BMR (basal metabolic rate) is a way to determine how many calories you need per day according to your height, weight, and age. It is similar to determining your body mass index, in the sense that you can find many online calculators, although this calculation presents a new alternative toward losing weight. Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing, digestion, etc., so it is important to figure out what yours is before constructing a workout routine which may burn too many or too few calories. Determining the balance between calories and exercise is important in sustaining a healthy lifestyle and will help you feel better about yourself in the end.

If you are serious about losing weight, it is helpful to begin keeping a diary of both the calories you burn through every activity (there are many online calorie calculators for this) as well as the calories you are ingesting daily. Even without traditionally exercising, you still burn calories every day from the activities you participate in and online calorie calculators can help you determine what the amount is so that you can apply it toward your BMR. Simply walking up and down the stairs, getting groceries, or walking around the block contributes to your overall calorie content of the day which is what this calculator helps you figure out. Furthermore, after determining how many calories you are eating per day, you can manipulate this so that you are eating fewer calories than you are burning. BMR helps you create a new diet by determining how many calories you are consuming and burning.  For example, if your BMR comes out to be 1400 calories and you burn 900 in daily activities, you should therefore be eating 2300 calories a day to maintain your current weight.  If you want to lose weight, you can lower this to 2000 a day. However, even if you only eat 2550 calories a day, this still goes over what you are burning in calories which will cause you to gain one pound every 2 weeks. The key is to determine how many calories you imbibe, lose, and what this calculates to

There are many ways to decrease your daily calorie intake. Instead of having an afternoon coke, drink a glass of water instead; even if you think you need the caffeine, simply having water will serve to wake you up and help quell your appetite for unneeded afternoon snacking. Your breakfast meals do not have to consist of greasy fast-food muffins or biscuit/sausage medleys, but can simply be a bagel, which can save 185 calories. There are many other shortcuts that can help you save several hundred calories a day, including things you can do at work such as walking up and down the stairs or going on a brisk walk during a break. Figuring out how many calories every activity is worth as well as how many calories every small snack is worth can go a long way towards helping you lose weight. Focusing on these small daily changes is the best way to reach your overarching goals; although you will not lose weight immediately like many weight-loss programs promise, you will permanently change your life for the better.

This post was contributed by Sarah Russel, who writes about the graduate degree. She welcomes your feedback at SarahRussel1234 at gmail.com.

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Post from: Keeping the Castle

Jared Fogle, the Subway guy, has a very inspiring interview over at Kids Health Notes.

Jared talks about how he lost hundreds of pounds on a Subway diet. You’ll also learn about Jared’s journey from childhood to college, how he gained those pounds, and how he keeps them off. His foundation now focuses on helping combat childhood obesity through collaboration with schools across the U.S.

Says Jared:

This year, through my 10 year anniversary me and my friends at Subway, we are going to be able to launch a big campaign coming up and encourage people to donate to the foundation over this year period. Our goal is to hopefully raise a million dollars by the end of the year and a big chunk of the money is going back to schools across the country in the form of grant money to develop wellness programs for their own schools.

This year, Jared will officially retire his size-60 pants in his “Tour de Pants”. Be inspired by his success towards a healthier weight and lifestyle. Read his two-part interview here and here.

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Post from: Keeping the Castle