Dieting and Basal Metabolic Rate

If your goal is weight loss it is very important to determine your basal metabolic rate when dieting. A common mistake made by those new to dieting is to focus on eating healthy and not paying any attention to the amount of calories consumed. Eating healthy is important but if you still consume more calories then your body burns you will continue to gain weight. In order to determine how many calories you should eat it is important to first determine your basal metabolic rate. This article explains what basal metabolic rate is, why it is important, and how it can be calculated.

Your basal metabolic rate is the total amount of calories your body burns in a 24 hour period at rest. For example, a 5'8", 165lb's, 30 year old male has a basal metabolic rate of 1750 calories. This means that this person would have to consume 1750 calories just to maintain their current bodyweight if they were totally inactive. In reality most people are active on average 16 hours a day resulting in a greater calorie deficit. The more active you are the higher your basal metabolic rate. If the person we use in this example is even somewhat active during the day his daily caloric expenditure could easily reach 2,300 calories. If this person is an athlete in training his caloric expenditure could reach as high as 3,000 + calories a day depending on the volume and intensity of training.

For the average person that wants to lose 2lb's of body fat per week most trainers would recommend consuming 500 calories below your basal metabolic rate and burning another 500 calories through physical activity each day. Depending on your activity level you will have to adjust the amount of calories consumed. The idea is to create a daily deficit of 1,000 calories. A deficiency of 1,000 calories a will allow you to lose exactly 2lb's of bodyweight per week.

Losing weight too fast can be dangerous. If your daily caloric deficit is greater then 1,000 calories you run the chance of losing valuable muscle tissue as your body will catabolize the proteins within your muscles to use as an energy source. Muscle tissue is very metabolically active and losing muscle will greatly decrease you body's metabolism making it harder to burn fat.

In order to calculate your basal metabolic rate all you require is access to the internet. Open your web browser and do a Google search using the key phrase "basal metabolic rate calculator". You will have a choice between hundreds of BMR calculators. Any of these calculators will suffice. All you need to do is entre your height, age, bodyweight, and press enter. Once you have determined your basal metabolic rate then you are ready to start your new diet knowing how many calories you should consume. Remember, trying to lose weight to fast can be dangerous. A 1,000 calorie deficiency in a 24 hour period is more then enough to generate controlled weight loss.

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