How to Dial In You Nutrition, Everything You Need To Know

One of the many questions i get from people daily is; how many calories do i need daily? and What macro ratios should i follow? well i am going to explain everything you need to know right here. so grab a pencil and paper and be prepared to write stuff down lol.

First question is "How Many Calories Do I Need Daily?"


First what we are going to do is use the "Harris Benedict Equation" the WHAT!?!? don't worry it is not rocket science and easy math, take it from a guy that is terrible at math ;)

English BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ) Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ) Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

Now we know exactly how many calories to Eat daily to maintain our weight. Now what do we do if we want to add weight or loose weight? Simple

Now since you know how many calories you burn daily doing absolutely nothing lets factor in the exercise:

Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows: If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2 If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375 If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) (this is the category most people that do beachbody programs fall into that also don't have a crazy active life style with a desk job- i am in this category) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55  If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725 If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

- to add weight (bulking diet) or put on 1 pound a week (healthy weight gain with minimal fat gain) simply add 500 calories onto your daily caloric needs. so an example is a guy that has a daily caloric needs of 2500 and wants to put on muscle should eat 3000 calories a day. thats a lot of food but it will work, as long as it's healthy whole clean food.

-now for those of you who want to loose weight simply Subtract 500 Calories from your daily needs (but never go below 1500 if your a male and never go below 1200 if your a female) so lets say we have a girl that has a daily needs of 1800 calories but wants to loose weight. simply subtract 500 from that and you have a healthy 1300 calories that she can eat daily and loose one pound a week (healthy weight loss)

Second Questions is "What Macro Ratios Should I Follow For My Goals?" 

Before i can answer that i have to explain what a macronutrient is. ready for your Biology lesson for the day ;) Macronutrients are what all our food is made out of in life, it consist of a Protein, Carb, and Fat. every food in life has a Macronutrient Profile to go with it.

So what's next? how do we use the Macronutrients or track them? and why are they important? Shawn theres so much to learn! don't worry fellow classmates i will explain this all in simple terms so you all know how to go about this.

Alright first you need to know what ratios go good for each goals that people set for themselves, all the following ratios in this article will be labeled in the order of %protein/%carbs/%fat.

Fat Shredder Ratios

These are the ratios you will follow if you want to burn fat and loose weight. i am going to provide a variety here that you can choose from, since everyones body is different you will have to experiment to see what works best for you.

50/30/20

50/25/25

45/30/25

45/35/20

all these ratios support the same goal of fat loss but i realize everyone is different and different things work different for different people. so you can try the above and see what works best.

Energy Booster Ratios

If you are happy with your body fat and want to go into a muscle building/ maintenance level this is the stage for you. these are the ratios i follow.

40/40/20

40/30/30

30/40/30

45/30/25

40/35/25

these are all maintenance levels that everyone should eventually transfer too, these are ratios that can be used for life unlike the fat shredder which you should only be on temporarily since the higher protein can be bad on your kidneys and liver if your on it too long.

Endurance Maximizer Ratios

This level of macronutrients is not for everyone, this is for people that want to gain weight, and people that train a lot with active lifestyles. Even though i workout daily i have a desk job and a not so active life so these ratios i will probably never follow but for the high endurance runners, or muscle builders this diet is perfect. make sure all your carbs are clean tho!

30/50/20

20/60/20

25/55/20

again remember this is not for everyone, but some this will work wonders for you! If you have an Active Life Try it!

You are probably thinking what in the world do all these numbers mean!?!?!? settle down now lol i am getting to that.

Third Question "How Do I Calculate My Macronutrients?" 

Things to keep in mind are:
Protein has 4 calories per gram.
Carbs have 4 calories per gram.
Fat has 9 calories per gram.


With all that in mind now you have to do the math to figure out your ratios. here is an example;
A male with calories of 2400 on the "Energy Booster" Plan (40/40/20),
first i will do .40 X 2400 then divide that by 4 (4 calories per gram of protein/ Carb) = 240 grams of protein.
Carbs have the same amount so in this case it is also = 240 grams of carbs.
then for fat we take .20 X 2400 divide that number by 9 (9 calories per gram of fat) = 53 grams of fat.
so there we have it this male is going to eat 2400 calories with 240 g pro/240 g ca/53 g fat.


here's a fat shredder diet example:
(So on a 2,000 calorie diet with fat shredder %, you will want 1,000 cals from protein, 600 cals from carbs, and 400 cals from fat.  This would mean 250g protein, 150g carbs, and 45g fat).


Fourth Question "How in the World do i track this stuff daily?"
There is a simple answer for this and that answer is www.myfitnesspal.com all you have to do is sign up and make an account (it's free) then once you have an account go to the goals and update the goals with the ratios that you have calculated for yourself. and Wola! it's all done for you automatically then. just track your food daily and all the math will be calculated for you. Like magic :)


I really hope this blog has helped you and also explained all the confusing stuff in simple terms. After you do this stuff for a while it will become second nature and you will be able to do it easily. if you guys have any questions at all feel free to contact me, email, facebook, or comment here i check them all and always will get back to you ASAP. Thanks for taking the time to read this! And one favor i ask of you is if you could share my website on your facebook wall, i want to grow this great community and it would be so helpful if you could all help me share the great info on this site. thanks again!


Peace, Fausey