How active are you?

• Sedentary means a lifestyle that includes only the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.
• Moderately active means a lifestyle that includes physical activity equivalent to walking about 1.5 to 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.
• Fairly Active means a lifestyle that includes physical activity equivalent to walking more than 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.
• Very active means a lifestyle which includes physical labor, sports or sceduled exercise routines several times per week in addition to the light physical activity associated with typical day-to-day life.

What do these numbers mean?

The Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculation

The BMI calculation is the World Health Organizations standard for measuring whether sedentary individuals are underweight, overweight or obese.

Despite the fact that he BMI calculation does not take into account factors such as frame size and muscularity, or for varying proportions of muscle, fat, bone & cartilage, and water weight, the BMI categories are generally regarded as a satisfactory measurement tool, and have been used by the W.H.O. as the standard for recording obesity statistics since the early 1980s.

The following are common definitions of BMI categories:

 

 

How Many Calories Do You Need?

Three primary components make up your body's energy requirement.

• Basal Metabolic Rate
• Energy expended during physical activity, and
• Thermic Effect of Food

Adding these three components together is the most accurate way of determining how many calories your body requires each day to maintain your current weight at your current activity level.

The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculation - Most of the body's energy, about 60-70%, goes to supporting the ongoing metabolic work of the body's cells. This includes such activities as heart beat, respiration and maintaining body temperature. Basal metabolic rate is the number of calories your body burns at rest, taking into account all of your life support functions.

Energy expended during physical activity - Our calculator above uses a very simple method to roughly estimate calorie expenditure for increasing activity levels, and factors that into the BMR calculation. The algorithm for this calculation is actually fairly complex. The Fatsense Fitness Calculator utilizes one of the most reliable methods for calculating calories burned during physical activity, the Metabolic Energy (MET) Method.

The Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) - The last component to calculate for your daily calorie requirement has to do with your body's management of food. The increase in energy required to digest food is referred to as the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) and it's simple to determine:

TEF = total kcals consumed x 10%

After you have calculated your Basal Metabolic Rate, and added the energy required for your level of physical activity, simply add up all those calories, add to this 10% of that sum and you have your total calorie requirement for that day.

Once you've established your baseline, you can lower your calorie intake to lose weight, or increase lean muscle by increasing protein, calories and exercise. By changing the variables and re-calculating your baseline, you can adjust your program to best suit your goals.