How to Lose Weight
Metabolic Rate
What is Metabolic Rate?
We all use energy to live. Even at rest, your body has to perform many functions that are using energy. Your metabolic rate is the number of calories you use per day to carry out your normal life. When discussing metabolic rate, scientists distinguish between Base Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Metabolic Rate.
Base Metabolic Rate (BMR): This is the number of calories you use to perform the basic functions of life, e.g. breathing, maintaining body temperature, pumping blood, producing hormones, etc. It is the number of calories you would use if you rested all day. Remarkably, the basic functions of life represent around 70% of your total metabolic rate. So you can see that increasing your BMR would help you to lose weight, as you will be using more calories without even trying.
Metabolic Rate: This is the total number of calories you use per day in your normal life. It is your BMR plus the number of calories you use going about your daily activities. That is moving, eating, digesting your food, talking and all the other activities you do that use energy.
Calculating Your Metabolic Rate
Your metabolic rate is determined by your height, weight, age, sex and body makeup. The biggest variable in determining metabolic rate is muscle mass. Muscle is metabolically active, i.e. it is using energy even when it is not doing anything. This is why men have a higher rate than women and young men have a higher rate than old men -- they have more muscle.
Use the metabolic rate calculator to determine your own rate.
Okay, now you have a good idea how many calories you use in a typical day. The Base Metabolic Rate calculation is generally very accurate within a few percent.
The Metabolic Rate calculation is an estimate. There is no way to give a precise calculation of how many calories you use in a day. It depends on how active you are and many other factors. For example, people who naturally fidget will use more calories than people who sit still. All I can give here is a typical calculation based on how active you claim to be.
Total Daily Calories Expended
Your metabolic rate is not necessarily the total calories you use in a day because it does not take into consideration any unusual efforts you make such as exercise sessions. It is possible for the human body to use 3,000 calories an hour in a really intense physical effort, which is more than most people's total metabolic rate. Most people could not maintain such a physical effort but 1,000 calories an hour is an attainable target.
We will look at exercise in more detail in the following pages but for the moment, it is enough to say that exercise is one of the best tools you have to balance the calorie scales in your favour.
So now you can make a reasonable estimate of the number
of calories you use in a day. Take your metabolic rate calculation from
above and add on the number of calories that you think you have used in
any special efforts such as exercise sessions. Now all you have to do is
create a calorie deficit by eating 500-1000 calories less than that figure.
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