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Health & Fitness

'Battle of the Bulge' or Battle of the Sexes?

How much do you REALLY need to eat every day?

Have you ever wondered how many calories you need to consume every day in order to lose weight?  Did you ever wonder if it's different for you than it is, say your husband?  An easier way to determine the calories required for energy balance is to add a zero to your desired weight.  For example, if you would like to weigh 140 pounds, you should take in approximately 1,400 calories per day.  Most adults consume 1,200 to 2,500 calories per day.  It's obvious from looking at the obesity crisis in America today that most people aren't burning the majority of their calories through exercise.

About 60% of all of the calories you eat go toward basic physiological functions, such as respiration, heart function, blood circulation, digestion, food absorption, body temperature regulation and muscle tone (we're not talking about biceps here; we're talking about muscles in the lungs and small intestine).  Another 30% is used for physical activity, such as walking, chewing, speaking, and, oh yes, working out and going to the gym.  The remaining 10% is the amount of heat you burn by processing food.  It takes energy to break popcorn down into gluclose and sushi into amino acids.  If you want to get fancy about it, this process is called the "thermic effect of food".

The body's energy needs increase when the outside temperature is extremely hot or cold, when you have a fever, if you drink caffeine or smoke, if you're pregnant, or if you have a very lean body mass (like an Olympic runner).  Some medications and medical conditions can also increase energy needs.  As we get older, our energy needs decrease, which is part of the natural aging process.  Your energy needs also go down when you sleep.

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So how does this transition into a battle of the sexes?  Mother Nature designed it so that women have lower energy needs than men do.  This fact is related, in part, to gender differences in the ratio of lean muscle to fatty tissue.  Lean muscle uses more energy than fatty tissue.  Women have less lean muscle than men do (another advantage men have when it comes to the battle of the bulge).  This doesn't mean that all women are fat or that women athletes aren't muscular.  It just means that ratio-wise, women have more fatty tissue.  Women require more fatty tissue because of the physiological requirements of childbearing.  We may live in the modern world, but our bodies and metabolism are still living in the stone age!

Remember my blog post from last week regarding hunger and appetite?  Although a woman might "feel" she needs the same portions of food as a man, the reality of the situation is, no matter how lean she is, she still requires less energy to run her body than a man does.  This is Mother Nature's cruel joke, but it's a fact of life.  As a woman, if you're not sure about portion sizes look up the new USDA's food plate.  It's a great general guide for staying slim and NOT eating as much as your significant other! 

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