Useful Diet Calculations
Why are Diet Calculations Important?
It is essential that if you are dieting, you use the correct diet calculations. This is because you can monitor the effectiveness of your diet by using calculations that determine your body weight and also help you understand how much you should be eating. That way, you can develop a better understanding into what you need to do to improve your diet.
What Is a Calorie Calculator?
A calorie calculator is a tool that can be used to estimate the number of calories someone should consume in a day’s time. This is a calculation based upon the individual’s weight, height, age, activity, and other factors.
What Is a Calorie?
When individuals speak about or of calories that food contains, what are they referring to? Well, a calorie is used as a unit of measurement and this is usually in the form of a unit of energy per se. When you realize something possesses 100 calories, it contains 100 values of energy that your body will use or not use. A calorie is used to describe how much energy your body will derive from consuming the specific food or beverage.
Are Calories Bad for You?
Calories are not relatively bad for you, because your body requires calories for substance of life and energy. However, consuming too many calories when they are not being used or BURNED by the body or activity can result in weight gain or an individual becoming obese.
plate of healthy food
BMI Calculator
BMI or (Body Mass Index) is a measurement that compares height and weight, and sometimes age is a factor to determine the body fat of an individual. In addition, BMI has become a common indication of high risks for diseases and illnesses associated with obesity. These diseases are cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
Using a BMI percentage** is a very accurate way to determine whether your weight is in a healthy range or if you are high risk for certain types of diseases. You can determine your BMI by using a BMI calculator, having your physician check you and by just using the common equation for BMI.
**Note for the overly pedantic: The BMI number is not your percentage of body fat. It’s a number that represents your overall weight in proportion to your height. However, it’s certainly intended to be an indicator of your body fat percentage. There are tests to determine your actual percentage of body fat, but these tests are not a quick and easy as a BMI calculation. Have a go at calculating your BMI here on the NHS Website.
What Is a Healthy BMI Calculator Result?
Your BMI result is derived using this formula:
Formula: weight (lbs) / [height (in)]2 x 703Calculate BMI by dividing weight in pounds (lbs) byyour height in inches (in) squared then multiplying by aconversion factor of 703.Example: Weight = 150 lbs, Height = 5'5" (65")Calculation: [150 ÷ (65)2] x 703 = 24.96
Or, use the BMI Calculator above…
Now to know where you stand as far as your weight range on the BMI, you must understand what these numbers mean. Below is the common classification for your BMI:
| Under 16 | Severely Underweight |
| 16-18 | Underweight |
| 18-24.9 | Healthy Weight Range |
| 25-29.99 | Overweight |
| 30 and more | Obese |
| 40 and more | Morbidly obese |
How to Calculate Your BMI With a BMI Calculator
There are lots of online tools such as BMI calculators you can utilize, however it is crucial to understand that all BMI calculators are not accurate and effective.
However, you have to do a bit of legwork first so that you can get the most accurate answer possible by a BMI calculator. Here are some tips:
- Take your weight first thing in the morning.
- Measure your height accurately as possible.
- Plug in the numbers correctly and watch for typos.
- Then wait for your result.
This is simple, however just be sure that you have plugged in the right weight and height. When you get your results, look at the chart below and see where your healthy range is at.
Once you have gotten your BMI with the BMI calculator, you will assess the results, you can either be underweight, healthy weight, obese, overweight or morbidly obese. This is when reality stares you in the face and you must decide. What approach you will take to lower your risk of health problems and diseases.
BMI Chart for Women
By determining your BMI, you have taken the first step to becoming a healthier & happier person. See the BMI chart for women above.
BMI Chart for Women
Body Fat Calculator
Our Body Fat Calculator makes it quick and easy to determine your body fat percentage. Simply enter your waist circumference, wrist size, hip size, forearm size if you’re a girl and gender selection. Then click calculate and that is all there is to it.
The amount of body fat someone carries can make a grave difference in their health! Studies have demonstrated that those people who have a high amount of body fat can fall prey to some major adverse health risks such as:
- Heart Disease- Heart disease in men and women are one of the leading causes of death. Heart disease risk can be substantially increased when a person consumes a high fat diet thus causing the arteries and functions of the heart to be impaired. If you have a high body fat percentage, you most likely are at risk to suffer effects of heart disease at one time or another.
- Stroke- Strokes are derived from arteries that are clogged in the body from plaque build-up of fat. The more increased the body fat ratio is in the body, the more likely a stroke can occur. Knowing your body fat can assist you in taking precautions to prevent blood clots and decrease your risk of having a stroke.
- Diabetes- Diabetes is increasingly becoming more prominent because of people’s careless eating habits now a day. Science has proven that those who have high body fat ratios are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Weight control and diet restriction is very important in preventing this disease.
- Hypertension- Hypertension is a prerequisite to serious health issues. High blood pressure can cause a plethora of problems in a person’s overall health and well-being. the more fat a person possesses on their body, the higher their risk of developing high blood pressure.
- Gallstones- Consuming large amounts of fatty foods can cause problems with the functioning of the body’s gallbladder. The gallbladder serves the function of processing fat that is contained in foods eaten. Whenever a person has a high intake of fat, Gallstones can develop from the deposits of cholesterol that the body is unable to process.
How You Can Lower Your Body Fat
If you are serious about your health and want to make the efforts to lower your body fat and drop the weight, then there are some steps that you can take to make sure your efforts will be successful. Here are a few tips:
- Eat a low-fat diet- The main culprit of possessing a high amount of body fat is that of careless dietary habits. Most people do not watch the foods that they eat, or they do not care what they shove in their mouths. If you want to drop that body fat, you must follow a low-fat diet plan consistently.
- Exercise- Lethargy and just plain laziness can cause you to build up fat deposits all over your body. Getting regular exercise can help you to burn fat and lose weight more efficiently. It also pumps blood throughout the body and assists the body in flushing and processing fats and foods adequately.
- Read food labels- Reading food labels can help you track the amount of fats and calories you consume. If you monitor this wisely, you can slash the fat in your diet, and lose weight more productively. Studies have shown that people will eat less and more wisely when they are aware of the nutritional content present in the foods- thus making wiser and healthier dietary choices.
- Eat Fat Burning Foods- There are fat burning foods that you can eat, that can zap that fat right off your body. Knowing these essential fats burning foods, and selecting them in your diet can greatly rev up your weight and fat loss results. Lowfatdietplan.org is offering a fantastic e-book that could serve as a useful resource to you in knowing these foods.
You can do many things to assure your optimal health and well-being. The first being educating yourself on how you can change your diet and prevent future health risks, next being aware of where you stand as far as ideal weight and body fat ratio, and lastly taking the necessary actions to eat a low-fat diet, exercise regularly, and implementing the resources in your efforts to drop the fat successfully.
Calculate your body fat using the calculator here.
BMR Calculator
Knowing Your BMR is very crucial to your optimal health. Although it is like the BMI (Body Mass Index), it should not be confused with it.
What is BMR (Base Metabolic Rate)?
Base Metabolic Rate is a numeral that is produced to indicate how much calories you burn when sedentary, sleeping, and not performing any activity, hence base meaning (normal when not in movement or exercise.) Everyone’s BMR is unique as each body requires a certain amount of food energy to sustain it, however BMR is also dependent on gender, muscle mass, age, height, and current weight.
BMI and BMR, What is the difference?
It is important to differentiate the difference of BMI and BMR as the two often get confused. BMI is the amount of body fat that a person has in ratio to the amount of muscle mass the possess. BMI is also used as an effective indicator of health problems that can occur when a person carries a vast amount of body fat for their age, height, and weight. BMR is that of metabolism and a certain number of calories that are burned when an individual is asleep or not moving. BMR can assist an individual in knowing which target rate they need to hit to burn an excess of calories that result in sustained and consistent weight loss. Base metabolic rate can also help a person understand how much food they need to eat to gain, maintain, or lose weight.
How to change your BMR
An individual’s BMR fluctuates and varies as we discussed previously, however an individual can change their BMR in several manners. Age is an enormous thing, because as people age their metabolism naturally decreases. Haven’t you ever noticed that as you grow older it becomes more difficult to drop weight, and when you were younger you could easily diet or change a few habits and that weight fell off?
People mistakenly think that if they eat way less their BMR will change or improve, but this is not the case as sometimes it often harms your BMR and slows it further. When a person fasts, starves, or drastically decreases their calorie intake, they can stunt their metabolism into slowing down. This is because the body stores food, it does not know when it will get nutrition again. There are many ways you can utilize to improve your BMI so that you can lose weight more effectively, here are a few:
Eat more often: Eating more often can improve your BMR. How you ask? If you choose low calorie foods and snacks, and eat 5-6 small meals per day, you trick your metabolism. It knows it has sustenance thus it will not use that food for fat stores, instead it will burn the food. By burning the food, your metabolism will naturally increase as it takes calories for your body to process and burn the food and calories you consume.
Exercise regularly: It is obvious that exercise burns calories and Revs your metabolism up. Even after continuous exercise the human body proceeds to burn calories. Exercising regularly can burn extra body fat and calories. When you work out, your metabolism is also tricked into pulling fat stores and calories from your body. It consistently does this when you are rest, which can enable your body to require more calories and increase your BMR so you burn more calories when not in action.
Calculate your BMR using this calculator.
BMR
Body Surface Area Calculator
The Body Surface Area Calculation is typically used in regard to health, medicine dosage, clinical purposes. You can find your Body Surface Area Calculation by using the calculator here by entering your weight, height, and height and weight units!
Thin Fat cartoon
Protein Calculator
You can use a protein calculator to determine how much protein you need to intake during a day’s time by easily plugging in your weight, height, age, gender, and activity level. Knowing the amount of protein, you need per day can help you achieve optimal fitness, diet, and health potential.
Fish
WHtR Calculator
The WHtR Calculator calculates the waist to height ratio for a body size and body fat measurement that is said to be an even better measurement than calculating BMI (Body Mass Index). Enter in your waist size in inches and your height in inches into the fields above and press calculate to find your waist to height ratio. Use the following waist to height ratio table that takes gender into account to see where you fit:
Females
* Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
* Ratio 35 to 42: Extremely Slim
* Ratio 42 to 49: Healthy
* Ratio 49 to 54: Overweight
* Ratio 54 to 58: Seriously Overweight
* Ratio over 58: Extremely Obese
Males
* Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
* Ratio 35 to 43: Extremely Slim
* Ratio 43 to 53: Healthy
* Ratio 53 to 58: Overweight
* Ratio 58 to 63: Seriously Overweight
* Ratio over 63: Extremely Obese
Waist Measuring
Conclusion
In order to diet properly you need to use the above calculations. It can be de motivating when you don't see the results straight away so it's important to use these to remind yourself that your diet is working. It also works the other way. For example, if you can see that you are not losing weight by these calculations you can use more calculations such as the calorie intake calculation to decide what you need to do to change your diet.