Hi, this is Tonya Tittle of Energy Fitness here in Memphis Tennessee. Did you know I was voted one of Memphis’ Best Personal Trainers in 2010. With that being said you should take this information seriously and take control of your health so you can be the best you can be also.
Are those nutrition labels confusing to you?
Well, you aren’t the only one. If you have never been taught then how in the world should you expect to know how to make sense of all those numbers.
THE SCIENCE
A CALORIE (also known as a kilocalorie) is a unit of energy. We get the majority of our calories (energy) from the following sources: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Calories are measured in grams of each of the sources. (Alcohol is about 7 calories per gram and is empty calories that just turn to sugar and then fat if you don’t burn it off or have a slow metabolism.)
1 gram of either protein or carbohydrate equals 4 calories. If a food has 20 grams of protein then multiply by 4. That’s 80 calories of protein.
1 gram of fat is 9 calories per gram. If a food has 7 grams of fat then multiply by 9. That’s 63 grams of fat.
fyi: 1 pound = 3500 calories
Usually I recommend most of my clients and those wanted to shed some pounds or create a lean body follow a diet consisting of 15% fat, 35% protein, and 50% carbohydrates.
Women – to lose 1 to 2 lbs per week you should eat 1300 calories a day. Women – trying to maintain a healthy weight can usually have about 1500 calories per day unless you are very active and have lots of lean muscle tissue – then you can eat more.
1300 calories x 15% FAT =195 calories (to calculate grams of fat per day take 195 and divide by 9) about 22 grams
1300 calories x 35% PROTEIN =455 calories (to calculate grams of protein per day take 455 and divide by 4) about 114 grams
1300 calories x 50% CARBS = 650 calories (to calculate grams of protein per day take 650 and divide by 4) about 163 grams
Men – to lose 1 to 2 lbs per week you should eat 1500 calories a day. Men – trying to maintain a healthy weight can usually have about 1700 to 2000 calories per day unless you are very active and have lots of lean muscle tissue – then you can eat more.
1500 calories x 15% FAT =225 calories (to calculate grams of fat per day take 195 and divide by 9) about 25 grams
1500 calories x 35% PROTEIN =525 calories (to calculate grams of protein per day take 455 and divide by 4) about 131 grams
1500 calories x 50% CARBS = 750 calories (to calculate grams of protein per day take 650 and divide by 4) about 188 grams
Quotes to remember….
“If I have a tablespoon of typical restaurant salad dressing or most salad dressings that are not low fat…then holy cow… I just had 14 grams of fat and that’s over half my fat intake for the whole day”
“If I have 1 whole egg and 4 egg whites (egg yolk has 3 grams and white has 3 grams) that gives me 18 grams of protein and only 4 grams of fat (yolk = 4 grams fat) that’s pretty good.”
“The nutrition label percentage of daily calories is based on a 2000 calorie diet so I can’t just look at the % I have to look at grams and calories.”
I hope this information proves helpful. If you have any questions just comment to this post and I would be happy to answer as someone else may have the same question.
To your success – Tonya Tittle
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