It is absolutely important for millions of people who want to lose weight or go on a diet for one reason or the other to seek the answer to the question of how many calories do I burn in a day. Not to know the answer to this question when you are trying to lose weight is like a blind folded man trying to cross the freeway. He might not make it across in one piece. Moreover, you must know the minimum amount of calories that your body needs to carry out its basic daily functions. Such basic functions as breathing, sleeping, keeping the heart pump going or regulating the internal body temperature.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

All these basic functions use up energy in the form of calories which is converted from pounds of body fat or directly from the foods we eat. This minimum amount of energy is what is called basal metabolic rate (BMR) which is measured in calories. The basal metabolic rate differs from person to person because it depends upon things like your age, your height, your weight, and your gender. That is why BMR decreases as we get older, but the good thing is that BMR can be increased through exercise.

How To Calculate Your BMR

Your basal metabolic rate also known as your resting metabolic rate can be calculated by using a simple formula as shown below.

For Men: 66+ (6.23 X weight in pounds) + (12.7 X height in inches) – (6.8 X age in years)

For Women: 655 + (4.35 X weight in pounds) + (4.7 X height in inches ) - ( 4.7 X age in years )

For Example: Take a woman 45years old, 6' in height and 150lbs in weight.

Substituting into the woman formula above you have 655 + (4.35 X 150) + (4.7 X 6' ) - (4.7 X 45 )

This equals to 655+ 652.5 + 28.2 – 211.5 =1124.2 calories.

When you get your BMR , multiply it by your level of activity as shown below.

• If you do little or no exercise multiply by (1.2 )

• If you exercise 1-3 days per week multiply by (1.375 )

• If you exercise 3-5 days per week multiply by ( 1.55 )

• If you exercise 6-7 days per week multiply by ( 1.725 )

• If you exercise daily, multiply by ( 1.9 )

This number will give you the number of calories you burn in a day. You know that 3500 calories is equal to one pound of fat. So if you want to lose calories, eat less calories than you need per day. Happy calorie burning.