Learn Your BMR and Lose Weight

15 November 2009
lauren
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What Is BMR?
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories that your body burns at rest during a day. Your BMR is dependant upon age, weight, height, sex, diet, and exercise.
How Can Knowing Your BMR Help You To Lose Weight?
If you know how many calories your body needs a day to maintain it’s current weight (your BMR), then you can use that number to create a caloric deficit by decreasing your daily caloric intake and/or increasing your caloric expenditure.
How To Calculate Your BMR
Visit http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/. Enter the necessary measurements to learn your daily caloric needs.
What To Do Next
  • Create a reasonable daily caloric deficit that you can commit to.
  • If you are already exercising, but not losing weight, then take your BMR and subtract 200 calories per day. You can slowly (over a month or so) increase this deficit down to 500 calories. Keep in mind that the longer it takes you to lose weight, the more likely you will be to keep this weight off permanently. This is because you will probably be making permanent changes to your lifestyle that allow for weight loss, rather than sudden and short-term changes that will only yield short-term results.
  • Every time a pound is lost, re-calculate your BMR and continue to adjust your eating habits to it.
  • The most effective way to calculate your calories is to keep a calorie journal for at least one week. Write down the times you eat, what you eat, and the calories in it. Try to stick to serving sizes listed on the foods you buy. If you eat fresh produce, then you can learn serving sizes and caloric information for these foods online. Become aware of how many calories you are taking in daily and make necessary changes to your diet to make sure that you are not eating more than your body needs. Your body will store excess calories that it does not need.
Here is An Example of a Calorie Journal:
My BMR is 1,300 calories/day. I will create a caloric deficit by decreasing the number of calories I consume a day. I will start by subtracting 200 calories. Now, I must make sure that I only consume 1,100 calories/day.
One day of my journal may look like this:
9am: ¼ cup oatmeal 150 cal
4 egg whites 64 cal
12pm: 4 oz. plain chicken 120 cal
8 brussel sprouts 80 cal
3pm: 1 banana 100 cal
¼ cup almonds (24 nuts) 170 cal
6pm: 4 oz plain chicken 120 cal
1 cup asparagus 27 cal
1 sweet potato 100 cal
9pm: ¾ cup cottage cheese 120 cal
½ apple 50 cal
Total Calories: 1,101

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