Knowing your numbers

To eat or not to eat... how much turns out to be is the question!!

Losing weight, in theory, should be so simple.  Calories in equal, calories out. Eat a little less here, walk a little more there and BAM magically the weight fall off, right? Not exactly.  Ask anyone who has ever been on a diet and you will find the contrary to be true.  "Losing weight has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done" are things I have actually heard. To be quite honest, this isn't too far off of the mark.  Weight loss is hard.  It's challenging, and it's not created equally.  We all have different body make ups and compositions.  We have different genetic determinants that either make it harder or easier to lose weight.  Or maybe you gain weight more in certain places.  Add stress to the mix, and geeze what is a fit and pretty girl to do?!

One of the biggest things we can do to aid in the ease of weight loss is determine how many calories our body actually needs to maintain weight.  From there we can determine how many we should eat to lose, and how many we should avoid to gain. Once we know that, weight loss can be a snap.  In this entry I will go over Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and Estimated Energy Experdenture (EEE).  This will tell us how many calories we burn just waking up, watching our favorite TiVo'd program, feeding the dog, and reaching for some (healthy) snacks.

Let's first calculate the calories we need to consume to maintain our weight, this is known as our Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)  (used almost always interchangeably with Basal metabolic rate (BMR)

The following formula is for women:

RMR= (9.99 x weight) + (6.25 x height) - (4.92  x age) -161

weight-- reported in kilograms
height-- reported in centimeters
age-- reported in years

and for the guys....

RMR=(9.99 x weight) + (6.25 x height) -(4.92 x age ) -5

* To calculate weight to kilograms, divide weight in pounds by 2.2

** To calculate height to centimeters, determine how many inches ( by multiplying foot by x 12, example if ur 5 ft 4 inches, multiply that by 12.. that will equal 60 inches and then add remaining 4 inches, that will grand total you at 64 inches.  From there multiply that by 2.5 and voila you have centimeters.

So for me, a 5'1, 120 pound female that would be:

RMR= (9.99 x 54 kilograms) + (6.25 X 152.5 centimeters ) - (4.92 x 24) - 161+ 1213.5

This is how many calories I would burn at rest.

If we add to this moderate/normal activity.  Multiply your weight in kilograms by 3.5 for your estimated energy expenditure (EEE). For me this would be 190 calories.  This is what I burn* just walking to and from my car, to the kitchen or where ever during the day. *Generally anyway, this formula is general

So a day if I add both values I burn 1403 calories without doing purposeful exercise!

So if I stick to this amount of calories a day, I will maintain my weight (i.e my favorite skinny jeans will still fit in the morning :D ).  AWESOME.

Knowing these numbers will empower you to be able to maintain/ lose weight.  It will help serve as a tool. However, make sure not to obsess with these numbers.  There will be days that you will indulge a little, and over eat. Say at an anniversary dinner, your best friends wedding, a vacation, whatever it may be. That is okay. That is a normal part of healthy eating.  As long as this doesn't happen everyday.

In my next entry I will go over how we should cut calories, and how many to see weight loss and those wash board abs ;). I will also provide a great, kick butt fat burning meal plan we can follow to ensure we look fit and pretty year round :)

Stay beautiful, smart, empowered, and as always FIT and PRETTY

xoxo, -C