Ben's Total Body Transformation - The Beginning Stats

We can now take a look at exactly where Ben will be starting from in his total body transformation.  We have enough information to outline his approximate current BMR and goal weight BMR as well as prepare an outline for his macronutrient breakdown during the diet.  At this point, it's basically just a matter of doing some simple math for the approximations we need to put together a defined eating and exercise plan. 

He's still awaiting the arrival of his bloodwork so we'll look at that in more detail once it comes in.  We do know what his starting body fat percentage is however.  Let's take a look:




Body Fat Percentage

The calipers gave a reading of:  20.73%
This is based on an average of three seperate readings across three seperate sites (chest, stomach, thigh) using the Fat Track II electronic calipers.  We'll be rounding this percentage up to 21% so we can work with an easy, round number. 

Body Weight

The electronic scale gave a reading of:  187.8 lbs
We'll be rounding this figure up to 188 lbs so we can again use an easy, round number.  All ongoing scale readings will be done with the same scale at approximately the same time of day (typically upon waking and before any food or exercise). 

Goal Body Weight

The goal body weight we'll be working with for Ben is:  158 lbs
This will ultimately result in a loss of 30 lbs of weight and, for ease of these initial calculations, we'll assume that no lean mass is gained, his ending body fat percentage will be 6%.  These figures will drift slightly as we progress through his transformation.

Lean Body Weight

At a weight of 188 lbs and body fat percentage of 21%, this yields an approximate lean mass of:  148.5 lbs

Body Fat Weight

Substracting out his lean mass from his current body weight, we get an approximate fat weight of:  39.5 lbs

BMR Calculations

If you recall our handy BMR calulator from an earlier post, that is where we've gotten the following information from: 

Current approximate body weight BMR:  1,870 calories per day
Goal approximate body weight BMR:  1,665 calories per day

As we factor in activity levels using the Harris Benedict Equation, we get the following figures: 

Current body weight BMR including activity (sedentary):  2,244 calories per day

Goal body weight BMR including activity (moderately active):  2,581 calories per day

We're going to have to work with these numbers a bit to dial them in to where we need them.  We're obviously not going to be bringing Ben's caloric intake above his current consumption while at 22% body fat and little activity.  Also, we don't want to have him stagnate at his current bodyweight either.  We'll revisit this further below because much of this will rely on:

Macronutrient Breakdown

Based on the numbers above, and knowing that we need to start reducing calories for Ben ASAP we're going to start by keeping his calories in the 1,900 to 2,100 per day range at the outset.  Again, to simplify, we'll use 2,000 calories per day.

Macronutrient Percentages:

Protein percentage:  50%
Carohydrate percentage: 25%
Fat percentage:  25%

Percentages Converted to Calories:

Total Daily Calories: 2,000
Protein calories:  1,000
Carbohydrate calories:  500
Fat calories:  500

Calories Converted to Grams (approximated):

Protein grams = 235g - 250g per day
Carbohydrate grams = 120g - 125g per day
Fat grams = 53g - 56g per day

We're starting off by increasing his quality protein intake to insure he gets enough to repair from his exercises while dropping his carbs down extensively from his current diet plan.  He will not need a whole lot in the way of carb based energy sources for some time as we'll be structuring his eating to keep the focus on using body fat stores for energy.  Lastly, the daily fat intake remains reasonable (however, much lower than his current daily intake) and we'll be insuring that at least a good portion of these fats will come from quality sources and not junk. 


There's all the initial basic math in a nutshell.  If you're in similar shape to Ben and/or looking to get started on your own total body transformation, the above information is an excellent guide to get you started on figuring out where you're at and where you need to get to.  Take a few minutes to map out these details - it'll make crafting your diet plan so much easier! 

Stay tuned for the next update on Ben's Total Body Transformation!

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