Extra pounds - this is not the energy spent entering the body with food. The main expense is the work of the heart, liver and lungs, therefore, even at rest, a person can lose weight, most importantly, correctly calculate the calories entering the body. Today we find out how many calories a person spends per day (with physical activity and their absence), and learn how to calculate them.

What are calories, how to count them

Calorie is a unit of measurement of the energy value of food.

Until the 20th century, this measure was not used for food; calories measured the amount of heat generated during the combustion of various materials. Further, it was found that food is fuel for our body, and the energy coming from food was also calculated in kcal.

If you decide to start counting calories, that's right. After all, the problem of excess weight confronts people because of the unspent energy consumed from food, and if you learn to calculate calories, then you can not deny yourself almost anything.

Calorie counting is an important part of achieving your goal, be it losing weight, gaining muscle, or maintaining a healthy weight.

Knowing the energy value of products, you can easily make your diet by adding your favorite dishes to it.

Initially, the calculation may seem tedious and time-consuming, but in the future you will get used to it and realize that there are absolutely no difficulties here. The first thing you need to arm yourself with is a kitchen scale and a calorie table of products. But to build a beautiful body is not enough to maintain a balance of calories. It is important to pay attention to the daily need for nutrients - these are fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

You can find out the content of proteins, calories, carbohydrates, fats on the packaging of the purchased product.

If this information is not available, then simply enter a query into the search bar of the browser (for example, 1.5% of yogurt kefir).

In order to constantly have the energy composition of your favorite product on hand, create a notebook in which you will write this data.

To calculate the calorie content of a dish consisting of several ingredients, you need to weigh each, calculate the content of kcal per mass, then add.

For example, the energy value of boiled potatoes will be the same as raw potatoes, but fried potatoes will change, because the composition will include oil.

We’ll give an example so that you understand how to correctly calculate calories.

The energy value of cottage cheese is 1.8% - 101 kcal per 100 g. To calculate the calorie content of a serving of 250 g, you need 101 times 2.5. Find out the calorie content of a 50 g portion - multiply the calorie content by 0.5 (101 by 0.5). And so on.

A second example is a 100 g fried chicken breast weighing:

  • fillet 100 g - 116 kcal;
  • Sunflower oil 100 ml - 900 kcal. Take 20 ml (180 kcal), but only 20% is absorbed into the product, we get 36 kcal;
  • salt and pepper - 0 kcal.

As a result, we have a calorie content of 152 kcal.

If you use flour breading for roasting meat, the absorbency of the oil will increase to almost 100%, and you will need to add the calorie content of the flour.

A third example is broth and boiled meat.

In the process of cooking, part of the calories in the water leaves the product:

  • 20% of any meat;
  • 15% of the fish.

That is, if you decide to eat both meat and broth, then the calorie content per 100 g of the dish will be equal to the calorie content of the taken product (for example, beef). If you want only meat, then reduce the specified calorie content by 20% (15 from fish). Just broth - only 20% of calories from meat and 15% from fish.

Weigh products to calculate calories before cooking, in raw form!

In order not to waste time on long calculations, just use the food calorie analyzer. You can find them on the Internet. Enter in the form the composition of the dish or the name of the product, and get a calorie value and BJU.

How much does a person spend per day

So, we learned how to calculate the energy value of dishes and products, now we need to learn about calorie consumption. For each person, it will be different. It all depends not only on whether you are doing exercises if the work is sedentary, or just spend all day at the computer, whether you are engaged in physical activity.

An important role is played by basal metabolism (the minimum amount of energy that is required to ensure the functioning of internal organs), and it is individual.

For example, one needs more energy (accelerated metabolism), while others need less.

At rest

When a person sleeps, sitting or lying down, watches TV, reads, sunbathes on the beach, calories also go away, but not as fast as we would like.

At rest, an average of 2500 kcal is burned per day.

That is, if you are an office worker, then you need to take care of a balanced diet, otherwise extra pounds can not be avoided.

If a person works in the office, but there is little muscle activity (moves around the office, gets up to warm up, and so on), then calorie consumption increases to 2600-2800 kcal per day.

Housewives, leading a measured lifestyle (shopping, cleaning the house), calorie consumption indicators have an average of 3000 kcal.

During physical exertion

Energy consumption during exercise is easy to calculate. For example, if a person has hard work, and after she rests at home, then per day his need will vary from 4000-5000 kcal.

Anyone can increase calorie burning by practicing exercises. It can be gymnastics, yoga, running, walking, torsion of a hoop.

Let's look at simple examples of calorie consumption per day:

  1. With one hour of walking, calories are burned per kilogram of body: 4 km / h - 3.5 kcal / kg, 8 km / h - 10 kcal per 1 kg. That is, you need to multiply the number of calories by weight.For example, you weigh 60 kg and walk at a speed of 4 km / h, then in 1 hour you will spend 210 kcal. On the day you walk for 2 hours, the rest of the time you sit, lying, then per day you will need to maintain a weight of 3000-3500 kcal. For weight loss, calorie consumption should be greater than their consumption.
  2. If you have physically hard work, and you also walk 2 hours a day at a speed of 4 km / h, then the flow will already be over 4500 kcal.

Other exercises for energy expenditure:

  1. Running at a speed of 10 km / h - on average, the body burns 100-150 kcal. To make weight loss more productive, increase the speed to 18 km / h (fast run), and the costs will vary between 250-300 kcal / h.
  2. Jumping rope - 750 kcal / h.
  3. Push-ups, press load - 250-300 kcal / h (but hardly anyone will perform these exercises for an hour).
  4. Torsion of the hoop - 600 kcal / h.
  5. Cycling - 550 kcal / h.
  6. Yoga - 250 kcal / h.
  7. Skiing - burning indicators vary, and correspond to 500 kcal / h when driving on a flat surface, 900 kcal when climbing uphill and descending from it.

Do not forget that even the simplest household chores contribute to burning calories. For example, dusting will take about 80 kcal per hour, washing windows - 230 kcal, gardening - 150 kcal. Even when driving a car, you can lose weight! You do not just sit, but also drive transport, concentrate, and this is burning 50-60 kcal per hour.

Defining Your Own Needs

To understand how much per day you need to consume calories for weight loss, you must calculate your own need. Add up all the calories spent per day: at rest or during hard work + exercises. Further, it will be necessary to reduce the intake of energy from food. For example, for active weight loss, you need to reduce calories by 2 times. If your daily requirement is 4000 kcal, then the daily diet should consist of 2000 kcal.

To gain mass, on the contrary, increase calorie intake. To maintain the result, you must maintain the norm of kcal for your body.

All this is easy to achieve if you know how to calculate the energy value of consumed dishes.

If you want to lose weight, but broke, and ate more than expected, then work out by walking an hour on foot, twisting the hoop.

Excess calories spent during exercises and work must be replenished if your task is to save the result or gain body weight.

Counting calories, their consumption, taking into account the lifestyle and goals, is an important part of every person’s lifestyle. How pleasant it is to realize that you give the body the energy you need for it, and all of it goes only to ensure vital functions, and not to gain extra weight. It is worth trying only one day to spend with the calculation of kcal, and you will understand that everything is very simple.