What is Basal Metabolic Rate otherwise known as BMR?
“What is basal metabolic rate” is a very important question! It is the number of calories your body needs when at rest. People that are wondering “what is basal metabolic rate” is also referred to as your “metabolism”.
Some examples of what impacts your BMR/metabolism are:
1. Gender – In general, men’s BMR is higher than women’s. That is generally because they have higher testosterone hormone levels and their muscle mass is larger.
2. Age – Men’s rates tend to stay fairly consistent and tend to stabilize at around age 50 (even when testosterone levels tends to drop slightly). Women’s rates usually increase with pregnancy and even higher when breast feeding but drop when they reach menopause. Children’s is the highest and tends to peak at around age 16/17.
3. Muscle Mass – The more muscles you have, the more calories are burned. One pound of lean muscle mass can burn 100 calories a day. That means if you increase your lean muscle mass just 10 pounds, you can be burning an extra 1000 calories a day!
The best way to calculate what is basal metabolic rate for you specifically is using an online tool.
Be sure to specify “sedentary” in order to get your resting BMR. This is the minimum calories your body needs just to maintain your weight.
It takes 3000 calories to burn 1 pound of fat. But be careful not to “overdo” it as you can actually lose muscle mass. In addition, you can reduce your metabolism causing your body to go into “starvation mode”.
Understanding “what is basal metabolic rate” will allow you to keep track of the number of calories you need just to maintain your lifestyle.
Read my article on how to figure out your own BMR and you will then better understand what is basal metabolic rate.
I just came onto your post and found it quite interesting. I am also associated with weight loss, dietary supplements, detox diet, acai berry capsules, and love to read the stuff on the same as its rarely found on internet. Thanks again for writing such a good post.