One of the best aspects in burning calories throughout the day is that you do this without even trying, which is due to your BMR and metabolism. Your basal metabolic rate, most commonly referred to as your BMR, is one of the biggest energy burning aspects in your life currently and nurturing your BMR is important for weight loss, weight management, as well as maintaining health. Listed ahead is a complete guide on your basal metabolic rate and some fundamental aspects of this vital process of your body.
What is your Basal Metabolic Rate?
If you have paid any attention to weight loss information over the years, there is a chance that you have run into content describing your metabolism. Your metabolism is the accumulation of all of your body’s processes. These processes involve burning calories to maintain your working cellular function, for breathing, chewing, standing, and pretty much anything that involves keeping you alive.
Therefore, your basal metabolic rate is the total accumulation of all the calories, or energy, your body uses to maintain the bare minimum of health. Commonly, your BMR is considered your metabolism and it is what you should eat each day to lose or maintain weight. However, there is a misconception between two terms: basal metabolic rate (BMR) and resting metabolic rate (RMR).
What is the Difference between your Basal and Resting Metabolic Rate?
There is a fundamental difference between both BMR and your RMR. As described above, your BMR is designed to be the bare minimum amount of energy your body needs and uses to keep you alive. Due to the necessity of this, you absolutely need to consume this many calories to maintain your health.
However, if weight loss is something you desire, you need to pay close attention to your resting metabolic rate, which is your true metabolism for weight loss. Your RMR is the rate at which you burn energy when in a true resting state, or when you are deep in sleep. The resting metabolism takes into account your basal metabolic rate as well as a few additional aspects as well. If you want to lose weight, you need to follow your resting metabolic rate indeed.
What is the Significance of your Basal Metabolic Rate?
Perhaps the most significant aspect of your BMR is your overall health. If you were to be ill stricken tomorrow and unable to take care of yourself, it is possible that a healthcare provider would give you calories to maintain your health. There is no more important metabolism than this specific one so keep this in mind when you find a weight loss program you desire.
While your basal metabolic rate is important for your life, you should consider what the RMR can do for your weight loss program. If weight loss is something you want, you absolutely need to meet this figure or be below it in order to create a caloric deficit.
How does Dieting Affect your Basal Metabolic Rate?
Dieting is one of the most common elements in weight loss and some state that weight loss is 70 percent of what you eat. However, whenever you diet, your metabolic needs shift around. Your basal metabolic rate should not be affected based off your diet and if you dramatically decrease your caloric intake, your body will make adjustments wherever possible to keep you alive.
While the BMR is usually unaffected, your RMR is vastly affected based off your diet. If you dramatically decrease your calories consumed to much less than what your RMR, your body will adjust by dropping your resting needs. This means that even though you decrease your calories consumed as a way to lose weight, your body responds by dropping its resting value. Once your resting metabolic rate drops, your weight loss program is affected and this is a major reason why many weight loss programs become compromised.
Comparing Different Metabolic Rates
When it comes to your metabolism, it seems that many factors play a role. For starters, your age is one factor that you cannot change about yourself that plays a vital role in how efficiently you use calories. In addition, your height, weight, bone structure, muscle mass, and diet habits play big roles in how many calories your metabolism needs. For this reason, there are varying levels of metabolic rates of which you should be made aware. Consider these varying rates below.
Low Metabolism
There are many adults who experience a slowed or slowing metabolism and many things affect this (as described above). However, if you are relatively young in age, exercise as you should, and eat a modest diet, but you still gain weight then you could have a low, or slow, metabolism. Sometimes, this issue is due to thyroid issues, but if you feel that you are gaining weight for no apparent reason then you should consult with your doctor for further information.
Average Metabolism
If you are like a large majority of adults, your metabolism is probably predictable and considered average. There is no harm in being in this region and actually there are perks to being average. If you continuously eat the amount of calories you need each day and are relatively active (not sedentary) then you may be average. If this is you then you should be able to predict your resting metabolism by using a number of online resting metabolic calculators.
High Metabolism
In comparison to those who have predictable metabolic rates and those with under-performing metabolisms, having a high resting metabolic rate could mean fast weight loss results. Those with fast metabolic rates tend to be teenagers and those who seemingly can eat anything in site without gaining a pound. Now this is not always a good thing, as a fast metabolism could mean some sort of health condition, which is why it is important to consult with a doctor if you notice this goes on for any long period of time.
Knowing your Metabolic Rate
Now that you have the information you need about varying metabolic rates, you should be able to calculate your metabolism. There are online calculators that are designed to give you information about your resting metabolism and usually this value does not include your physical activity throughout the day. For this reason, if your calorie counting app has your caloric needs as being higher than this figure then do not fear as this is only because of your physical activity.
Consider making use of any of the online calculators above. For a general sense, these calculators will ask you for your age, gender, height, and weight. Some may have you input a resting heart rate or other values, but for the general sense the basics are only needed. You can estimate your overall resting metabolism from specialized clinics that perform sports performance measurements, so consider this an option if you desire.
The information listed above describes the two primary elements in your metabolism. Your basal metabolic rate is a necessity for your life and eating enough throughout the day to meet the needs of this figure is important. In comparison your resting metabolic rate is commonly the metabolism that affects your body weight. In order to lose weight, it is essential to eat around this figure for best results.
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