All About Calories
When it comes to calories, there are a few things that you have to take into consideration. First off, how much should you be taking in and how much should come from what source? The amount that you take in greatly varies from person to person, of course. Let's determine how much you need.
Introducing the Basal Metabolic Rate
The Basal Metabolic Rate -- often referred to as simply the BMR -- is the rate at which your body uses calories. In essence, it is how much calories your body requires while at rest. Do not use your BMR as your caloric intake goal. If you refuse to take this advice, you might have a serious issue on your hands. That said, let's take a look at how one can determine their BMR. Age is in years, weight is in pounds, and height is in inches.
- Females: 655 - (4.7 x Age) + (4.35 x Weight) + (4.7 x Height)
- Males: 66 - (6.8 x Age) + (6.23 x Weight) + (12.7 x Height)
Now that we have determined your BMR, we have to multiply it by a certain number to determine how much your body needs in order to be healthy. Do not fear the number if it seems high -- you require enough calories to feed blood to all of your body, enough to feed all of the tissues and muscles; and you need enough to expend energy during normal, daily life. It is important to choose your activity level and thus the number wisely so that your body will get all it needs while making weight loss (or gaining) an enjoyable experience and not some shock on your body.
- Little to no exercise each week (sedentary) 1.2
- Light exercise and/or sports 1-3 days per week (lightly active) 1.375
- Moderate exercise and/or sportvery active) s 3-5 days per week (moderately active) 1.55
- Hard exercise and/or sports 6 or 7 days per week ( 1.725
- Very hard training, physically demanding job, or hard sports most days per week (extra active) 1.9
