Finding Your Zone

How fast is your metabolism?
Expert provides formula to figure out your rate

Question: Is there a formula to figure out how fast your metabolism is?

Answer: You can estimate your basal metabolic rate by using the Harris-Benedict equation. The BMR is the rate at which your body burns calories to sustain life and is roughly 50-80 calories per hour in most people, which is 1,200 to 1,920 calories burned all day. If you were to lie in bed all day, you would burn whatever your BMR is (your BMR depends on genetics, muscle mass, and a number of other factors).

Now, if you exercise for 60 minutes and burn 400 calories, then during that hour, you burn the 400, plus your BMR. If your BMR is 60 calories per hour, then you burned 460 calories during the hour of exercise. And if you walk home from the gym instead of drive, then you will burn even more. So at the end of the day, when you add it all up, if your total daily energy expenditure is greater than the number of calories you've eaten, then you lose weight.

For women, the basal metabolic rate =
655.1 + (9.563 x kg) + (1.850 x cm) - (4.676 x age)

Then you need to factor in your activity level.
If you are Sedentary (little or no exercise)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.2
If you are Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.375
If you are Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.55
If you are Very Active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.725
If you are Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.9

Here's an example:
You are 32 years old
You are 5 feet 4 inches tall (162.5 cm)
Your weight is 185 pounds (84 kilos)
Your BMR is 655 + (806) + (291) - (150) = 1602 calories

Here's the Harris Benedict Formula for Men:
BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kilos) + (5 X height in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)

Then you need to factor in your activity level.
If you are Sedentary (little or no exercise)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.2
If you are Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.375
If you are Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.55
If you are Very Active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/week)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.725
If you are Extra Active (very hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training)
Calorie-Calculation = BMR X 1.9

Here's an example:
You are 25 years old
You are 6 feet tall
Your weight is 220 pounds
Your BMR is 66 + (1370) + (914) - (170) = 2,180 calories

Source:
Richard Weil, MEd, CDE, is an exercise physiologist and certified diabetes educator. He has published dozens of articles on exercise and health and has appeared on many television programs. He also speaks about health at many national conferences.
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What is BMI?
BMI stands for Body Mass Index.

How is your BMI Measured?
BMI is measured by weight in kilograms which is divided by height in meters squared. If you have a calclulator near by then
you may like to follow this along.

An example of this would be be:
Case Study: Sherry Lovejoy
Weight = 58 kgs and Height = 1.7 meters (170 cms)
On your calculator key in
1.7 multiplied by 1.7 = 2.89 Then key in 58 divided by 2.89 = 20 So your BMI is 20

Your RHR (Resting Heart Rate)

Your "RHR," (Resting Heart Rate) is the number of heart beats per minute when your body is resting. The "beats" (Beats Per Minute or BPM) are the number of times your heart is contracting.

How do I measure my RHR?
By counting the number of beats per minute via your pulse.

So How do I take my pulse?
This is normally the easiest pulse to find. On the inside of your wrist, in line with your thumb, you will find your pulse. Place the tips of your index and middle fingers on your pulse and press down slightly (not too hard.) Count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply this by 4to give the heart rate per minute.
To measure your pulse via your neck place your first two fingers gently on your neck at the side of your throat. Do not press too hard. Count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply this by 4 to give the heart rate per minute.

What is a Exercise Heart Rate Zone?
This is approximately where your heart rate should be when performing aerobic exercise, such as fat burning, especially if you are unfit or a beginner to exercising.

How is this Measured?
Your Exercising Heart Rate Zone is measured by your heart beat
and how fast it is beating during your exercise program. The zone is between 65% to 85% of your maximum heart rate.

This is how your Exercising Heart Rate Zone is calculated: Case Study:
Ms Smith Age = 35
To get your maximum heart rate you need to subtract your age "35" from 220.
Maximum heart rate = 185
You then calculate 65% of 185 = 120
and 85% of 185 = 157
So Ms Smith's Exercising Heart Rate Zone is between 120 - 157 beats per minute

Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

Your Resting Metabloic Rate (RMR) is the rate at which you burn energy or calories at rest.

How do I measure my RMR?

Males: 66+ (6.22 x weight (lbs)) +
(12.7 x height (inches)) - (6.8 x age)

Females: 655 + (4.36 x weight (lbs)) +
(4.32 x height (inches)) - (4.7 x age)

Did you know that?

Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is one the main contributing componenents of energy expenditure (around 70%)

Things that affect your Metabolic Rate.....

Muscle - More muscle increases your RMR
Age - Your RMR decreases with Age
A decrease in your RMR can be due to genetics
The weather - Living in a cold enviroment can increase your RMR. I know this sounds strange but you expend more energy while moving around in cold weather. It's a allot easier to move around in summer but more of an effort to "get going" in winter.
Small Regular meals will increase your RMR
Pregnancy can increase your RMR
Crash dieting will decrease your RMR

The Following OnLine Tools are a Courtesy of Global-Fitness.com
BMR Calculator
Calorie Calculator
Carb Calculator
Fat Calculator

Fiber Calculator
Fitness Analysis
Protein Calculator
Waist-to-hip ratio

Understanding Your Body Fat Percentage

Body fat measurements and the measuring tape are recognized as superior methods for measuring "weight loss". When one declares that they want to "lose weight", what they often mean is that they want to lose fat. So, now that you've had your body fat percentage measured, what does the number really mean? Understanding what your body fat percentage means can help you set goals for achieving a healthy weight.

First, your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. If you are 150 pounds and 10% fat, it means that your body consists of 15 pounds fat and 135 pounds lean body mass (bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else).

A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body's energy storage. The following table describes body fat ranges and their associated categories:

*General Body Fat Percentage Categories

Classification Women (% fat) Men (% fat)

Essential Fat 10-12% 2-4%

Athletes 14-20% 6-13%

Fitness 21-24% 14-17%

Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%

Obese 32% plus 25% plus

*American Council on Exercise

Knowing your body fat percentage can also help you determine if your weight loss goals are realistic. Remember, weight loss doesn't always mean fat loss. For example:

Let's say you're a 130# woman with 23% body fat, and you goal is to "lose 20 pounds":

Initial body fat: 130# x 0.23 fat = 30 # body fat

Lean body mass: 130# total - 30# fat = 100# lean body mass (bones, organs and all else)

Goal: 130# - 20# = 110 pounds

As you can see, the goal of losing 20 pounds is not realistic or healthy. At 110 pounds, this woman still requires 100# of lean body mass (bones, organs, etc.), but would only be carrying 10#, or only 9% body fat. From the chart above, you can see that this is a dangerously low percentage.

A better goal might be for the woman to reduce her body fat from 23% to 18%. In this case:

130# x 0.18 = 23 # body fat

100# lean body mass + 23 # = 123# goal weight

So, for this individual to achieve a lean, but healthy 18% fat, she would need to lose only 7 pounds of fat, reducing her weight from her current 130 pounds to 123 pounds. Losing more than 7 pounds means losing lean body mass (usually metabolically-active muscle tissue), which is clearly not desirable.

So before you decide that you need to "lose weight", remember to consider that "weight" consists of both lean body mass and body fat. Try to keep your weight loss goals realistic, and remember, keep the calorie-burning muscle, and lose only the fat.