How Much Do I Need?

In my last post, I discussed how you should eat to lose and I know the concept may be a bit confusing. The important point is to make better choices for your calories. Calories that are nutrient dense and healthier are the goal. It is also important to exercise and increase your lean muscle tissue through strength training to help change your body composition.
2000 calories to one person can be a completely different picture to another. For an example of how this picture is painted differently, I used one of the many online food and exercise trackers to input various foods to find the calorie value for two different people.
The first person consumes 2024 total calories and consists of:
Breakfast - 1 McDonalds Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit: 440 calories
Lunch - 2 Taco Bell Chicken Gordita Baja: 640 calories
Snacks - 2 Apples: 144 calories
Dinner - 2 slices of Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pork Pizza: 800 calories

The second person consumes 2033 calories and consists of:
Breakfast – 1 cup cooked oatmeal, 1 grapefruit, Yoplait yogurt: 358 calories
Snack – 1 whole wheat English muffin, 2 T almond butter, ½ T honey, 1 banana: 441 calories
Lunch –2 slices whole wheat bread, 4 slices of low-salt deli turkey breast, 1 tsp brown mustard, 1 cup of carrots, ½ cup lentils: 433 calories
Snack- 8oz soymilk, soy protein powder, and 1-cup strawberries: 272 calories
Dinner – 4 oz Atlantic wild salmon, 1 cup of brown rice, 2 cups of chopped spinach: 433 calories
Snack – 1 pear: 96 calories

The food choices are on an even scale when it comes to calories, but can you see how BETTER choices equates to MORE food? The second person has more nutrient dense, healthier options. The first person has less food, but more fat, cholesterol and sodium than one would need in a day. When you eat more quality choices that nourish your body and have good sources of fiber, fat, protein and carbohydrates, you will see better results in body composition change. It is important to eat 5-6 meals throughout the day and to balance your meals so that you are not eating too much at one time. One final note is to eat more of your calories in the first half of your day and reduce the calories of your snacks later in the day.

This brings me to how much of the nutrients your body actually needs. As stated in the last post, carbohydrates are the most important nutrient for energy. When you reduce this nutrient, you will start to feel sluggish. The body needs between 45% to 65% of total calories from carbohydrates. The better choices are brown or wild rice, whole grain pasta, sweet potatoes as well as fruits and vegetables. This number is a wide range based on the activity level of an individual. Fiber is part of the carbohydrate family and is essential for maintaining the health of the gastrointestinal tract. The body needs at least 25 grams and the natural fiber is in your fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and beans.

The next nutrient needed in the body is fats or lipids. This is the second source of energy and the body needs between 20% and 35% of total calories in a day. The sources are olive oil, nuts, seeds, fatty fishes (salmon and tuna), and avocado.
Protein should not be thought of as a source of energy. It takes a long process for your body to produce energy from protein, so stick with the carbs and good fats. The body needs between 15% and 20% of total calories and one of its many roles is to build blocks for your muscles. Great sources of protein are beans, legumes, yogurt, cottage cheese, milk, fish, and skinless/boneless poultry. Oh and if you eat really well and make great choices 80-90% of the time, it's okay to have a few Hershey's Kisses every now and then. Just watch your portion!
The online trackers are a great way to see how the foods you eat are broken down into the various nutrients. I named a few in the post dated January 31, 2010 entitled, Track Your Progress. In an upcoming post, I will discuss cholesterol, sodium and sugar.