Читать книгу Accelerate Your Metabolism - HOMEMADE LOVING'S - Страница 8

However, it is also important to know how many of these calories come from carbohydrates, proteins or fats and which other nutrients such as vitamins and minerals are still present. First of all, it is important that we know how many calories our body needs. A distinction is made between the calorie requirement according to basal metabolic rate and power metabolic rate.

The basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories the body needs to survive at rest - the energy consumed, for example, for cell metabolism. It is influenced by factors such as age, size, sex, muscle and fat content of the body mass. The service turnover depends on the way of life and how much we move in everyday life. It makes sense that a competitive athlete needs more and different food than someone who sits at his desk all day long at work.

But how do we know how many calories we really need?

The Harris-Benedict formula was developed to calculate the basal metabolic rate.

For women, it reads as follows:

655 + (9.5 x weight in kilograms) + (1.9 x height in centimeters) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men use the following formula:

66 + (13.8 x weight in kg) + (5.0 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

A 35 year old woman who is 165 cm tall and weighs 60 kg would have a basal metabolic rate of about 1225 calories. In addition, there are the calories that she burns through physical exercise. So if she sits at her desk all day and relaxes on the couch after working with television, she shouldn't take much more extra calories if she doesn't want to gain weight.

But if she lives very actively, rides her bike to work instead of her car and goes to sports three times a week, she can eat a few calories more and still keep her desired weight. Although the Harris Benedict formula is suitable for a rough estimate of the basic turnover, it does not contain the whole truth.

How else can it be explained that some people with the same height, age and calorie intake gain or lose weight faster than others? Right, metabolism plays a role. As we have already seen, a slow metabolism means that the body consumes little energy even at rest. This means that the basal metabolic rate will decrease. If we eat additional calories, these are immediately stored as fat pads. A well-functioning metabolism, on the other hand, burns more energy even in basal metabolic rate, so they almost lose energy on their own, without having to constantly torture themselves through starvation cures or hours on the treadmill.