Calculating Your Nutritional Needs

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Calculating Your Nutritional Needs

These calculators are available to help you determine your nutritional needs, BMI, body fat, food plan, point converter (for Weight Watcher's), and activity calorie assessments.

Calculators.

  • Body Fat Calculator. Though not as accurate as using calibers, this is a quick and easy estimate of your percent body fat.
  • Nutritional Calculator.  This calculator will determine your calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs in relationship to weight loss, maintenance or weight gain.
  • Food Planning Calculator.  This calculator was developed to use food groups to meet your nutritional needs. However, you can easily use this tool to count grams of protein, fat, or carbohydrates. Each food group has a link to the many food choices available.
  • Point Converter.  For those of you on Weight Watchers, this calculator can transform any food into the point system as long as you have the calories, grams of fat and dietary fiber. See the nutrition label or go to the Nutritional Database Section for additional references.
 
How Many Calories Do You Need?

This is recommended for people 19 years or older. Knowing your body's daily calorie needs is an important first step in setting realistic food plans and physical activity.


Step One.      Adult BMI (Body Mass Index) and Calorie Calculator

Sex: Height:   Weight:

Age: Years Are you active?

Your BMI is and you need about Calories per day to maintain your current weight

How to interpret Your BMI
Healthy weight: Under 25           Overweight: 25 to 29.9        Obese: 30 or more

Based on the National Academy of Sciences 2002 Energy Recommendations for  Adults.

Remember the calories provided are to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose weight subtract 500 to 1000 calories per day. Do not over due it, if subtracting 1000 calories per day will make it difficult to stay with a food plan, only subtract 500 calories at first.

Some safe weight control rules to follow:
*Women should not go below 1200 calories per day;
* Men or Very Active Women should not go below 1500 calories per day; and
* Very Active Men should not go below 1800 calories per day.

*Unless under a Physician's supervision.

 

 

Step Two. Calculate Percent Body Fat
This is a simplistic way of calculating body-fat. Just enter your information and click "calculate" It is not as accurate as using calipers or a scale, but the method will provide you with a fair estimate.
Select Your Gender: Male Female

Enter Weight (lbs.) Enter Waist Size (in.)


Your body-fat percent is

Description

Women

Men
This is not a healthy range for most people 10-12% 2-4%
Lean. Found mainly in serious athletes 14-20% 6-13%
Ideal. A healthy range for most people to shoot for 21-24% 14-17%
Average. Most people fall in this category 25-31% 18-25%
Overweight or obese 32% plus 25% plus

Step Three.    Calculate Your Calories, Protein, Fat and Carbohydrate Needs

The Nutritional Calculator will determine your calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrate needs in relationship to weight loss, maintenance or weight gain. The calculator uses the concept of the PFC Ratio. The PFC Ratio must equal 100 percent and stands for. . .
  • Percent Calories from Protein + Fat + Carbohydrates = 100 percent.
  • and 100 percent Passion, Faith, and Commitment

You have the ability to change the percentages in the calculator, but remember when you add the percent of calories from Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates it must equal 100. Below is a table designed using the May 2005 issue of Consumer Reports, Rating the Diets.  This shows you examples of weight control programs and their approximate PFC ratio.

Programs Protein Fat Carbohydrates Total
US Dietary Guidelines 20 25 55 100
Weight Watchers 20 24 56 100
Slim-Fast 21 22 57 100
Zone 30 28 42 100
Ornish 16 7 77 100
Atkins (Induction) 29 60 11 100
Atkins (on-going) 31 61 8 100
eDiets, varies in relationship to the program you choose 24 23 53 100
Jenny Craig 20 18 62 100
South Beach (Phase One) 34 51 15 100
South Beach (Phase Two) 22 39 39 100

Enter Bodyweight and Body Fat Percent, then make your selection.
Enter bodyweight and body fat percent, then make selection.
Bodyweight lbs.
Body fat % %
Protein % % of daily calories
Carbohydrate % % of daily calories
Fat % % of daily calories

Male
Nutritional Guidelines Below

Female

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) calories a day to survive
LBM (Lean Body Mass) lbs.
FM (Fat Mass) lbs.

Nutritional Guidelines

You need approximately calories average per day.
Individuals vary minor adjustment may need to be made.
Protein grams calories
Carbohydrates grams calories
Fat grams calories

Once you complete the nutritional calculator, you will transform these numbers
into REAL FOOD using the Meal Planning Calculator.  Please print out this page
and continue on to the Meal Planning Calculator.

     

Prepared by www.Dietitians-Online.com and www.Weighing-Success.com

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