By Dayne Hudson
Hello! Thanks for visiting my website. I recently spoke to Ben Fordham on Sydney Live 3-6 on Radio 2GB, about the BASAL METABOLIC RATE. That is the AMOUNT of calories you burn per day at rest! In all the confusion that is staying underweight and healthy - this number should help you out and eradicate all the guess work for you. Essentially, if you always eat LESS calories then your BASAL METABOLIC RATE, then you will never put on weight and won't be at risk of obesity, or any other health complications that come along with it. The formula for calculating your BASAL METABOLIC RATE (the Harris Benedict equation) is as follows: BMR = 66.5 + (13.75 x Weight in KG) + (5.003 x Height in CM) - (6.775 x Age in YEARS) EXAMPLE Let's say Jim is 45 and weighs 91 kilograms and is 183 cm tall: 66.5 + (13.75 x 91) + (5.003 x 183) - (6.775 x 45) = 1928 calories a day BUT WHAT ABOUT IF JIM IS EXERCISING TOO? Let's say Jim goes for a 45 minute jog in the morning before work. Jim would need to MULTIPLY his BMR by the PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL that is appropriate. Those numbers are as follows: SEDENTARY or LIGHT ACTIVITY = 1.53 ACTIVE or MODERATELY ACTIVE = 1.76 VIGOROUS ACTIVE = 2.25 So Jim woud MULTIPLY his BMR (1928 calories per day) by his PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL number which is 1.76 (1928 X 1.76) = 3393 calories Therefore Jim needs to eat LESS than 3393 calories per day to prevent weight gain! NOTE: The VIGOROUS ACTIVE person is one who trains more than 2 hours a day.
