Nutrition
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Calories, calories, calories! Finding the perfect balance
By Para Mehta, RD/www.healthfulfilling.com
If you are battling with your weight and aren't getting serious and
permanent weight loss results, one of the biggest reasons why failure
happens is that you don't know how many calories you're supposed to
be eating everyday.
The human body weighs what it weighs based on a simple, old age
premise; calories in vs calories out. So if you take in more calories
than you burn on a daily basis, weight gain occurs. If you burn
whatever you take in, you stay the same weight. If you burn more
than you take in, you lose weight. The following information can help
you find how many calories you need daily to either maintain, lose or
gain weight.
What is a daily calorie level?
Based on your height, weight, age your body requires a certain
number of calories per day for basic functioning. This is called your
basal metabolic rate or BMR.
How do I calculate my BMR?
You can use a BMR calculator in which you plug in your height,
weight, and age. Use the link below to calculate your BMR.
Adjust your BMR according to your activity level.
Once you know your BMR, you can add in your activity level based on
how active you are daily. So if you are quite sedentary, it would be a
different number vs if you are very active. You can use the link above
to multiply your BMR by the activity levels described.
Adjust your daily calories based on your weight
management goals.
Then, depending on if you need to lose weight, maintain it, or gain it,
you would add or subtract calories, to get an idea of how many
calories you should eat daily. For example, if you want to lose weight,
you would subtract 500 calories from your daily calorie needs (which
is your BMR multiplied by your activity level).
The other option is to subtract less calories, such as about 300
calories, and then exercise to burn off the other 200 calories. If you
want to maintain your current weight, you don't subtract any calories.
How do you ensure accuracy in finding your BMR and daily
calorie needs?
The best way to assure accuracy in determining daily calorie needs
would be to consult with a registered dietitian (RD), or visit a website
by an RD who has a BMR tool. You can also get fairly accurate results
by using BMR calculators from government health websites such as
the Centers for Disease Control or USDA's Choose My Plate.
Questions or Comments?
Connect with me on facebook, twitter or send me an email at
info@healthfulfilling.com. Check out the services page to find
solutions to better health, online or phone health/nutrition consults,
or self health ebooks. I look forward to hearing from you!
Copyright 2008 Healthfulfilling.com Reproduction of any content of this
website, whole or in part, without permission is strictly prohibited.
Updated 1/2012
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