, their metabolic rates, blood sugar levels, hormonal balances are SO OFF that there can never be an accurate calculation of HOW MUCH CALORIE THEY SHOULD BE EATING FOR A HEALTHY WEIGHT!
I don't know if that makes sence? It is hard for me to express my thoughts since English is not my first language. Thanks all of you for listening and sharing.
__________________
Train smarter, not harder. Your mind is your best supplement!
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