Calorie intake

MAXTHEDOG

Hi All,

Does anyone know of any websites that have an accurate calculator of what the calories are required for a particular body weight and therefore the % of carbo,protien,and fat calories needed.I've tried the one on 'brianmac' but it seems massively OTT.Regards.

Edwin

This depends how much you train, and what percentage of your calories you want from protein/carbs/fat!

For protein, 1.2-1.4 g/kg/d (grams per day per kilo body weight) is recommended for endurance athletes.

For carbohydrate, I've cribbed the following rough guide (can't remember where from):

Physical Activity Carbohydrate Required

3-5 hrs/week 4-5 g/d/kg
5-7 hrs/week 5-6 g/d/kg
1-2 hrs/day 6-7 g/d/kg
2-4 hrs/day 7-8 g/d/kg
4 + hrs/day 8-10 g/d/kg

For an athletic diet, I think you want to aim for about 60-70% of your total calories to come from carbohydrates. Apparently....although some crackpot will be along shortly to tell us it's all abouyt insulin and carbs are the work of the devil etc etc...
Protein and carbohydrate give roughly 4 to 5 kcal per gram, whereas fat is 9kcal per gram (and neat alcohol about 7, I think!) so with a bit of maths you should be able to work out the rest. Correct me if any of this wrong by the way....

MAXTHEDOG

Thanks Edwin,what you've wrote ties in with the figures I've seen.Guess I'm just not eating enough!

Regards,
M