What is my BMR and why do I need to know it?

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the mimimal caloric requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. This is the amount of energy your body would burn if you slept all day (24 hours). This includes the body functions such as circulation, breathing, generating body heat, transmitting messages to the brain, cellular metabolism, and the production of body chemicals.

Let's look at some factors that affect BMR:

* Age: In youth, the BMR is higher; age brings less lean body mass and slows the BMR.
* Height: Tall, thin people have higher BMR's.
* Growth: Children and pregnant women have higher BMR's.
* Body Composition: The more lean tissue, the higher the BMR.
* The more fat tissue, the lower the BMR.
* Fever: Fevers can raise the BMR.
* Stress: Stress hormones can raise the BMR.
* Environmental Temperature: Both the heat and cold raise the BMR.
* Fasting/Starvation: Fasting/starvation hormones lower the BMR.
* Malnutrition: Malnutrition lowers the BMR.
* Thyroxin: The thyroid hormone thyroxin is a key BMR regulator; the more thyroxin produced, the higher the BMR.

If you are trying to lose weight by counting calories, knowing your BMR is essential.

The Harris Benedict equation is one of the most accurate methods of BMR estimation. This formula uses factors such as age, weight, height and sex to determine BMR and is accurate with the exception of pregnant women, extremely muscular and extremely obese individuals. The Harris Benedict formula is as follows:

women--BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age in years)
men--BMR = 66 + (13.7 x weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age in years)

But, you don't have to do the math...You can use this BMR calculator .

Using the calculator, ( make sure you choose inches and lbs instead of kilos), my BMR is 1554....but remember that is just to sustain my body at rest....so then this chart came up to show me how many calories I can consume to sustain my present weight at different levels of activity:

Lack of activity or very small activity	1865 Calories / day
Small activity 1 – 3days / week	2137 Calories / day
Moderate activity 3 - 5days / week	2409 Calories / day
Big activity 6 - 7 days / week	2681 Calories / day
Very big activity i.e. training 2x a day	2953 Calories / day

To lose weight, I have to create a deficit of calories, which I can do in a number of ways....

Eating Less Calories than you Burn each Day.
Eat anything less than what you use each day consistently, and you will lose weight. So, if I eat 1859 calories a day ( 2409 calories a day, moderate activity- 550 calories), all week long , I will lose 1 pound (3500 calories) in about a week.

Exercising More
I can keep my caloric intake the same (2409) and create my deficit by burning extra calories. So, if you burned 550 calories through exercise alone, you will still lose 1 pound in about a week.

A Combination of Both Diet and Exercise
This is the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off. Say you cut your calories by 300 and burn 250 calories with exercise. There is your 550 calorie deficit—with much less deprivation and work.

You could speed it up by cutting more calories and exercising more—whatever works best for you. Some people hate to diet, others hate to exercise, so maybe you’ll do more or less of either one.

Of course, the example above was just for simplicity. You can cut any number of calories from your diet (more or less than the 500 in the example) and you can burn more or less than the example illustrates. As long as you are consistent, your deficit will "add up" over time…and you’ll slim down.
One point I want to stress to you no-breakfast eaters ....not eating breakfast slows down your BMR so that you will have to eat even less or exercise even more to lose weight. Losing weight is challenging enough, don't make it more difficult. Take the time to jump start your metabolism in the morning and EAT! It's better for your brain too.

Recipe of the Day
Healthy Makeover--Spinach artichoke dip

You know that yummy dip you get with pita chips at your favorite restaurant? Well it has about 28 grams of fat per serving! Here is a great recipe that has only 8 grams of fat and half the calories but it also has 7 grams of protein because it features tofu. Don't be afraid of tofu, it has no taste, it absorbs the flavors of what you cook with it, but adds great texture and volume.

Remember portion control!
This makes 20 servings, which are 1/4 cup, so don't eat the whole bowl!

Ingredients:

• 1 package (16 ounces) soft tofu, drained
• 2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 can (14 ounces) water-packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and chopped
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Spoon into an ungreased 9-in. deep-dish pie plate. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Serve warm. Yield: 5 cups.

Nutrition Facts
One serving:1/4 cup

• Calories:109
  Fat:8 g
• Saturated
  Fat:2 g
  Cholesterol:11 mg
  Sodium:317 mg
  Carbohydrate:4 g
  Fiber:1 g
  Protein:7 g

Tip of the Day

Know what you eat!
Here is a link to a great site called Nutrition Data. You put in the food in the search area at the top of the page and it brings up all kinds of info on that food. Besides nutrition stats, it gives you their opinion on how healthy it is, inflammation index, protein quality...lots of things you need to know to help you make good food choices.

Yesterday's Menu

Breakfast: Chex cereal with fruit and soy milk--230 calories
Lunch:--salad with tons of veggies, 1T dressing--150 calories
Dinner: Hot Dog , no bun--275
3 glasses wine-400
sweet potato chips with spinach artichoke hummus-250
snack: pineapple-30 cal
Total- 1335
Okay not the greatest nutritionally, but for dinner, my son and his GF were visiting and we sat out on the deck for 3 hours with wine coolers and a veggie dip. We decided to order pizza and I can't eat that ( has gluten) so I grabbed a hot dog and threw it on the grill. We had a great time!