BowTied Bacho
Training & Nutrition

I have worked with many different people regarding their nutrition, and one thing I have noticed amongst the beginners is that they typically make poor diet choices because they have a complete lack of nutritional education. Many of them have no idea what macronutrients or micronutrients are, or how to calculate and track their caloric needs. If you already have a good understanding of these topics, then this post probably isn’t for you. However, if you don’t understand these topics, read on.

How to Calculate Caloric Needs

Firstly, it’s important to understand what a calorie actually is. A calorie is just a measurement of energy provided to us by the foods and drinks we consume. The first thing you need to do is determine your caloric needs. We do this by finding your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is an estimation of the calories your body burns at complete rest. To calculate your BMR I recommend using an equation called the Mifflin St Jeor Equation. These equations are as follows:

Men: (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) + 5

Women: (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) – 161

If you are mathematically challenged there are several websites that you can use to make the calculations for you, just search Mifflin St Jeor calculator. Yes, these websites will quickly calculate your caloric needs for you, but you should still understand how it is done. Once you have your BMR calculated you will need to multiply it by an activity factor to determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). Your TDEE estimates how many calories your body burns based on your BMR, activity level, and the thermic effect of food. The activity factors are as follow:

Sedentary: (little to no exercise + desk job) = 1.2

Lightly Active: (light exercise 1-3 days per week) = 1.375

Moderately Active: (moderate exercise 3-5 days per week) = 1.55

Very Active: (heavy exercise 6-7 days per week) = 1.725

Extremely Active: (very heavy exercise, hard labor job, multiple daily training sessions) = 1.9

Once you have calculated your TDEE, you then need to determine your personal goals. If you simply want to maintain your current weight, then you should eat the amount of calories that your TDEE calculation provided you with. If your goal is to lose fat, then a good place to start is to subtract 500 calories from your TDEE and consume that amount of calories. 1 pound of fat equals 3500 calories so this would average out to a weight loss of about a pound per week. Adjustments would eventually need to be made to continue progress, but this is why you hire a coach. If your goal is to gain weight/ build muscle, then you should add somewhere between 200 to 500 calories to your TDEE. In order to build muscle, you must consistently consume more calories than you burn in a day. This does not necessarily mean more calories = better results. Eating too many calories will eventually cause you to put on fat and likely lead to insulin resistance which is a topic for another post. You just need to eat enough to keep yourself in a caloric surplus. Just like with fat loss, adjustments would eventually need to be made, again this is where hiring a coach will really help if you become stagnant in your results.

Macronutrients:

Once you have determined your goals and calculated your caloric needs you then need to determine how you want to distribute your calories across your macronutrients. Before doing this, it is important to understand what macronutrients are and food sources for each.

Protein:

The first macronutrient we will quickly discuss is protein. 1 gram of protein is equal to 4 calories. Consuming adequate protein is very important because every single cell in the human body contains protein. Protein is a building block of bones, skin, cartilage, and muscle. The human body uses protein to build and repair damaged tissues which is exactly what we are doing when we weight train (damaging muscle tissue). Protein is composed of smaller units called amino acids. There are two types of amino acids:

1. Non-Essential Amino Acids: These are amino acids that your body can produce on its own.
2. Essential Amino Acids: These are amino acids that you must consume through your diet.

Protein requirements can vary depending on a variety of factors but if healthy I typically recommend at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight. Some book read nerds might say this is too much but even if you are over consuming protein, it will still be used for functions other than building muscle within the body. I also recommend that most people consume at least 20g-25g of protein per meal and post workout as this is needed to sufficiently stimulate protein synthesis (a post for another day). Listed below are a few good sources of protein:

Sources: Steak, ground beef, bison chicken breast/ thighs, tuna, salmon, cod, whole eggs, egg whites, Greek yogurt, shrimp, beef jerky, weigh protein

Fat:

The next macronutrient we will briefly discuss is fats. 1 gram of fat is equal to 9 calories. Fat is an essential nutrient that plays a role in absorbing and transporting vitamins, supporting nervous system/ brain function, and aids in hormone production. Fats are broken down into three categories:

1. Unsaturated: Liquid at room temperature, improves cholesterol levels, and risk of heart disease.
2. Saturated: Solid at room temperature, may raise LDL cholesterol, and increase risk of heart disease when consumed in large amounts along with large amounts of carbohydrates, however it is not inherently bad.
3. Trans: Chemically made from liquid vegetable oils, will destroy cholesterol levels if heavily consumed, can also seriously increase risk of heart disease. Should try to be avoided.

Healthy fats can help with cognitive function. If not training in the morning I recommend opting for a breakfast higher in protein/ fats, and lower in carbohydrates. This can set an individual up for a productive day with more mental clarity and less brain fog. Fat requirements can vary based on the individual but the standard rule for fats is 20-35% of total daily calories. Listed below are a few good sources of fat:

Sources: Butter, ghee, avocados, almonds/ other nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, MCT oil, seafood, whole milk, full fat yogurt, natural peanut butter, almond butter, dark chocolate

Carbohydrate:

 The final macronutrient we will discuss is the evil carbohydrates. Contrary to the beliefs of many carbohydrates are not inherently bad. They are actually the body preferred source of energy to fuel performance. 1 gram of carbohydrates is equal to 4 calories. Carbohydrates are important for proper function of the nervous system, heart, muscles, and kidneys. Carbohydrates consist in three forms:

1. Sugars: Quickly digested causing a quick spike in glucose.
2. Starches: Digested more slowly causing a steady rise in glucose.
3. Fiber: Body cannot digest, helps regulate the body’s use of sugars.

Carbohydrates are most efficiently utilized by the body when they are consumed pre, intra, and post workout. Therefor I recommend trying to consume the largest quantity of your carbohydrates for the day around your workout. It should also be noted that when consuming carbohydrates especially in larger quantities you will notice you have a more full, watery, or bloated feeling/ appearance. This is because carbohydrates are stored in muscle as glycogen, and it binds to water molecules causing intracellular swelling within muscle tissue. This is a positive thing when trying to build muscle and will typically translate to better overall performance during training. Like the other macros carbohydrate intake will very based on an individual’s specific needs and workload. However, the typical range for carbohydrates is 45-65% of total calories. Listed below are a few good sources of carbohydrates:

Sources: Jasmine Rice, white rice, brown rice, sweet potato, white potato, oatmeal, cream of rice, all fruits, orange juice, cranberry juice, cherry juice, honey, pastas/ bagels/breads (although not my personal favorite sources), carb powder supplements (useful intra/ post workout)

Summary

Everything I’ve mentioned could be broken down and dissected even further but my goal here is to educate the average beginner not to overwhelm them. I will discuss the individual macronutrients in more detail in later post. I also mentioned micronutrients and while they are very important most people are probably meeting a majority of their requirements if they are eating a decently balanced diet. I will touch on them in future post. Hopefully this helped some of you gain a better understanding of some of the basics of nutrition.