Macronutrients & Calories Counting for Weight Loss

There are more than 1 ways to achieve a target. When weight loss is in consideration, there are varied approaches favored by different individuals, some of them are:

• Calories Deficit
• High Protein, Low Carbs diet
• High fat diet such as Keto
• Intermittent fasting 16:8, 20:4 etc.
• Portion Control

In my opinion, whatever route you are taking you need to know, how much of what you need to eat. Below, I am going to explain Calories & Macronutrients Counting approach to weight loss.

In Calorie Counting method the most important thing is to calculate and know your macros (Macronutrients) which are 3 main sources of Calories:

• 
  Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Fats
• We have Fiber, Minerals, Vitamins and Water as well, but our focus here is the above 3 major nutrients, which comprises most of our food intakes.

Let’s take an example of a hypothetical person, Mr. X, who is currently overweight and wants to achieve his ideal body weight. We will explain along the way on how to know what should be his calorie intake and what should be his daily macros breakup and how to calculate it for yourself.

First up, we need to know certain measurements of Mr. X, in order to know what should be his ideal weight range. These are as follows:

• Height = 171 CM or about 5 feet 7 or 8 inches.
• Current Weight = 106 KGs or about 232 or 233 pounds.
• Age = 40
• Gender = Male

From his height, age and gender we can calculate, what should be his ideal weight range. There are many formulas to find it, to make our life easier we can use any online ideal weight calculation tools, such as https://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html

From the tool we calculated that, Mr. X's ideal weight should be between 54 to 73 KGs or 119 to 161 Pounds.

Next step is for Mr. X to decide what is the target weight he wants to achieve. Let us assume that he decided to be 73 KGs or 161 Pounds exactly.

Here's how to calculate the macros and calories intake:

On an average a person needs to eat 1 gram of carbs, 1 gram of protein and 0.25 gram of fats per pound of his target body weight. Since his opted target weight is 73 Kgs or 161 lbs., his calculation would be as follows.

• 161 grams of Protein
• 161 grams of Carbs
• 40 grams of fats

As far as recommended calories intake is concern, here are the units to calculate it.

• 1 gram of Carbs and Protein contains 4 calories each
• 1 gram of fats contains 9 calories

Now we have already calculated his macros, we just need to do simple multiplications to find his calories intake.

161 grams of Protein = 161 * 4 = 644 Calories from Protein
161 grams of Carbs = 161 * 4 = 644 Calories from Carbs
40 grams of Fats = 40 * 9 = 360 Calories from Fats

His total Calorie intake should be:

644 + 644 + 360 = 1648 Calories per day.

1648, Is it enough food?

If we take above approach, we can immediately realize that this is very less food and if we start eating this low, soon our fuel tanks would go empty and we will start cursing ourselves. So, what to do?

There are many different approaches, such as:

Go slow, instead of directly targeting your ideal body weight, choose a higher target first for example from 106 KG choose to be 96 KGs first and calculate your macros for that. Once that target is achieved, recalculate your macros to reduce next 10 Kgs and repeat until you are in your ideal body weight range.

    Second approach is to eat a little bit more let say 500 more calories than required from:

• Good carbs such as vegetable salads
• More protein such as Chicken breast
• Or mix of carbs and protein both

Then burn those 500 extra calories by adopting healthy lifestyle and exercise.

Choose to do intermittent fasting such as 16:8, where you fast for 16 hours and eat during next 8 hours window, that too within your calculated macros and calorie intake range.

I would personally recommend a more realistic and hybrid approach where, we will look to achieve target body weight in a modular way, as well as eat a bit more calories and compensate it with about a 1-hour exercise routine. 

What practical options do we have?

A practical approach is to calculate how much calories your current body weight needs and then consume around 500 less calories than you currently need. For Mr. X, the calculation would be as follows (you can do the calculations your self-using your own current calories need):

His current weight in pounds is 233, so he needs 233 grams of protein, 233 grams of carbs, 233 * 025 = 58 grams of fats to maintain his current body weight.

(233 * 4) + (233 * 4) + (58 * 9)
932 + 932 + 522 = 2386 calories currently required
2386 calories in which roughly 40% Protein, 40% Carbs, 20% Fats

1. In order to lose weight we can start by consuming around 500 less calories then currently required, by maintaining the above ratio i.e. 40:40:20 which means cutting down from all 3 group respectively (This is usually close to portion control approach).

(932 - (500 * 40%)) + (932 - (500 * 40%)) + (522 - (500 * 20%))
(932 - 200) + (932 - 200) + (522 - 100)
732 + 732 + 422 = 1886 Calories
732 / 4 = 183 Grams Protein
732 / 4 = 183 Grams Carbs
422 / 9 = 47 Grams Fats (approx.)

2. 60:20:20, some people would argue that cutting more on carbs and adding in protein is preferred. Here is the distribution of 60:20:20 for 1886 Calories intake would look like (High Protein, low carb diet):

(1886 * 60% = 1132 Calories from Protein) + (1886 * 20% = 377 Calories from Carbs) + (1886 * 20% = 377 Calories from Fats)

1132 + 377 + 377 = 1886 Calories
1132 / 4 = 283 Grams Protein
377 / 4 = 95 Grams Carbs
377 / 9 = 41 Grams Fats (approx.)

3. 20:20:60, some people would argue that cutting down both Protein and Carbs and adding in Fats (Keto diet). For Keto some people would even suggest to have a 10:10:80 ratio as well, irrespective of that we know how to calculate as per our desired ratio.

(1886 * 20% = 377 Calories from Protein) + (1886 * 20% = 377 Calories from Carbs) + (1886 * 60% = 11320Calories from Fats).

377 + 377 + 1132 = 1886 Calories
377 / 4 = 94 Grams Protein
377 / 4 = 94 Grams Carbs
1132 / 9 = 126 Grams Fats (approx.)

Water intake: 

70% of our body is made of water and in any weight loss routine it is very important to keep yourself hydrated. Water keeps you full and helps with food cravings. The recommended water intake formula is:

1 ounce of water per KG of current body weight. 

1 ounce of water is 0.2 glasses (approx.). Hence in case of Mr. X, his current weight is 106 KGs so his water intake should be:

106 * 0.2 = 21 glasses of water (approx.) per day for Mr. X

It is crucial to understand that the above macros, calories and water intake are not constant throughout Mr. X's weight loss journey. As he begins to lose weight, he needs to adjust these numbers according to his new current and desired body weights. 

Exercising:

Adopting a healthy life style, light exercising and sports should also be a part of your daily routine. One should look to consume at-least 150 to 200 calories per day during an exercise routine. It has great benefits like:

• It'll keep you healthy
• Keeps your joints stretched and flexible
• Save yourself from injuries
• Helps loosing weight faster
• Take away stress
• Lower down bad cholesterol
• Keep your blood circulation proper
• Improves your cardiovascular health
• Helps you sleep better

It's crucial to weight loss that you keep your bodies in a calorie deficit state, which as we mentioned is around 500 calories deficit count. So, if you are exercising and burning 200 calories through exercise and you are also already on 500 calories deficit diet, you can add that 200 calories to your food according to your adopted diet regime ratio, if you want.

Extras:

I wanted to share things related to which food items are the main sources of Carbs, Protein and Fats. However, natural food sources are complete packages which usually contains traces of more than just one type i.e., Carbs, Protein and Fats as well, most of the time they don't come as isolated sources. However, some foods items are richer in one category of food then others. Like meat is more protein and fats. Rice is more Carbs etc. But these are quite detail subject and there are tons of sources available on internet which can be referred to. 

There are many free calories intake counting apps also available for smart phone. I would recommend to use one of those with the combination of a kitchen scale during the start of your transformation journey. Later on as you get some experience in categorizing and weighing foods, you won’t be needing that and approximation would be more than enough for you.

Food groups Categorization:

https://www.crossfitcityline.com/foodlist

Some Calories Counting Apps:

• MyFitnessPal
• EasyFit
• Fitbit App
• Loose It!
• FatSecret

Measuring Food groups:

The Hand Fist Model to measure food

POMODORO, making most out of your time.

Concentration and Focus are difficult skills to master in this era of 24/7 connectivity, smart phones and devices, gadgets and overwhelming information flow. I've seen many people suffering from time management issues just because of having scattered focus instead of directed focus. But the good news is that like any other skill you can improve these by practicing. Pomodoro technique is a simple yet proven method to achieve the desired proficiency in these skills.

Following 5 steps of Pomodoro technique, created by Francesco Cirillo, for time management will let you achieve more from your time and let you progressively improve your focus:

1. Identify your tasks for the day.
2. Set a timer for 25 minutes.
3. Work for the duration of the timer without any distration (Keep your cell phone in drawers).
4. Take a 5 minute break.
5. After every 4 repetetions, take a longer break of 15 minutes.

(Ref: Image is taken from https://theyuniversity.tumblr.com/image/134426793217)

Offcourse 25 minutes and 5 minutes breaks are just a recomendation, you can improvise as per your own capacity and level. It's recomended to use a Kitchen timer to track the timer intervals however to start with there are tons of mobile and online Apps as well which let you do the same for example:

Online Apps:

1. https://pomodoneapp.com/ (Available for Mac, Win, Linux, Chrome Ext, iOS, Android and Web).
2. https://pomodoro.increaser.org
3. https://tomato-timer.com/
4. https://www.marinaratimer.com/zdX8lO6

Mobile Apps: 

1. Be Focused - Focus Timer.
2. Focus Keeper - Time Management.
3. Pomodoro Focus Timer.

The following video on Pomodoro technique by Francesco Cirillo illustrate the technique:

"FOCUS" itself is not an isolated skill, it comes with a package. Some of the things you can do to help you improve it are:

1. Avoid distractions, your smart phone is the number 1 distraction; it blinks, it rings, it vibarates, it shows notifications. It is basically built to steal your attention. Keep it away, probably in a drawer.
2. Take care of your body. Excercise regularly, do meditation.
3. Take proper 7 to 9 hours sleep.
4. Make focus a daily habit. If it is a skill you want to improve you should practice it regularly.
5. Take frequent breaks. Understand and pay attention to the need of your body and mind, don't stress yourself. It'll improve prgressively.

Sleep Management Workshop - Timelanders

Recently got the opportunity to watch the Sleep Management workshop by Sulaiman Ahmar of Timelander. In this video series, he explains why managing your sleep is important for success and time management. The videos itself are in Urdu. Below are some of the points discussed in the video series.

From religious perspective, there is a Hadith mentioned in Sunan-Ibn-Maja, Book 12, Hadith 2321. it was narrated from Sakhr Al-Ghamidi that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:

     اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ لأُمَّتِي فِي بُكُورِهَا

     O Allah, bless my Ummah in their early mornings.

Following are the major take away from this workshop:

In today's busy world, it's important to effectively manage your time to make the most out of your day, excel in your profession, have time to learn new skills, have time for your personal activities like exercising, hobbies and yet to enjoy healthy and productive time with your family and loved ones. Following are some of the tools and techniques:

   1. Sleep Management.

   2. Removing distraction.

   3. Being focused.

Taking enough sleep is very essential for well being but getting more than what you actually needed is wastage of precious time and in fact it's makes you dull. Hence, it's important to determine your very own optimum level of sleep by following the below 5 steps.

    a. Stop sleeping after Fajr.

    b. Start doing Qailoolah.

    c. Develop regularity in life.

    d. Become physically & mentally fit by focusing on exercise, diet & recreation.

    e. Stop all stimulants like Caffeine, Smoking, Energy Drinks etc.

Once done, start decreasing your sleep by 15 minutes intervals over a few days. The point after which you don't feel fresh and alert, that is your optimum level of sleep.

Watch the videos below:

Sleep Management 1/3:

Sleep Management 2/3:

Sleep Management 3/3:

How to start an Speech, Communication Techniques & Body Language

There is a study which says that, words are only 7% of the entire communication from a person to another person. Body Language, Posture, Tone, Auditory, Appearance, Eye Contacts and so many other things are huge portions of it.

Below I am presenting a few videos on Speech and Communication Techniques.

How to Start an Speech

Communication Techniques

Body Language in a Presentation

How to Develop your communication skills

How to learn something

As Josh Kaufman explains in his TEDx Talk, I'll summarize as below, plus some of my own advises:

1. DE-Construct the skill:

Acquire some pre-learning knowledge about the skill you want to learn by quickly skimming through 3 to 4 different sources. This includes what things comprise of that skill or what I need to know in order to know it well enough. Then de-construct those things into smaller and more manageable groups.

2. Prioritize things:

After de-construction, prioritize what chunks to learn. There are different approaches to it but I would recommend to start with the easiest one first, that will keep you interested. Others might advocate that "eat the frog first" approach is better (addressing the toughest one first). However it's a matter of what works best for you.

3. Learn enough to self correct:

This means that we don't have to learn complete before we start using it, we just need enough so that we can self correct. It doesn't mean that we should stop learning new things about it but rather, it means that we should start getting our hands dirty as soon as possible. After all the best form of learning is by doing it and self correcting your self while keep experimenting.

4. Commitment

The first few hours are really the toughest and most people quit in those part, this is the most frustrating time and our minds works hard enough to convince ourselves on quitting. So before you start make a commitment with yourself that you'll give at-least 20 hours to it, this is  40 minutes per day for a month. Kaufman explains that for most cases this 20 hours are enough for learning any new thing. He also explains that as per some scientific study it requires 10K hours which is equivalent of about 5 years of a full time job to really master something. But you don't have to be a master in each and everything you want to learn.

5. Remove Distractions

In order to learn something we need to be focus. In today's world there are too many distractions like Social Media, Mobile Phones, Games, TV Shows, Sounds etc etc. In order to be more fruitful in whatever time you are committing to it, let us switch off mobile phone, close doors, switch off TVs, switch off internet and let that time be as productive as it can.

While the Kaufman talk concluded the above, I've some of my own for those who are actually doing it.

1. Take notes, so that next time you can revise things by reading notes.
2. Draw diagrams, Pictures are easier to remember and convey much more ideas.
3. Do it in small session i.e. instead of doing 8 hours on each holiday, doing it 45 minutes daily would yield better results.
4. Break the inertia, Take a brake after every while i.e. 60 minutes.
5. Be relax and don't stress out. Stress and frustration is the biggest killer. After every 30+ minutes add a session for meditation like breathing for about 1 minutes. This will help you restore your energy.
6. Write an essay, blog etc about your understanding of each new idea you learn.
7. Teach someone else and multiply your understanding. This probably is the best form of learning new skills. Share you knowledge with others, they might ask questions or challenge your ideas which never occurred to you. They'll also share personal experience with you, which will enhance your own understanding.