Einstein once said “imagination is more important than knowledge” .

  I used to disagree with this (hey I never said I was the sharpest tool in the shed) years ago.   However the more I read and the more mature I became, I figured out why.  Take quantum physics for example, sometimes  physicists perform  thought experiments on a princple that they have no way of experimenting on or an end result of a previously performed experiment for testing or illumination. 

An example would be visualizing/imagining a  completed puzzle (even though its still in pieces) and then work backwards (mentally) to determine how each piece fits.  They ask okay in order for this to happen  what scenarios (pieces of the puzzle) need to happen?  You work backwards to solve a problem.   The same technique can be applied to almost any goal you are trying to achieve in life. 

Okay lets say your goal is weight loss or muscle gain.  You start from the end and work your way back.  You start with your target weight.  The weight you want to be at.  This will allow you come up with the number of calories  you are supposed to be eating not some arbitrary calories that you read in a book or use because of some popular diet fad.  I often  see people say I’m going to eat 1200 calories how did the come up with that number.    

Example (most of my blogs has been about weight loss so I will use weight gain as an example. )   I’m going to use two goals/targets as an example.

Goal: Muscle Gain                                              Goal: Weight Loss

Current Weight :140 lbs                 Or                Current weight:  190 lb

Target weight: 200 lbs                                   Target weight :  140 lbs

I wouldn’t go with the so called “ideal weight” for so many reasons.  Pick a weight that you feel you will look good on you.  You could use a picture of a model that’s closest to your height and the weight you want to be to give you a reference of what weight looks good on you.  This is what I did. The benefit of this is that  it made it easy for me to visualize my goal.     

Now back to the original line of thought.   

The target weight is  200Lbs  so you need to figure out the caloric requirement for someone weighing 200lb ( LBM lean body mass).  There are many formulas to get the amount of calories that a  200 lb person needs to maintain that weight.   Two of the most accurate formulas that I know are the Katch Mcardle formula and Mifflin formula.    Both of which are more accurate than the Harris-Benedict formula (developed in 1919)  used by the “zone diet”.

I’m going to use the Katch-Mcardle formula which is meant for active people. The Milfin for people who sedentary because it factors in age, height etc which shouldn’t be factored in for athelets/active.

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

BMR = basal metabolic rate—> How much calories you burn @ rest.

Note:  2.2lb = 1 kg 1in = 2.54cm

For the person who’s trying to weigh 200 pounds (remember to divide 200 by 2.2 to get the weight in Kg for formula)

 BMR = 370 + (21.6 x 91kg)=  2335.6 or 2336   

The person needs to eat 2335.6 calories a day  to weigh 200 lbs (lean mass-muscle)

Now lets say the person wants to weigh 140 lbs

To get the BMR of a person weighing 140lb

BMR = 370 + (21.6 x 64kg) = 1752.4 or 1752 

The person needs to consume 1752 calories per day to weigh 140 lbs ( lean mass-muscle)

Now because you expend more calories on some days more so than others because of what you are doing that day there is an activity multiplier list to maintain that weight once you get there.

Activity Multiplier list

Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e. marathon, contest etc.)

This is the Mifflin method.  Its  really based for people who are sedentary

Note:  2.2lb = 1 kg 1in = 2.54cm

Men = 5 + 10 (wt in Kg) + 6.25(ht in cm) -5(age)

Women = -161 + 10(wt in kg) + 6.25(ht in cm) -5(age)

After you calculate the amount of calories you need to consume, you need to figure out how much protein, carbs and fat.   You always start with protein, then fat and then the calories thats left you convert to how many grams of carbohydrates you need.  

Note:  1 gram of protein = 4 calories, 1 gram of carbs = 4 calories  1 gram of fat = 9 calories.

protein amount

The amount of protein can be from .6g (someone just sits and do completely nothing)  per pound of bodyweigh to 1.5 gram per pound of body weight  all dependent on your activity level. 

Fat amount (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated)

example: olive oil, almonds, fish oil, brazil nut, peanuts, pumpkin seeds

This usually comes as low as .3g to .4g per pound of body weight.

Carbohydrates amount

Whatever amount that  is left after calculating the amount of protein and fat you divide by 4.  This will give you the amount of carb you need in grams.

So now instead picking a pre fabricated number, you can custom tailor your own diet program.  Pick and picture the weight you want to be, then work your way back by adding all the pieces —-calorie requirement, protein-carb-fat requirement together.