Steel Fitness

Determining your Basal Metabolic Rate - The First Key To Nutrition Success

I am often asked, "What is the best way to go about creating a diet to reach my fitness goals?".

Most people instinctively begin by making a list of foods to eat. However, in order to really achieve their goals, there is a step they must do before ever creating a menu. The first step to reaching your goals is to determine your Basal Metabolic Rate.

To understand this first step, lets take a look at how weight loss and weight gain really works.

Each person's body burns a particular amount of calories daily just to maintain it's normal body functions. The amount of calories burned varies from individual to individual and is based on factors such as age, gender, height, weight, and body composition. This figure is called the Basal Metabolic Rate ( BMR ) and it indicates how many calories a person much consume daily to maintain their current weight with no additional exercise or activity.

Once the BMR is determined, we then need to take an individuals daily activity level and exercise plan into account to determine the actual amount of calories they need to consume to maintain their weight. This adjusted figure is called the Adjusted Basal Metabolic Rate ( ABMR ).

To determine how many calories a person needs daily to gain or lose weight, we add or subtract from the ABMR.

It takes 3500 calories to equal 1 lb of body weight.

Therefore we subtract 500 calories ( 3500/7 ) from an individual's AMBR to determine the amount of calories necessary to lose 1 lb per week.

A person interested in gaining weight would need to add 500 calories daily to their ABMR to gain 1 lb per week.

It's clear to see that the key to determining how many calories you need to reach your fitness goals is to first determine your BMR and AMBR.

I have created a series of calculators that will help you determine these numbers.

My calculators are available for free at the link below and will help you determine your target calories for losing weight ( Cutting ) or for building mass ( Bulking ). You will need Microsoft Excel to use the calculators. Simply follow the directions in the Red bordered boxes, and the totals in the Black bordered boxes will be filled in for you automatically.

http://MichaelandKendra.com/BMRCALC/bmrcalc.htm


Here is a more detailed example using my calculator.

Let's say we have a 25 year old Female who is 5' 4" and 145 lbs.
She is interested in losing 1 lb per week and she will be working out 5 times per week at a moderate intensity level. She does not have a physically demanding job, or any other extra strenuous daily activity.

Using my calculator, we can calculate her BMR to be: 1463 calories daily.

Adjusting this number based on her exercise level we can calculate her ABMR to be: 2267 calories daily.

Therefore, in order to lose 1 lb per week, her target calories would be 1767 calories daily ( 2267 - 500 ).

In the next part of this series, I will detail how to build a sound diet to provide the necessary target calories, based on an individuals goals.

For those interested in more detailed help with their training and nutrition, I offer personalized online training and nutrition plans on my website: http://www.MichaelElias.com

You may also contact me with any questions by e-mailing Michael@MichaelandKendra.com

posted by imagesofvenus @ 7:16 AM