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Based on GDA (Guideline Daily Amounts), the GDA for someone who has a BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) of 2500 calories a day is:

Calories        2500.00 kcal
Protein           55.00 g
Carbohydrate     300.00 g
Sugars           120.00 g
Fat               95.00 g
Saturates         30.00 g
Fibre             24.00 g
Salt               6.00 g

How do I adjust the above values for 1525 calories a day. Please see my attempt below. I have concerns as some values look too high (carbs, salt etc) while others look too low (protein, fibre).

Here are my calculations:

Calories        1525.00 kcal
Protein           33.55 g
Carbohydrate     183.00 g
Sugars            73.20 g
Fat               57.95 g
Saturates         18.30 g
Fibre             14.64 g
Salt               3.66 g
oshirowanen
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    Your math is good, but consider the other points in my answer. – Berin Loritsch May 04 '11 at 15:38
  • @oshirowanen, considering your series of questions, I'm wondering what your target goals are? If it's more than 10Kg, you might want to consider an unbalanced diet to lose the weight and then phase off of that to a balanced diet when you want to maintain. I used the "Ideal Protein" diet which originated from a Dr. Tran in France to lose my weight: http://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/1696/800-calorie-diet/1775#1775. – Berin Loritsch May 04 '11 at 16:51
  • @oshirowanen, I suggest you have a look at this blog post Because your titles and the information in your question could use some 'help' – Ivo Flipse May 04 '11 at 18:54
  • No problem, thanks for the link. About to make some changed to the question too. – oshirowanen May 05 '11 at 10:36
  • @Berin Loritsch, my goal is to lose 20kg to reach my ideal weight based on my height, 1 lbs a week, but at the same time, remain healthy and energetic, during and after achieving the goal. As in the passed, my attempts to lose weight have failed, due to lack of energy and joint pains due to lack of nutrition. Hence the reason why I am trying to get the GDA right to get the correct nutrients. – oshirowanen May 05 '11 at 11:10
  • There are a couple reasons for lack of energy and irritability on a diet, and one major one for a failed diet. First is that your pancreas is overworked and producing too much insulin. When that happens your body locks away all the carbs it just had as fat--but too much of it, and your brain is asking for more. So you eat more, and it gets locked away, but your brain still doesn't have the blood sugar it needs... Viscous cycle. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:08
  • Another reason for lack of energy is you just don't have enough protein and you are losing muscle. I once did a crazy diet (the "Mediterranean diet") that only has 1600 calories a day and only a modest amount of protein. My BMR is somewhere around 2400 kcal a day, so this was an 800 lbs deficit and I was both downright evil and lethargic. I stopped it really soon because I just couldn't take it anymore. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:11
  • The major reason for failed diets has to do with a loss of muscle mass. Your muscles burn fat for energy (when supplied with oxygen), and when you lose muscle you lose the reason your BMR is as high as it is. The only way to protect your muscle while cutting calories is to keep supplying it the protein it needs. Usually this means you have to sacrifice carbs/sugars/fats to get there. Problem with losing muscle is that while the weight does go down, you will gain it all back plus more when you start eating normally. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:13
  • Your body has three major stores for energy: blood sugar, fat, and muscles/organs. Your blood can hold enough sugar in it to last for three days without bothering your fat stores (up to 300g of glucose). Once that is depleted, your body will start taking equally from fat and muscles. That state is called ketonic acidosis and is not healthy. However, if you supply your body the protein it needs, your body will only pull from the fat stores. That state is called ketosis, and is a healthy and normal state as long as you don't live perpetually like that. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:20
  • It will take up to three days to deplete the energy from the sugar in your blood, and during that time you may feel very hungry even though you can't fit any more food in your stomach. After that, you feel full of energy and refreshed. Now the good news, after three weeks in ketosis where your pancreas is resting this whole time, it will heal itself and when you start eating normal again, will produce quality insulin in the right amounts. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:24
  • In the state of ketosis, any calorie not supplied by your diet will be taken from your fat stores (in a rather simplistic way of describing it). You can actually take in fewer calories than 1500 in this state--just make sure you have protein with every meal and at least two servings of veggies each with lunch and dinner. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:27
  • The trick to this, and this cannot be understated, is to reintroduce carbs carefully. You don't want to just start eating them again cold turkey, because your body isn't used to processing them and will store them as fat right away. Best approach is to spike the carbs in the morning with every representative group (dairy, grain, fruit), but no more than say 30g of carbs from each group (total should be a less than 100g). No more carbs the rest of the day for 2 weeks. After that, eat sensibly. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:30
  • Sorry for the long barrage of comments, but I do want you to succeed. Just a note about protein consumption. You want to consume what your body needs to protect the muscles for your desired level of activity--but not more than that. The reason being is that other organs in your body will start to be overworked dealing with the surplus of protein. If you want to work out, you need more protein than if you just want to be sedentary, but if you are consuming 200g of protein a day when you only need 65g you are asking for trouble. – Berin Loritsch May 05 '11 at 12:33
  • @Berin, perhaps you can ask a question in which you can use these comments as an answer yourself? That way it will be more visible to others! – Ivo Flipse May 05 '11 at 18:02
  • @Berin Loritsch. Thanks for all that info. Very very much appreciated! – oshirowanen May 13 '11 at 12:06

3 Answers3

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Typically you would prorate it. That means if 1525 kcal (or Calories) is 61% of 2500 kcal you simply multiply everything by .61. However, there are a couple things to consider:

  • The amount of protein you need to consume to protect your muscles doesn't change.
  • The body needs at least 21g of Fibre a day to stay "regular" (i.e. no constipation)

In the other question you had, you figured out that you need about 65g of protein. Keep that number. I would also maintain the amount of Fibre they suggest. I personally need around 30g to stay regular.

Now, a nice little tidbit about carbs and fibre:

On nutritional labels, fibre is usually lumped in with other carbs. However, your body can't absorb the calories in the fibre so they really don't count. The concept of "net carbs" basically means subtracting out the fibre from the total carbs in the meal. If your English muffin (as we call them in the states) has 10g of fibre and 24g of carbs per muffin, the net impact on your body is only 14g of carbs. Just be careful with some of the "Atkins" labeled net carbs, as they also subtract out sugar alcohols which your body can absorb. Only subtract fibre.

Everything else, I would multiply by 61%. That would make it look like this:

Calories        1525 kcal
Protein         65 g
Carbohydrate    183 g (no more than)
Sugars          73 g
Fat             58 g  (no more than)
Saturates       18 g
Fibre           24 g
Salt            3.5 g

NOTE: I personally think the sodium number for the GDA is a bit high (for the USDA the recommended allowance is around 2.5 g to 3 g of sodium). I tend to swell up when I have that much.

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Berin Loritsch
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  • Thanks for the quick reply. If the protein is changed from 33g to 65g, won't that mean I end up with more than 1525 calories? – oshirowanen May 04 '11 at 15:47
  • Not necessarily. Check the labels on your food. Basically you will be looking for foods rich in protein and lower in carbs/sugars/fat. For example: lean beef, chicken, fish are all excellent sources of protein. When you get your veggies, go for the veggies that are lower in sugars (like most green vegetables) or at least are high in fiber. You won't be able to have as many potatoes as you might of had in the past, but you'll be surprised at what you can have. Remember, if you have fewer than the GDA on carbs/fat/sugars it's OK. – Berin Loritsch May 04 '11 at 16:05
  • Oh, if you get hungry, you can have as much lettuce as you want. Lettuce has vitamins and minerals in there, but that's about it. It has almost no calories or fibre, but it takes up space in your stomach. If you combine it with a Walden Farms (or equivalent) 0 calorie, 0 fat, 0 carb dressing you won't feel so deprived. Yes, the Walden Farms products are engineered food, but they are useful tools while losing weight. – Berin Loritsch May 04 '11 at 16:09
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Well, yes, your math looks fine if you're asking did you scale the nutrient breakdowns down with calories.

A much bigger question would be whether this guideline is worth following. That looks like an awful lot of sugar to me, especially if you want to lose weight!

G__
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  • I think the sugars are part of the carbohydrates, as they normally write x about of carbohydrates of which x amount is sugar, so in total, the carbs plus sugars is 183g, i think... – oshirowanen May 04 '11 at 15:49
  • is that guideline worth following? If not, which guideline should I be following if I want to lose 1 lbs a week, but make sure I remain healthy. I have tried reducing my calories in the passed, but end up feeling very weak and end up with all over join pains, I am assuming that happens because I am not getting enough nutrients. – oshirowanen May 04 '11 at 15:58
  • @oshirowanen, it happens when you don't get enough nutrients and your body is robbing your muscles to burn for energy. 1500 calories is probably the lowest safe limit when you are simply restricting calories. – Berin Loritsch May 04 '11 at 17:06
  • Consider that sugar is essentially "empty" calories, they do very little for you other than provide a quick jolt of energy, which is converted to fat if you aren't using it then and there. Just dropping the sugar consumption to a minimum will probably produce noticeable results. – G__ May 04 '11 at 17:17
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I'd suggest you some diet tips:

  • When calculating your RDA (Recommended dietary allowance) for calories, protein, Carbohydrates, fat, fiber, salt etc.first check these factors. Because RDA always changes with these factors
  • Age, sex
  • Height, weight
  • Any disease condition (metabolic disorder)
  • Bowel habits
  • Physical activity (Exercise)
  • Lifestyle (sedentary, moderate or very active)

    Then follow these instructions

  • Multiply your BMR with activity factor e.g.20%, 30%, 40% accordingly and add that value in BMR.It is your basic requirement (RDA)
  • Then see what is your target for weight loss. If it is less than 10 Kg , no need to reduce 500 Kcal directly
  • Change the composition:Carbohydrates 65-70% of calorie value Protein 15-20% Fat 15-20% Simple sugars-25 gm/day Salt-4-6 gm according to climate condition
  • Add fiber gradually (raw veg,low calorie fruits)
  • Increase Protein gradually from 12%->15%->20%
  • Reduce amount of saturated fats
  • First think of maintaining the achieved weight & don't go below 1500 Kcal for long time. In between, plateau diets of less calories for 2-3 days can be taken; but come to normal (1500 kcal) after that.
Madhuri Sathe
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