Measurable Wellness - Step 4 - What's in the Numbers?

Most people have heard of the BMI, but have not heard about the BMR.

Your BMR, or Basal Metabolic Rate, is the amount of calories that your body needs to function while resting in 24 hours. In other words, calories for just being alive!

Knowing your BMR is a very important step in learning more about your body and achieving your health & wellness goals. Once you follow the formula & learn your own BMR, you will then be able to calculate how much you need to eat in order to lose, gain, or maintain weight.
Your BMR depends on you sex, age, weight and height. There are 2 separate formulas, one for women & one for men. And here we go...

BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ) Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

For Example: A 150-lb women, 5'7" & 40 years old

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x 150lbs) + (4.7 x 67inches/HT) - (4.7 x 40 yrs)
BMR = 655 + 652.5 + 314.9 - 188
BMR = 1434.4

This example shows that the woman would need 1434.4 calories per day to live. Even if she did nothing other than breathe, she can eat that amount of calories per day to sustain her weight.

For those with a leaner muscle weight, this calculation will of course differ. Muscles use more energy for survival than fat tissue, so people with lean bodies need more energy to survive. Now we are starting to understand why some people have a harder time gaining weight vs others that can easier add the pounds!

Have you have looked at the calories burned during an activity and wondered how to use them correctly for weight loss, or weight gain? Well, using the information from example from above, walking the dog for 30 minutes would burn around 112 calories or a hour long casual bike ride would burn around 408 calories. These additional calories can then be added to your total calories needed in order to simply maintain your weight. 

One dog walk would bring your total to 1546.4 calories. Great for you and the dog! 

Take time to learn about your body and how it works. Once you start seeing food as energy needed, and learn how some "foods" have 0 energy and LOTS of calories, you'll be another  step closer to achieving your health & wellness goals!