Knowing the number of calories your body burns in a day is the first step to identifying how to adjust your exercise and diet habits so you burn fat and lose weight. You probably hear about people having different metabolism rates all the time and everyone knows someone who can eat all they want of anything they want and never seem to put on a pound. In spite of this, the truth is the typical amount of calories someone will burn through the course of a day spent in a rested state is fairly constant and easily determined.
This article is going to help you find out how many calories you would burn in one day if you maintained a fully rested state throughout the day. Once you have this information you can calculate the necessary caloric deficit you will need to create to lose two pounds in one week. Then all you need to do is keep track of your calories and make sure to incorporate exercise into your weekly routine to ensure you reach your arget daily caloric deficit. Once you have this down, you will be well on your way to sustainable weight loss.
Introducing the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body will burn if you are at a rested state throughout the day. Despite what many people think, people of the same age, height, and weight will burn about the same number of calories in a day if they maintain the same level of activity throughout the day.
The first step is to find a BMR calulator online. A quick Google search will provide quite a few options. Just make sure you find a calculator that allows you to choose different activity factors before calculating. You will need to input your age, height, weight, and sex. Start by choosing the sedentary activity level because you want to determine the greatest number of calories you will burn with minor or zero exercise in your weekly schedule. This BMR calculator will spit out your resting BMR and your BMR with activity factor considered. It will also give you your Body Mass Index (BMI) score, in case you are interested.
Your BMR number is very important because it serves as your calorie compass.
Here is what you need to know in order to understand the BMR compass. If you are sedentary all through the day, you do not train and you sit at a desk for your job, then this is how many calories you burn every day. If the number of calories you eat daily is higher than this amount, you will put on weight. If the number of calories you eat is fewer than this amount you will slowly drop weight. Since dropping weight is your aim, you need to eat fewer calories than your BMR calculated.
Determining an appropriate caloric deficit
Using your calorie compass as a guide you will want to determine an appropriate caloric deficit that will ensure you reach your fat loss goals. This is one of the most important decisions you will make as you determine your route to fat loss. Let's go over the math together.
1 pound = 3,500 calories. 7 Days x 500 calories = 3,500 calories
If you can achieve a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day, then you would lose about one pound every seven days. If you can achieve a caloric deficit of 1,000 calories each day, you would lose about two pounds each week. Before you start panicking about having to eat 1,000 calories less than your BMR per day, let me remind you that reducing the amount of calories you consume is not the only way to create a caloric deficit. Exercise is a great way to help you achieve your daily caloric deficit goals. Return to the BMR calculator. Choose the 'moderate' activity factor and re-calculate.
You should see quite a jump in your BMR with Activity Factor. If you establish a workout schedule that gets you exercising 3-5 times per week you will not have to reduce as many calories from your eating habits to lose two pounds in one week.
No comments:
Post a Comment