Fantabulous’s BodyBlog

The hardest part I think for someone to figure out is "How many calories do I need to consume through the course of a day in order to lose 1-2 lbs/wk"?

We are each unique physically (metabolism) and there are probably hundreds if not thousands of factors that play a role in your ability to function and live! I think our metabolism plays a tremendous factor in determining your own nutritional requirements/needs. I would suggest getting some baseline laboratory testing done by your physician to rule out abnormal or out out of range findings. If you are having weight issues and you have tried everything, you may want to get your thyroid gland checked out. The thyroid, an endocrine gland, makes hormones to regulate physiological functions in your body. The most common diseases are an over-active or hyperthyroidism (e.g., Grave’s disease)  and under-active or hypothyroidism. Many diseases and illnesses can be eliminated simply by the foods you ingest. You are what you eat most of the time. There are those few exceptions that just can not be explained! Just something to consider.

Well, I decided to go the Fitness Institute of Texas under the Department of Kinesiology and Health Educationat at the University of Texas at Austin. There is research study titled Comparing Cross Sectional Measures of Health and Physical Fitness and I requested the DEXA (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptionmetry), the calipers (series of 7 skinfolds) and the BIA (bioelectrical impedance; weak electrical current via holding an instrument) which assesses your body composition.

With DEXA, you lie on a padded table while a probe emitting energy measures the tissue density while passing over your body. It does involve a small amount of radiation (1/20th of normal X-ray). Pregnant females can not participate. It can separate the body into three components-fat mass, lean mass, and bone mass for your arms, legs, trunk and combination of all 3.

The cool thing is that at the bottom of the report it calculates your projected weight at 4 different % fat levels assuming only fat mass changes (assumes no muscle gain). It estimates how many calories/day you would need if you were sedentary, lightly active, mod active and very active.  And it also calculates if you did not change activity and adjust through diet only for one-half and one lb/wk loss. These are not perfect calculations but are a great start!                   
        
For example, I did it in April 2005 and here were my stats and expenditure calculations to give you an idea of the interesting info gained…
 
Weight 108 lbs
DEXA weight: 108.5 lbs

Results (%Fat)

Arms: 3.9
Legs/Hips: 14.5
Trunk: 8.8
Total: 10.0 
 
Results by Method (%Fat)
 
DEXA                  10.0
Handheld BIA        13.1
Athlete BIA          14.5
Skinfolds              7.2
 
Results (lbs)
 
Fat mass = 11.4
Lean mass = 91.9
Bone mass = 5.2
Total = 108.5
 
Projected weight and BF% via DEXA:
 
107 lbs   9%
106 lbs   8%
105 lbs   7%
104 lbs   6% 
 
My Expenditure with Moderate Activity:
 
Maintenance = 2000 cal/day
Lose 0.5/wk = 1760 cal/day
Lose 1 lb/wk = 1508 cal/day
 
This is why I choose to eat around 1300 cal/day spilt up in 5-6 meals equally and increasing cardio with moderate intensity for 30-45 min 3X/week to get 2-2.5 lbs/wk of weight loss.

It did cost $70 but worth every penny. It was very educational and interesting to know where and how much lean muscle I approximately have on my frame.