Determining your Metabolic Rate

Have you ever heard of Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)? Another term for this is Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). This is the minimal calorie requirement needed to sustain life in a resting individual. This is the amount of energy your body would burn if you slept all day (24 hours). This is also the jumping-off point to help you figure out what you can eat to gain, lose, or maintain weight.

If you are so inclined, here is a website that discusses this in more depth:http://www.weight-loss-i.com/basal-metabolic-rate-bmr.htm

The next step is to figure your Active Metabolic Rate. This will take into account your personal BMR and the approximate amount of activity you do daily.

Use the fitness calculator to determine YOUR BMR and AMR:
Fitness Calculator

If you are not sure of your activity level, you can use this website to find out:
http://www.thecolumn.org/lifestyle-activity.asp

OK, now, armed with this new, exciting information, do you know what comes next? To put these numbers to work for you, you are going to have to work for them. That means you must WRITE DOWN everything that you eat. (I never said this was going to be easy!)

Food journaling WORKS. Truly, it does. I think this was the deciding factor in my weight loss, and it is the simple trick that I go back to every time I see the scale creeping up. You can either purchase a small notebook from the drugstore, or you can use a spreadsheet if you are a techie like me. You can download the spreadsheet that I used here.

ACCOUNTABILITY is the operative word here . And let me tell you, a double chocolate Krispy Kreme donut does NOT look any better on paper than it does on your thighs, and this fact has kept me from eating such things many times.

Next, when you are writing things down and getting a handle on how much and what you are eating, you need to start tracking those calories. This can be a bit overwhelming, but again, I never said it was easy! These websites are what I used to come up with most of my food information:

USDA official food counter website:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

Calorie King - great for brand name foods:
http://www.calorieking.com/

3 Fat Chicks on a Diet - Fun website with lots of fast food info:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/fast-food-nutrition/

Eating out - Restaurant food info:
http://www.dwlz.com/Restaurants/1allrestaurants.html

It is helpful to create a list or database of your most commonly eaten foods . That way you don't have to keep looking them up anew every time.

Next: How much should YOU eat?