Not a diet, a lifestyle change

M Power Physical Therapy and Wellness is a cash based physical therapy clinic which offers strength and conditioning and wellness services.

If you are thinking about getting summer body ready.  Now is the time.

But where do you start your plans?

While M Power Physical Therapy and Wellness does offer wellness services that can help you guide you to your goals.  Maybe we can give you a little homework before you reach out.

Let’s start with how many calories you should be eating in a day.

A common recommendation is to multiply your current bodyweight by 15.  That is approximately how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight.  If you multiply your current bodyweight by 12 that is how much you can eat in a day to lose weight.  Or you can subtract about 500 maintenance total.  So at 200 lbs the assumed maintenance calories are about 3000 per day.  In order to lose weight a 200 lb individual would need to eat about 2400-2500 calories a day.  This would result in about 1 lb lost per week.

Don’t forget though, that as you lose weight you may have to continue decreasing your total calorie count in order to continue losing weight at the same rate.  If someone goes from 200 lbs to 180 lbs their maintenance calories reduce from 3000 to 2700 calories.  This individual would have to reduce their calorie intake from 2400 to 2160-2200 in order to continue losing weight at about 1 lb per week.

So we have our total calorie amount per day.  Where to next?

Our 3 macronutrients and one very important micronutrient.

Protein, Carbohydrates, Fat, and Fiber.

Protein is a gym goer’s best friend.  If you are looking to help build and repair muscle in between workouts, protein is where to go.  While the exact recommendations for protein have varied over the years the general target of 1 gram per pound is still true.  My personal recommendation is possibly aiming for 1 gram of protein per bound of GOAL body weight.  Protein intake recommendations can vary based on your current body fat percentage and other strength goals. 

Protein is a hot button topic with most brands attempting to add protein to their food for marketing.  The general recommendation is a food is high protein if the listed protein content multiplied by 10 is about the calorie count.  Therefore, if a food has 10 grams of protein in it with 100 total calories this could be considered a high protein food.  A food with 10 grams of protein and 150 calories misses the mark in terms of being a high protein food.  It still may be a good food choice for you in the overall picture.

Fat is a simpler recommendation for daily goals.  Your total fat intake should be about 20-30% of your total calorie intake.  So if your total calories for the day are 2400, about 800 should be about 480 calories or about 53 grams per day.  Fat is vital to our hormone production and limiting excess fat, or any nutrient, is not recommended unless specifically indicated to you by a physician. 

Carbohydrates continue to be wildly villainized. Carbohydrates are good for you.  Your brain relies on them.  Excess restriction of carbohydrates is not necessary.  Carbohydrates are probably the easiest macronutrient to reduce general intake from.  This exact reason may be why so many find success in weight loss when they reduce carbohydrate intake.  The general recommendation is that carbohydrates should take over the remainder of your calories after you account for your protein and fat.  While we cut away temporarily, we will come back to carbs when we discuss fiber.

 Fat has about 9 calories per gram.  Carbohydrates and Proteins have about 4.  So for a 160 lb individual looking to maintain their weight they would consume about 2400 calories per day. For this 2400 calorie diet, 480 calories or 55 grams are accounted for in fat, 160 grams or 640 calories of protein are accounted for, which leaves about 320 grams of carbs or 1280 calories.  If you increase your total fat intake you would reduce your total carb intake to continue around 2400 calories.  I personally feel better on a higher fat intake.  These guidelines are exactly that, a guide to help you get started on your own journey.

So for our final measurable nutrient.  Fiber.  Fiber comes from carbs.  Starchy and non starchy carbohydrates.  Do you know what can have a generally higher level of fiber between a basic apple or 2 cups of salad greens?  The apple.  1 fist sized apple can have up to 5 grams of fiber.  2 cups of spinach as 2 grams of fiber. So having both is great for you.  But in order to hit your personal goals you may have to consider some ‘higher sugar’ sources of carbohydrates to meet your goals.  Men should be consuming about 38 grams per day and women about 25 grams.  A common recommendation for fiber and general health is to have about 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.  More on servings in a bit.

So how do we put this all together?

While the upside down nutrition pyramid has been recently introduced it is not really visually easy to understand.  Previously we had myplate which offered a simpler idea.  Half your plate is non starchy vegetables.  A quarter to slightly more are your lean protein sources. A quarter or slightly less are your starchy carbohydrates.  If each meal is constructed in this manner you can likely reach your general intake goals.  Fats are generally accounted for by cooking methods and flavor enhancers such as dressings/sauces

So what is a serving?  Take a look at your hand.  An apple is about 1 serving of fruit because it is the size of your fist.  1 serving of protein is about the palm of your hand.  Starchy carbohydrates could be counted as a fist as well. 

The hardest part about a lifestyle change is the honesty required.  The first time I measured out what a serving of pasta was I was irate.  Don’t believe me?  Measure out what a serving is based on your pasta instructions.  The same was for toast, buttered toast especially.  I was probably eating 2-3 pieces of toast with 2-3 tablespoons of butter on it.  Delicious but maybe not great for my calorie goals.

Some words of encouragement however.  Dessert can be accounted for in this calorie scheme.  If you like desserts, sauces, gravy, etc this can be factored in.   This is where personalization is important.  Are you someone who would rather have more overall volume of food and still meet your goals? Or are you someone who can have smaller volumes with their favorite toppings?

Flavor additives like dressing, barbecue sauce, and gravies are fine to have, just not in excess.

If there were other recommendations I would make it would be as follows.  Do count calories for a bit.  Learn what a serving size is for most of your favorite or most common foods. Understand what your body does and does not tolerate such as: high vs low carbs/fats, which proteins keep you feeling full, do you prefer satiety over satisfaction.  Do you like to fast? Are you a grazer and eat several small meals throughout the day? Does one meal a day suit you? Playing around with these variables is certainly helpful and can help you understand what it is you are putting into your body.

Weight loss is ultimately a personal journey, and while the numbers presented today make it seem simple the emotional ties we have with food are not.  Certain cultural foods are meant to be rich and hearty as a celebratory/ every so often food, as opposed to a daily consumption.  Many of us reach for food for comfort when under stress.  Progressively recognizing and trying to improve your overall lifestyle is a challenge but it does not mean you have to entirely abandon the foods you love or grew up with.  

I am sure that if I were to put out a survey regarding a person’s favorite food, baked chicken breast with brown rice and broccoli is unlikely to show up.  One of my personal favorite foods is cheeseburgers.  I could easily eat 2 cheese burgers with each patty being about a third of a pound of 80/20.  Some mayonnaise, cheese, ketchup and bun.  Some sliced tomato and lettuce on top as well.  Mmm delicious. But also in excess of 1000 calories with just the meat alone.  So I have come to recognize that maybe one burger will do with a hefty salad on the side to help with the volume and make me feel full. I also structure my day in terms of intake to make sure I still hit my protein goals (generally a shake) and will still eat breakfast and lunch but maybe skip the snacks in order to enjoy the burger.

On the flip side of the discussion above let’s say you go to a party.  Maybe you only go to 3-4 parties per year because that’s how your life goes.  One day of overconsumption per quarter is not the end of the world.  Eat the cake, have the fattier meat, enjoy those treats because they are not an everyday thing to consume and I’d rather you have fun than be miserable.  Also, something will get us one day regardless of how we eat so some flexibility is generally recommended.

If you are seeking an individualized exercise program that emphasizes your function for life, 

please reach out via our contact page.  We look forward to hearing from you.