The Role of Calorie Counting - Essay Example

Calorie Counting Calorie counting The study was set to investigate the daily energy intake of calories. The objective of the study was to find out the daily intake of energy in women and men subjects. Different values of the fat, protein, and carbohydrate intake were taken for a duration of 35 days for the female participants and 10 days for the male participants. The total daily intake for all food components was determined. The mean and the standard deviation of the specific energy intake was calculated. The obtained results showed that the values of carbohydrate intake were higher compared to the values for fat and protein intake respectively. Introduction Eating less and doing enough exercise is highly considered by most dieters as a channel to a healthy leaving. Exercise, in this case, could include moderate activities like spending about 30 minutes daily in physical activity. These physical activities include climbing stairs, active gardening, and walking. Once the number of calories needed in a day is obtained, for an individual to lose weight he or she needs to consume an amount lower than the daily intake. In women, it is recommended that the calorie intake does not fall below 1200, whereas in men the calorie intake should not surpass the 1500 calorie limit. This is so because when one consumes too few calories; his or her health would be endangered by depriving the body the required nutrients. Studies conducted in this field have reported that the practice of losing weight is challenging. There are different factors that could influence the manner in which people could lose or gain weight. The knowledge on how to tip ones energy balance to be in favor of his weight loss is vital for a start. One needs to find out the number of calories that he/or she needs to take in daily. This can be done by noting the number of calories that are needed by the body to ensure the maintenance of the current weight. In order to gain an understanding on how to calculate the calorie intake, a study was set to investigate the amount of calorie intake in a selected sample of female and male participants. Methods. At the beginning of the experiment, the current weight of the subjects was multiplied by 15. This was a rough calorie number in pounds that the body needs for the maintenance of the weight during moderate exercise. Next, the nutrition label on the food products was used in determining the quantity of protein, carbohydrates, and fat intake. For fresh foods a gram scale was used to determine the value of protein carbohydrate and fats. The collected results was recorded in the results section of this report. Results. The collected data was recorded in table 1 and 2. Table 1: Female daily intake Female: Mean daily energy intake (kcal) Fat Carb Protein Total 358.65 556 160.2 1074.85 783 1016 246 2045 495 546 150 1191 323.1 841.2 258.12 1422.42 99 268 216 583 355.5 870.2 158.4 1384.1 458.1 1241.8 222.3 1922.2 610.2 816.8 228 1655 393.3 545.6 458.8 1397.7 285.75 879.6 137.2 1302.55 251.28 396 156.312 803.592 436.95 1140.8 196 1773.75 427.5 840 250 1517.5 250.2 725.2 156.2 1131.6 418.5 771.8 233 1423.3 540.9 730 238.4 1509.3 525.15 1134.4 259.2 1918.75 701.775 1216 314.78 2232.555 1532 397.8 705 187.6 1290.4 139.5 504.2 85.8 729.5 339.3 550.4 249.6 1139.3 434.1375 588.9 252.5 1275.538 700.9245 812.266 334.422 1847.613 425.7 545.2 173.6 1144.5 351 602.6 153 1106.6 363.15 542.2 205.8 1111.15 936 1172 244.8 2352.8 630 564 146 1340 1122.3 1688.8 371.4 3182.5 252 822 156 1230 158.625 449.94 79.96 688.525 540 740 168 1448 395.235 658.52 194.22 1247.975 463.5 480 186 1129.5 Mean 438.9436 741.755 206.5033 1430.973 Standard deviation 225.6053 317.724 83.87548 Graph 1: Female daily intake Table 2: Male daily intake Male: Mean daily energy intake (kcal) Fat Carb Protein Total 603 1720 896 3219 832.5 1108 392 2332.5 594 1184 324 2102 256.5 812.4 207.6 1276.5 623.7 956 234.4 1814.1 544.5 1052 328 1924.5 423 940 264 1627 486 941.6 297.6 1725.2 380.16 744.6 274.88 1399.64 819 940 448 2207 Mean 556.236 1039.86 366.648 Standard deviation 181.7196 271.5604 199.2481 Graph 2: Male daily intake of energy Discussion The total daily intake of energy for both female and male participants was calculated. The standard deviation and mean of fat, protein, and carbohydrate was determined. A graph was plotted to represent the daily intake of all the food components tested. In both cases, the quantities of carbohydrates intake was higher than the fat and protein. The protein intake was also lower than that of fat and carbohydrates in both cases. The lower quantities of fat and protein intake could be attributed to the case where the participants focused on reducing fats and proteins from their diet as a result of the mistakable idea that cutting the fat intake would reduce the general intake of calories. This is true to some extent, as 9 calories in each gram of fat, in terms of weight contains more than two times calories as protein or carbohydrates. When a person substitutes the lean cuts of meat for the ones that are fatty, avoids the highly packaged food components, and avoid fat-rich products like hydrogenated fats, and butter, he or she will cut his intake of calories. Other fat-free food may have higher calories than regular samples since the manufacturers use increased sugars to take care of the lost in flavor in extracting the fat. Nevertheless, the nonfat foods, or the low-fat foods are not of low calorie when consumed in large portions. It is, therefore, recommended that people should consume the food that has low calories yet filling. This means that the snacks and meals having whole grains like brown rice and beans are preferable. During eating one should cut the fat out and reduce the sizes of the portion. Lean meat cuts should be chosen in modest quantities. People should also avoid eating fried foods and use the nonfat dairy foods or low food. The fast food should also be avoided. Chicken nuggets, humurgers are some of the fast food that promote the gain in weight since they are high in fat and calories and the meal value is excessively large making one to overeat. People should also watch whatever they drink since fruit juices, regular soda, and particularly alcoholic drinks has high calories. Bibliography Jing C, Food and Habitus, New York, Univerisity of Texas Health Science center, 1982. Gabaccia D, WE ARE WHAT WE EAT. New York, NY: Harvard University Press, 2000. Bozinovski N, Exercise, Appetite, and Food Intake. New York, NY: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010. Bhattacharjee,LL. Food Intake, Nutritional Status and Related Health Problems Among Elderly Women in India and Thailand. New York: Harvard, 1996. Read More