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.
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.
Healthy Makeover--Spinach artichoke dip
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:
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
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
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!
