Today we will discuss how to calculate your total day energy expenditure and some basic diet principles.

Having talked about the weightlifting program in the previous blog post, talking about nutrition is a must if you want to build muscle or lose fat.

Many say that training is 30 % of the mechanics while nutrition is 70 %. I don’t agree with that statement. Both nutrition, as well as training, should be considered to be done wholeheartedly.

I mean to say that if you lose sight on one of these key points there won’t be any growth of your body.

You can’t build muscle if you don’t train correctly, also you can’t build muscle if you don’t have sight on your nutrition, so both of them go hand in hand.

You want your diet (aka lifestyle) to be such that takes you closer to your goals.

Thinking of the fitness magazines, many of you get carried away as their athletes that are paid to get the powders in front of you so you start slamming down buckets of protein powders, some fat burners, pre-workouts & help them become rich, while you wonder why am I not making any gains or losing fat.

Proper nutrition gets down to two things:

Supply your body with nutrients to help you recover from your workouts

Changing your energy intake to lose, maintain or gain weight as desired.

From this blog post, you will get those two things under your belt & definitely start seeing the results that you want to.

Before we get into this topic, I want to tell you that carbs are very important part of your diet. Good news is that you can eat pasta, wheat, chocolates and then to get shredded.

The main aspects of nutrition that help you build muscle, lose fat are:

Calories

Carbs

Proteins

Fats

Vitamins & Minerals

Fiber

Water

To bifurcate these aspects Proteins, Carbs & Fats are called micronutrients, while Vitamins and Minerals are called micronutrients.

Hydration is very important when it comes to performing workouts and for overall health as 70 % of content in your body is water.

Lastly, Fiber is an indigestible type of carb that’s found in different foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains & legumes.

Calories determine whether your want to lose fat or build muscle. If you want to build muscle you need to eat calories more than you burn and vice versa for losing fat.

For giving you exact information:

1 gm carbohydrate = 4 calories

1 gm protein = 4 calories

1 gm fat = 9 calories

So to make you understand a gram of carb found in wheat and a gram of carb found in chocolates has equal energy.

Before you start eating chocolates & other junk right away I want to make it clear that there are other factors that can mess with your health, so eat as healthy food as possible with some delightful foods you like.

Few factors determine the total calories your body burns every day such as

Body size

Body temperature

Amount of physical activity

Total lean mass

Thermic effect of foodTo calculate your T.D.E.E we first need to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), there are many formulas to calculate BMR, however, the most accurate is the Katch-McArdle Formula.

BMR = 370 + (21.6 x LBM) (here LBM is in kg)

Here LBM (lean body mass) is the weight of your body excluding only your fat weight.

LBM = (1-B.F % IN DECIMAL) x total body weight

If I give you my example I’m currently 151 lbs at about 10 % body fat.

LBM = (1-.1) x 151= 135.9 lbs. (LBM)

Now calculating my BMR =370 + (21.6 x (135.9/2.2))=1705 calories/day

Now we calculate T.D.E.E according to your physical activities/week:

After knowing your BMR, you need to multiply by following to know your T.D.E.E:

By 1.2 if you exercise 1 to 3 hours a week

By 1.35 if you exercise 4 to 6 hours a week

By 1.5 if you exercise more than 6 hours a week

For example, my BMR IS 1705 calorie/day. I exercise 6 hours a week.

So my T.D.E.E =1.35 x 1705 =2300 calories/day

If I want to lose fat then I need to eat below my T.D.E.E, if I want to maintain my weight I need to eat 2300 calories/day & if I want to gain muscle I need to eat more than my T.D.E.E

This calculation is the most accurate thing that I have found by reading many books and studies.

Not only has it worked for me but many others and they have found it to be the most accurate thing.

Now you might be wondering that I have my T.D.D.E but I want to lose fat or build muscle or maintain your weight, so how much less or more should I exactly eat to lose fat and build muscle.

Do notice that the above multipliers for calculating T.D.E.E based on physical activities are lower than the real Katch McArdel formula.

Why?

Simply because the real ones have too high & are way off on calculating T.D.E.E.

I have tried them by myself and after experimenting, I have found these multipliers are pretty accurate.

The amount of deficit you need to create to lose fat & not muscle:

As I told you in my previous blog post that a newbie can have a body recomposition effect. i.e.; build muscle and lose fat at the same time.

But for an experienced lifter losing about 1 pound of fat per week is a good healthy way to cut.

However, if you have quite a large amount of fat to lose you can increase the percentage of deficit you already have.

To lose fat I a healthy way you need about 20 % calorie deficit to lose around 1 pound of fat per week, as 3500 calories are 1 pound of fat.

For example, if I want to lose 1 pound of fat per week I place a 20 % calorie deficit. i.e. 2300x.8 =1840 calories per day. So I need to eat 1840 calories every day to lose 1 pound of fat per week.

To build muscle after experimenting I have found that around 10 % calorie surplus is a good way to see some lean gains without putting much fat.

This blog post was just made to make things clear that calories do matter & in beginning it may seem a tedious job but after some time you will definitely enjoy it.

Thanks for reading…!! If you like this post then do share with someone you care for and also share your feedback in the comment section