Fortunately, it’s easier than ever nowadays to keep track, not only of what you eat, but what ingredients and nutrients are included in the foods you choose to fill your fuel tank.
In the first installment of our client guide to monitoring caloric intake, we’ll break down the tough stuff about medical weight loss into bite-size pieces — pun very much intended. By making weight loss and dietary concepts easy to digest, you’ll feel ready to take on whatever your weight loss program entails. Bon appetit!
Once you’re familiar with everything in Part I, be sure to read Part II of our weight-loss client Guide To Calorie Counting & Macronutrients! You can do so now by clicking here, or by following the link to read Part II at the end of this blog.
When it comes to setting daily nutritional goals and calorie targets, you’ll need to understand and know the figures for the following:
Getting this information will help you set a realistic and accurate daily calorie goal. Furthermore, you’ll be able to adjust this nutritional number accordingly as results from your weight loss program progress and evolve.
The first step to any effective, sustainable calorie monitoring effort begins by knowing what you should be striving towards on a daily basis. Depending on your height, weight, and fat-to-lean-muscle ratio, your body needs a particular minimum number of calories on any given day in order to maintain your weight.
This minimum number of calories is what’s referred to as a basal metabolic rate, or the amount of calories your body would theoretically burn in a 24-hour period if you didn’t expend any energy or take in any calories from food. For simplicity’s sake, however, we’ll just call it your BMR.
If you work with a medical weight loss specialist at Sunrise Health, we can accurately determine what your BMR is and how this relates to your ideal body weight objectives. If you’re interested in learning moreabout us and how we do this, please contact one of our clinics in the By Area — and be sure to read the rest of this informative guide!
How can you accurately measure BMR to determine what your daily calorie intake should look like? More importantly, how does this change when you’re on a weight loss diet or participating in a weight management program?
First, you’ll need to know your current height and weight. From there, it’s best to also get a caliper reading or another form of body composition analysis (a measurement of your body’s mass ratio of fatty tissue to lean muscle). Muscle takes up less space than fat because it’s denser — there’s no logic to the oft-used statement that “muscle weighs more” than fat.” That’s like saying a pound of feathers weighs less than a pound of metal! The differences in volume and density of muscle and fat can make one type of tissue appear more significant in size or quantity than the other. This is why an athlete can weigh the same amount as a non-athlete, but the two individuals look incredibly different in terms of body type.
However, when it comes to calorie tracking and setting daily objectives for your own nutrition, the differences in volume and density of muscle and fat can make one type of tissue appear more significant in size or quantity than the other. This is why an athlete can weigh the same amount as a non-athlete, but the two individuals look incredibly different in terms of body type.
Whether you’re comparing metal and feathers or muscle and fat, a pound is still a pound any way you slice it. When it comes to weight loss and setting daily nutritional goals or calorie targets, you’ll need to understand and know the figures for all of the above — as well as what’s next to come!
Click here for Part II of our Client Guide To Calorie Monitoring For Weight Loss.
Categories: Blog, Calorie Counting & Macronutrient Guide, Weight Loss Clinic Bay Area
Tags: Caloric Intake, Calorie Tracking, Clinical Weight Management, Health & Wellness Guide, medical weight loss, Medical Weight Loss Bay Area, Nutrition
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