Diet Planning Steps for Calculating Energy Requirement

Calculating your energy requirement is crucial for creating a personalized and effective diet plan. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you navigate the process:

Step 1: Estimate Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

BMR is the minimum number of calories your body needs at rest to perform essential functions like breathing, circulation, and cell repair. It’s the foundation for calculating your overall energy needs.

There are several ways to estimate your BMR, You can also use the following formulas:

Harris-Benedict 1984 equation formula:

For Men: BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kg) + (4.799 x height in cm) – (5.677 x age in years)

For Women: BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight in kg) + (3.098 x height in cm) – (4.330 x age in years)

Mifflin-St jeor Equation:

For Men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) – (5 × age in years) + 5.

For Women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) – (5 × age in years) – 161.

Katch – Mcardle BMR Formula:

BMR = 370 + (21.6 x Lean Body Mass(kg))

Lean Body Mass = (Weight(kg) x (100- (Body fat)))/100

Step 2: Determine Your Physical Activity Level (PAL)

Your PAL reflects how much energy you expend through daily activities. It’s categorized as follows:

1. Little or no exercise, mostly desk jobs – Sedentary (PAL 1.2)
2. Light exercise or sports 1-3 days/week – Lightly Active (PAL 1.375)
3. Moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days/week – Moderately Active (PAL 1.55)
4. Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days/week – Very Active (PAL 1.725)
5. Very hard exercise and physical job or training for elite athletes – Extremely Active (PAL 1.9)

Step 3: Calculate Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)

Multiply your BMR by your PAL to get your TEE, which represents the total number of calories you burn in a day.

Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) = BMR x PAL

Step 4: Correct TDEE to include Thermic effect of food and stress factor

The thermic effect of food is the estimated energy used in the digestion and absorption of food.

Diet-induced thermogenesis increases energy due to an increase in metabolic rate due to overeating.

CHO  10%

Fat 5%

Protein 25%

Alcohol 20%

However, 10% of TDEE can be added as the thermic effect of food

Stress factor for general people is normally 1.0

Corrected TDEE = (BMR x PAL x Stress factor) + 10% TDEE

Step 5: Adjust for corrected TDEE for Specific Goals

1. Are you aiming to lose weight, maintain your weight, or gain muscle? Depending on your goal, adjust your corrected TDEE as follows:

Weight Loss: Subtract 500 calories from your corrected TDEE.

Weight Maintenance: Consume your corrected TDEE.

Muscle Gain: Add 500 calories to your corrected TDEE.

Adjusted TDEE Weight loss = ((BMR x PAL x Stress factor) + 10% TDEE ) – 500kcal

Adjusted TDEE Muscle gain = ((BMR x PAL x Stress factor) + 10% TDEE ) + 500kcal

Step 6: Plan Your Macronutrient Ratio

Divide your adjusted TDEE by the calorie content of each macronutrient to determine your daily intake goals for carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

Carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram

Protein: 4 calories per gram

Fat: 9 calories per gram

At first determine the individuals’ protein requirement

• For Normal person – RDA for protein – 0.8g/kg body weight per day
• In metabolic stress, trauma, and disease condition – 1 – 1.5g/kg
• Athletes or highly active people need – 1.2-2 g/kg of body weight per day.
• People with Liver disease24,25 (decompensated cirrhosis, acute alcoholic hepatitis/liver failure, acute phase post-transplantation) need – 1.2 – 1.5g/kg body weight per day
• CKD (non-dialysis) – 0.6 – 0.8g/kg body weight per day
• CKD (on dialysis) – 1.0 – 1.2g/kg body weight per day

By calculating protein requirement in grams convert it to calories

Determine the percentage of protein in TDEE

Subtract the calories from protein and divide the remaining calories to carbohydrate and fat sources

Below is macronutrient distribution according to nutritional goals

Balanced Diet:(CHO: 55%, Protein: 15%, Fat: 30%)                                                                                                    Weight Loss: (CHO: 35%, Protein: 45%, Fat: 20% )

Muscle Gain:(CHO: 45%, Protein: 35%, Fat: 20%)

Low-Carb Diet:(CHO: 15%, Protein: 20%, Fat: 65%)

Ketogenic Diet:(CHO: 10%, Protein: 15%, Fat: 75%)

Step 7: Use food exchange system to develop the diet plan

Food Exchange System is where Foods are grouped into food lists according to their carbohydrate, protein, and fat content.

• Foods within each list contain similar amounts of total calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

• To identify how many servings of food, needed for the meal plan.

• Each item on a particular list in the portion listed may be interchanged with any other food item on the same list.

• An exchange = a substitution, choice, or serving.

• Each list is a group of measured or weighed foods of approximately the same nutritional value.

• Within each food list, one exchange is approximately equal to another in calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

Basic outline of Food exchange system

https://exrx.net/Nutrition/FoodExchanges Click to view the food exchange system developed by the American diabetes association.

NUTRIENT VALUES IN ONE SERVING FROM EACH EXCHANGE LIST

Step 8: Use food exchange system to develop the diet plan

Now distribute the exchanges throughout the number of given meals and snacks

Step 9 : Plan diet

While considering individual preferences, dietary habits and lifestyle, goals and restrictions, and health and medical condition choose healthy suitable foods within the food exchange system accordingly.