Basing your health or diet plan on your BMR and BMI rates is one way of
effectively losing weight. That is of course, if you follow your plans
faithfully. In a nutshell, BMI stands for body mass index, which uses
your height and weight measurements to determine whether you are
underweight, overweight, normal, or obese. BMR on the other hand, stands
for basal metabolic rate, the rate at which your body naturally burns
calories daily. Here's how you can use your BMI and BMR numbers to lose
weight.
Get your BMI first. Measure your height and weight and
then go online. Type BMI calculator in the search bar and click on
websites with online BMI calculators, or go to any of these links: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Support, BMI Calculator, The Mayo Clinic, Family Doctor.org, or Free BMI Calculator . If you already know your exact height and weight, you can directly consult an online BMI chart and get your number at Free BMI Calculator.
If you're using a BMI Calculator, enter first your height in feet and
inches, then your weight in pounds. Select your gender then click
"Submit", "Enter", or "Calculate" to input your data. The number that
you get is your BMI.
Get your BMR. Type BMR calculator in the search bar and click on websites with online BMI calculators, or go to any of these links: BMI Calculator, Discovery Health, Global Health and Fitness, The Calculator Home Page, or Calories Per Hour.com.
Enter your height in feet and inches, your weight in pounds, and your
age. Select your gender then click "Submit", "Enter", or "Calculate" to
input your data. The number that you get is your BMR, the number of
calories you burn when your body is at rest.
Calculate your daily calorie requirement. You should also determine how much calories you need to take daily to maintain your current weight, and for your body to function well. Some BMR calculators include functions that can determine your daily calorie requirement. Use the BMR Calculator from the website of 1is2Fat.com. Enter all the data needed to get your BMR, and for the last step, select your activity level-whether you are lightly active to very active. The number you will get is the number of calories you need to consume daily.
Consume lesser calories than what you need daily. Now that you know your BMI, BMR, and daily calorie requirement, you can start planning your meals based on the number of calories you want to consume daily. To lose weight, you have to consume lesser calories than your daily requirement. Plan low-calorie meals and snacks to eat throughout the day.
Start the habit of calorie counting. Provide a notebook for your daily calorie count. Whenever you buy food or plan meals, you have to know the total number of calories you will gain from that specific food or meal so you can approximate the right amount of calories you want to consume for the day. Always check the nutrition facts label of food and ingredients that you buy. For produce and common foods, or those without a nutrition facts label, you can check a food calorie chart online. You can use any of the following calorie charts: Mike's Calorie and Fat Gram Chart for 1000 Foods, The Calorie Counter.com, Health Crazed.com, and Common Sense Health.com.
Include exercises and activities that help you burn off extra calories. Like other kinds of diet plans, you have to complement a change of diet with appropriate physical activity or exercise. You can do anything from aerobics, yoga, walking, jogging, running, to sports like swimming and tennis.
Determining your BMI and BMR is quite easy, but using it to help you to
lose weight requires more determination and the ability to strictly
follow the goals you set for yourself, particularly the number of
calories you want to limit yourself to consume daily.