Monday, May 29, 2006

Calculating your BMR, and other life stuff

Why is losing weight such an impossible thing? :(

144 this morning. Two pounds over goal, which is good, ever if those 2 pounds are all fat. :(

I found a base metabolic rate (BMR) calculation.
The Harris Benedict Calorie Needs Formula for Women:
655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in centimeters) - (4.7 x age in yrs)


(If you don't know your weight in kilos, go to Google and type in, for example, "145 pounds in kilograms." It will tell you your weight in kilos. Then do the same for centimeters.)

Plugging my numbers into this I get:
655+(9.6 x 65.77)+(1.8 x 170)-(4.7 x 35)
655+631.39+306-164.5
=1428 BMR

That means that I need 1428 calories each day just to breath and keep my heart beating. This is different from my RMR (resting metabolic rate), which was tested last year at 1610.

I then multiply this by my activity level:
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days per week) multiply your BMR by 1.375

So 1.375 activity level times 1428 gives me 1949.

This is the number of calories I need each day to maintain my current weight. That seems high to me. I think 1800 might be closer.

Going by the "couch potato" 1.2 calculation I get 1713.6. I think my true number is between these and 1800 makes a lot of sense.

What if I have screwed up my metabolism from dropping my calories so low the last couple of months? If I have, how do I "up" my metabolism again so my body knows there is no famine? Anyone know? Post a comment if you do.

Slept in again today and walked the last leg to work. Stopped at Starbucks and got an iced coffee. I did my Purpose Driven Life study and then read The DaVinci Code for a while. I just want to finish the stupid book. I really don't see why it's so popular. Never mind the history and theology; the thing has plot holes big enough to drive a truck through! I won't be reading any more Dan Brown books after this! Bleh.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Victoria!
I joined the list too and it's great to see more women involved in this.
Wow, thanks for the tips on figuring your weight loss in kilos and BMR. I'll have to do that. Thank you!
Keep up the great work! You can do it

moderator said...

My husband said the same exact thing! He said the first part wasn't too bad, but the plot just fell apart at the end. No more Dan Brown for him. I have declined to read the stupid thing. It's popular because it trashes Christianity. borrrrring.