Weight loss by the numbers

3 comments May 9th, 2008

If you like to do things by the numbers and you’re trying to lose weight, you can figure the number of calories you need to consume for your needs by knowing how to use two formulas.

First, figure your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the number of calories your body burns at rest.

This is the equation to figure BMR as it would apply to a 60-year-old person who is 5-feet-10 inches and weighs 190 pounds. I see this person in the mirror every morning.

Step one 66 + (13.8 x weight in kilograms) + (5 x height in centimeters) - 6.8 x age). One pound equals .45 of a kilogram so 190 pounds multiplied by .45 gives us 85.5 kilograms. 5-feet-10 inches is 70 inches and one inch equals 2.54 centimeters, so 70 times 2.54 gives us 177.8 centimeters. 60 times 6.8 gives us 408.

Step two Now the formula would read 66 + (13.8 x 85.5) + (5 x 177.8) - (408).

When we do the multiplication , it becomes 66 + (1179.9) + (889) - (408)

When we add the first three numbers, it’s 2134.9 - 408 = 1726.9 to get my BMR.

Step three The second formula is simply a multiplier based on the amount and type of exercise you get each week and tells you how many calories you need to stay at your current weight.

If you almost never exercise, multiply your BMR by 1.2 — in my case 1726.9 x 1.2 or 2072.28 calories per day to maintain current weight.

If you exercise, one to three days per week, multiply by 1.375; three to five days per week by 1.55; six or seven days per week by 1.725.

It takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to burn one pound of fat, so if you find a way to cut 250 calories per day from your diet while burning an additional 250 calories during your workout, you could expect to lose a pound per week.