Calculating Your Calorie NeedsWritten by Beverley Brooke
In order to eat fewer calories than you need, you have to determine how many calories you actually need. Adults can calculate their approximate energy needs using following formula:A. Body weight multiplied by 12 (for men) or 11 (for women) e.g., 150 lbs. x 12 = 1800 B. Activity One third body weight multiplied by number of hours you don't sleep, typically 16 hours 150 lbs. x 1/3 = 50 x 16 = 800 C. Required Calories A + B 1800 + 800 = 2600 Thus, we determine that a 150-pound man requires approximately 2600 calories per day. The "Basal Metabolic Rate" is number of calories a man of that weight would burn just to keep heart beating, lungs pumping, etc. You would just burn your basal metabolic rate worth of calories if you slept all day. Thus "Activity" calculation is approximately amount of calories a person would expend by spending his or her whole day sitting around. If you are engaging in activities other than sitting all day, you can increase your activity hours by number of hours you are actually active.
| | Measuring and Monitoring Your Bodyfat: Improves Overall HealthWritten by Anthony Ellis
With so many diets and fads being offered on market today, it is no wonder why people are not just confused about weight loss and health, but in many cases, actually doing their body more harm than good. Unfortunately, one of aspects of dieting that you see most often is reduction or elimination of fat. The problem is that body needs a certain amount of fat to function but without going over a healthy level. As you will see in this article, knowing what right level is and how to monitor it are crucial to overall health and wellness.Studies have been able to link certain conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure with high levels of body fat. The key is to ensure your body has enough fat to function properly but not too much, whereby disease could become a problem. The best way for a person to determine level of body fat is by measuring it on a consistent basis with a simple tool called a caliper. In a matter of minutes, you will know exactly how much body fat you are carrying around with you. With this information, you will then be able to adjust your diet, cardio exercises, and weight training to bring fat-to-muscle ratio in line. Keep in mind that there are several options, one being a body fat analyzer. Additionally, there is skin fold test whereby waist to hip ratio measurements will be taken, circumference measurements, hydrostatic weight, near infrared analysis, bioelectrical impedance, total body potassium determination, and a test recently offered called plethysmographic measurement, which is based on principle of air displacement. All of these tests are good indicators of your current fat-to-muscle ratio. Now, if you want to go through a professional to determine your true body fat level, you have two excellent options, both being accurate. The first is Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) and second, Hydrostatic Weighing. With DEXA, a full body scanner is used that reads and differentiates between bone mass and soft tissue mass. This type of scan can be completed in about 20 minutes and is painless, providing accuracy within a 2% error margin. Many insurance companies will cover cost of DEXA but if not, you can have scan performed for around $100.
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