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Saturday, January 07, 2006

Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator

I found this BMR calculator today...I figured mine out sometime ago but thought I would link this one here to anyone that wondered could figure out their BMI and know how much they needed to eat and not eat to lose weight.

Your BMR is the number of calories you expend just living based on your weight, height and age. It is obviously not specific to each person's particular body but it gives you a basic idea of where to start.

My BMR is 1461 calories...which means I burn that much just being alive, before any kind of exercise. So basically if I didn't want to exercise at all, I could reduce my calorie intake to 1000 calories a day (not really a healthy number to go with) and I could still lose a pound a week (because this would equal a 3500 calorie decrease over the week which equals a pound). Or I could eat the 1461, and exercise off the 3500 calories a week...it is really up to me, although as I mentioned that low of a calorie intake is not that healthy and I would rather get some exercise and eat more freely.

As you age and you lose weight, your BMR goes down (note that this does not take into consideration the fat burning less than muscle issue) so that is partly why it is harder to lose weight as you get smaller...those last few pounds are always the hardest. This is also why building muscle mass is a good idea because it helps to keep your metabolism up.

I know it sounds like I am concerned about the pounds, and I realy am not...if I look better in the mirror, feel fitter and fit in my clothes better, I could care less what the scale says (I tend to weigh more when I am lifting weights anyhow). I just use the calorie thing as a guide to get portions under control (which seems to be my big issue). We eat pretty healthy otherwise.

I added this link to the sidebar as well. Hope it is useful.

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