Should I Use Software to Calculate Number of Calories I Eat?
Call it a trend or fashion people have started counting the calories they eat.
Some people also maintain a diary of their daily intake.
In fact there are a number of freely available software's that can help to count all the calories in the food one eats in daily routine.
If it just stops at counting ones calories then it is fine but people go a step further and start cutting down on their daily intake or increase their daily intake without understanding as to what exactly does their body require.
Ideally people who are not fit or are overweight or underweight should consult a dietitian and doctor to understand their daily intake and not generally start using a software to calculate their calorie requirements.
As every case is unique in terms of lifestyle, diseases or body requirements, a dietitian should be consulted to make a diet plan instead of relying on a software that wouldn't cover all the scenarios or finer points for everyone.
Dietitian & Doctor together are not only able to better help the patient understand his/her dietary requirements but also suggest exercises required by their body.
A dietitian uses scientific calculations to understand body's requirements based on current weight, ideal body weight, BMI, W/H Ratio, sex, age, health problems etc.
Based on the classification whether the person is underweight, normal or over weight recommendations are prepared either to increase food intake, adjust calories from various food items / continue with same amount of calories, decrease food intake respectively.
In case a person is overweight, one needs to reduce the number of calories the person is eating and also increase the physical activity level to create a negative balance.
Calculations suggest that 3850 calories are equivalent to one KG of body weight.
This also means that to reduce 1KG from body - a person should create a negative balance of 3850 calories.
Although it is a huge amount but most of the overweight people consume around 3000 calories a day and have minimal physical activity.
A software uses only couple of scenarios to calculate calories a person should eat to reduce weight and can never be exhaustive.
Based on these scenarios, software will throw up a diet plan.
Thus making one size fit all.
Losing 3 - 4 Kgs a month is considered to be healthy weight loss and when we talk about a person who consumes almost 90,000 calories.
A person would have to create a negative balance of around 15000 calories.
This task does look huge but it cannot be achieved just by reducing calories by cutting down on food one is having but a good dietitian would help the patient increase his / her physical activity as well along with cutting down on non-essential food items.
Finer details as to whether invisible fat or visible fat needs to be cut down and through which food item can be checked upon by a professional dietitian only.
This will also ensure that person doesn't lose out on all the vital nutrients required by the body by going on diet and also loses 3-4 kilos during the month.
Moreover, calculations used as an example above are very generic in nature and just take into account one scenario where in the person is actually consuming 3000 calories a day.
At times people are obese but their dietary intake is not that high which could be because of medical problems like thyroid etc.
In such cases treatment from a doctor is necessary along with dietitian's inputs.
It could also be the case of a low metabolism wherein a person's resting metabolism has gone down considerably.
Once all the above listed factors are taken into account and thorough analysis is done only then can calorie intake of a person should be calculated and any software shouldn't be relied on.
Some people also maintain a diary of their daily intake.
In fact there are a number of freely available software's that can help to count all the calories in the food one eats in daily routine.
If it just stops at counting ones calories then it is fine but people go a step further and start cutting down on their daily intake or increase their daily intake without understanding as to what exactly does their body require.
Ideally people who are not fit or are overweight or underweight should consult a dietitian and doctor to understand their daily intake and not generally start using a software to calculate their calorie requirements.
As every case is unique in terms of lifestyle, diseases or body requirements, a dietitian should be consulted to make a diet plan instead of relying on a software that wouldn't cover all the scenarios or finer points for everyone.
Dietitian & Doctor together are not only able to better help the patient understand his/her dietary requirements but also suggest exercises required by their body.
A dietitian uses scientific calculations to understand body's requirements based on current weight, ideal body weight, BMI, W/H Ratio, sex, age, health problems etc.
Based on the classification whether the person is underweight, normal or over weight recommendations are prepared either to increase food intake, adjust calories from various food items / continue with same amount of calories, decrease food intake respectively.
In case a person is overweight, one needs to reduce the number of calories the person is eating and also increase the physical activity level to create a negative balance.
Calculations suggest that 3850 calories are equivalent to one KG of body weight.
This also means that to reduce 1KG from body - a person should create a negative balance of 3850 calories.
Although it is a huge amount but most of the overweight people consume around 3000 calories a day and have minimal physical activity.
A software uses only couple of scenarios to calculate calories a person should eat to reduce weight and can never be exhaustive.
Based on these scenarios, software will throw up a diet plan.
Thus making one size fit all.
Losing 3 - 4 Kgs a month is considered to be healthy weight loss and when we talk about a person who consumes almost 90,000 calories.
A person would have to create a negative balance of around 15000 calories.
This task does look huge but it cannot be achieved just by reducing calories by cutting down on food one is having but a good dietitian would help the patient increase his / her physical activity as well along with cutting down on non-essential food items.
Finer details as to whether invisible fat or visible fat needs to be cut down and through which food item can be checked upon by a professional dietitian only.
This will also ensure that person doesn't lose out on all the vital nutrients required by the body by going on diet and also loses 3-4 kilos during the month.
Moreover, calculations used as an example above are very generic in nature and just take into account one scenario where in the person is actually consuming 3000 calories a day.
At times people are obese but their dietary intake is not that high which could be because of medical problems like thyroid etc.
In such cases treatment from a doctor is necessary along with dietitian's inputs.
It could also be the case of a low metabolism wherein a person's resting metabolism has gone down considerably.
Once all the above listed factors are taken into account and thorough analysis is done only then can calorie intake of a person should be calculated and any software shouldn't be relied on.
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