Three Building Blocks of Life

Our eyes look at foods in different ways, but our bodies look at food in only one way. While we see a steak, pizza, and a Caesar salad as different foods, our bodies see each as just and amalgam of energy, in the form of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Once we eat, our bodies go to work breaking down our meals into smaller units of energy that are transported into the bloodstream to provide the fuel we need to operate. From the time we begin chewing, digestive enzymes are secreted to break our food down into its component parts:

1) Carbohydrates break down into glucose and other simple sugar molecules.
2) Fats break down into glycerol and fatty acid molecules.
3) Proteins break down into amino acid molecules.

Once this break down occurs, the resulting molecules are transported to the cells via the bloodstream. Either this molecules will be absorbed by the cells for immediate use, or they will be stored as fat.

Calculating Your Caloric Requirements

When we discuss how many calories we need per day, we're actually talking about how many calories our cells need to functions as they should. Although everyone's caloric needs are slightly different from everyone else's, food manufactures base the nutritional information on their labels (otherwise known as percent daily values, or %DV) on a two thousand calorie diet, which represent the caloric needs of the "average" person.

What makes a person "average"? Well, for a woman, average is defined as someone to eat about two thousand calories a day to maintain her weight, whereas in average man is defined is needing approximately two thousand five hundred calories. In the years I have worked with clients to help them lose weight, I have found this number to be roughly accurate; however, there are several factors that determine the exact number for each individual.

So while I'm going to explain the technical way to determine your personal daily caloric requirements (to maintain your weight), it will not influence how to put the fibers35 diet to work for you. Whether or not you know your exact caloric requirement. You can still fallow the eating program in phase one and phase two as described. Those who do not know their exact number should read on.

There are several things that influence how many calories you need per day to maintain your weight:

1) Height
2) Weight
3) Gender
4) Age
5) Activity level

The mathematical formula that helps you determine you personal daily caloric needs takes into account most of the factors listed above, and is calculated using two variables: you're metabolic are (MR), and the amount of energy expended during physical activity.

Your MR, which accounts for about sixty to seventy percent of your body's daily energy expenditure (calories burned), is the rate at which your body uses energy to maintain basic life process like heartbeat, normal body temperature, and respiration. The formulas used for calculating MR are different for women and men because men have more lean muscle mass than women. In general, if you're a woman, your metabolism burns ten calories per day for every pound of body weight; if you're a man, your metabolism burns eleven calories per day for every pound. This means that woman who weights one thousand five hundred calories (150x10) just to run her body's core functions, and a man of the same weight would burn one thousand six hundred fifty (150x11). This is one reason why men find it easier to lose weight -they naturally burn more calories, even when they are inactive.

The second variable for calculating caloric needs-energy expended during physical activity- would ideally take into account all physical activities in which a person engages, even seemingly in significant ones like fishing and playing the piano.