The Basics and BMR – Energy Measurements

If you have a balloon and you put it under the tap and turn the tap on, what happens?
The balloon gets bigger and full of water right?

Okay so if you made a hole in the balloon the same size as the one that the water is going in, then the water goes in, and then water goes out at the same rate leaving the balloon the same size, are you with me?

So if you turn the tap harder, the balloon cannot get rid of the water as fast as its going in, so it gets bigger again. And if you turn the tap down to a trickle the balloon is going to get smaller, right?

Okay, your body is the balloon. And food is the water. If you put in more energy than you are using, your body is going to be fat.
Food is energy. You can measure it in Kjoules or Kcal (commonly refered to as Calories).

This is the very basis for ALL weight loss. You can do any diet you want, with any gimmicky name. But unless your energy in is less than energy out you will not lose weight. Understanding this means you can make up your own diets, or even eat whatever you want … SO LONG AS YOU KEEP THE CALORIES IN LESS THAN THE CALORIES OUT!

The average body uses about 2000 calories a day just being alive. Thats without exercise. Just sitting on your ass all day. If you’re over weight then you are going to use a lot more – maybe up to 3000-4000 for the fairly obese!
This is called your BMR. You can work out your BMR with this following formula


Metric BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) – ( 6.8 x age in years )


Imperial(US) BMR Formula

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) – ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) – ( 6.8 x age in year )


Harris Benedict Formula To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor (BE HONEST WITH THYSELF), as follows:

1. If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
2. If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
3. If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
4. If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
5. If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9


If thats to hard, you can work out your calorie requirements here
You can create an account at fitday.com to log your intake and calorie useage.

Once you have worked this out you are ready to start, and go to the next page.

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Please leave a comment

  1. Anewme Says:

    Great place to begin; will be doing this; good inspiration, thanks Liz

  2. WannaSurf Says:

    Thank you! Just the site I needed for a little guidance 🙂

  3. Frenchie Says:

    Glad I found this site lots of good information

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