Oh Calories, My Calories!

"Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.” -- Hippocrates

WITH THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTIONS OF SUPERSTRING THEORY, a way out of Iraq, and Donald Trump’s follicle tower, nothing seems to befuddle the mind and puzzle the intellect more than the human diet. What, when, how and how much to eat to manage our weight, boost our energy and live better lives is a topic of constant debate and an endless stream of laughably arcane books.

While the right types and amounts of exercise are going to help you to achieve great things in your quest to live a healthier life, I’m sure you know that the right types and amounts of food are every bit as important. That said, a lot of people tend to focus exclusively, or at least disproportionately, on one aspect of their fitness (the diet or the exercise) rather than both, which unfortunately means they don’t get the results they’re after.

Of course, it can be tough to figure out what you’re supposed to eat, how much of it, and when -- particularly with all the fad diets perpetually flooding the market and all the “groundbreaking” research claiming to have found a scientifically sound new approach to eating or, better yet, a nutritional supplement that will give you…energy!...Weight-loss!...Abs of steel!...Buns of Topaz!...And all for just $49.99!... Try my product! From low carb to no carb to calorie restrictive to cabbage soup to detox diets, from metabolism-boosting to fat-burning miracle pills -- it’s easy to understand why you’d be a little confused about which methods (if any) will work best for you.

Here and now, I’m going to help you make sense of all the dietary minutiae. You’ll probably be happy to hear that eating healthfully doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, any fitness goal you have will require the same basic principles, including an appropriate amount of calories to support your basic physiology and level of activity, and the right balance of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats). From there, it’s just a matter of making the best food choices within each category and timing things wisely throughout the day. Let’s begin with some food fundamentals, then we’ll get into more detail regarding how to make goal-specific tweaks and put it all together into the right meal-plan for you.

You count them, you ration them, you may even do whatever you possibly can to burn them off -- from cranking up your cardio workouts to eating more celery. Yes, whether you’re trying to lose weight or simply maintain an optimum fitness level, chances are you view the poor little calorie with fear and loathing or, at the very least, confusion. But if you understood exactly what calories were, you could work with them rather than against them.

Simple truth: The calorie is not inherently evil. In nutritional terms, it is defined as a unit of energy-producing potential contained in food and released upon oxidation by the body. If we viewed calories this way -- as potential energy to fuel our bodies, not unlike the insanely expensive gasoline we put into our cars -- we might dramatically alter our relationship to the foods we eat, and strive for the premium stuff that will keep us running smoothly and efficiently, rather than the cheap stuff that always seems to require we go in for an extra tune-up when we haven’t gone nearly enough miles. Okay, enough with the car analogies. My point is that as an everyday athlete, you should be obsessed with -- or at least intent upon -- fueling your body as effectively as possible, and to do that you must get to know the caloric breakdown of the foods you consume, and aim for the appropriate quantities.

Let’s look at the big picture first: How many calories should you be consuming each day? That’s going to depend on your height, weight, age, gender, body composition (how much fat and muscle you have), general health, genetics and how much exercise you get. Believe it or not, there is a formula known as the Harris-Benedict equation that takes a lot of these factors into account, and can therefore give you a fairly good estimate of your basal metabolic rate (BMR) -- which is how many calories your body burns at rest (or the minimum number you need to maintain your basic bodily processes, not counting exercise, each day). Using that number, there is an additional formula that considers your activity levels.

First, here’s the formula for your BMR:

FOR MEN, YOUR BMR =

66 + (6.23 x your weight in pounds) + (12.7 x your height in inches) – (6.8 x your age in years)

FOR WOMEN, your BMR =

655 (no, that’s not a typo) + (4.35 x your weight in pounds) + (4.7 x your height in inches) - (4.7 x your age in years)

To give you an example: Let’s say you’re a 25-year-old male, 180 pounds and 6 feet tall (or 72 inches). That’s: 66 + (6.23 x 180) + (12.7 x 72) – (6.8 x 25) = 66 + 1121 + 914 – 170 = 1931

So, your BMR -- the number of calories your body requires just to sit around doing next-to-nothing -- is 1931.

Now, you need to multiply your BMR by one of the following numbers to determine how many additional calories you’ll need to consume to maintain the activity/exercise you do each day:

- If you’re sedentary (little or no exercise): multiply by 1.2 (and feel guilty)
- If you’re lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): multiply by 1.375
- If you’re moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): multiply by 1.55
- If you’re very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): multiply by 1.725
- If you’re extra active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job): multiply by 1.9

While the numbers arm us with the information to make intelligent choices, don't let it take the pure joy out of eating. Food is a source of pleasure in life. Don't spend a moment mired in guilt. Do your best to eat right -- and relish every bite.