Do you know what your resting calorie burn number is? In other words, do you know how many calories your body burns if you just laid around and did nothing?
First of all, do you think that if you want to lose weight it’s as simple as cutting the number of calories you’re consuming every day? It’s a little more complicated than that. Well, it’s not really that complicated, but there are some things to take into consideration…such as knowing what your resting calorie burn number is!
Did you know that it takes 3,000 calories to burn a pound of fat? I thought I’d share that with you in case you didn’t know.
Anyhoo, experts agree that you can safely lose weight by reducing your caloric intake by 500 – 1,000 calories a day. I personally cannot imagine reducing my calories/day by 1,000. I mean, who could do that? And that is assuming a safe weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week. Okay, so before I go on, why do we need to consider “safely” losing weight instead of just drastically cut calories consumed? Because, silly, unless you’ve lived under a rock most of your life, most people know that if you starve yourself, your metabolism will slow to a crawl….and so will your weight loss.
Okay, I digress a little. Back to the point….now these same experts say that if you want to burn more than 1-2 pounds a week, you may consider exercising more. In other words, burn more calories instead of cutting more calories.
Okay, so why is knowing your resting calorie burn number so important?
Wouldn’t it be nice to know how many calories you burn a day just lying around? Not only that, but you need to know your resting calorie burn number so you know how many calories to eat so your metabolism won’t go down. Until I found this out, I think I was consuming too little calories (plus I was eating refined carbs and refined sugar). It’s AMAZING how tracking your food can change your perspective.
I found this really cool website that told me not only my resting calorie burn numbers but everything else I needed to know (that I’m sharing with you). So before you click away and figure out your own personal resting calorie burn number, I’m going to give you my numbers because this is my website and I can…ha! Okay, so I’m 44 years old, 5’9″ and I’m currently at 160 pounds. My goal is to lose 10 more pounds.
My personal resting calorie burn number is 1468 if I just did nothing but sleep all day.
That means if I did “nothing”…my body would still burn that many calories. What that also means, is if I don’t eat AT LEAST 1468 calories a day, my body will go into starvation mode and my metabolism will go down.
Cool…since I started tracking my food (which is a huge component of me losing 10 pounds so far), I consumed 1474 calories today. Also, my protein, carb and fat ratio are almost exactly where I want them to be (patting myself on the back). In fact, I can’t believe how much food I’m eating and I’m losing weight? I’m eating 5-6 times a day…smaller portions and the right combination, mind you…it FEELS like I’m eating a lot.
When I first started this website a couple years ago, I have been desperately trying to find a way to lose 20 pounds. It’s not until I equipped myself with more knowledge on how to eat right (and you must exercise every day) that the weight started coming off. That was 2 months ago. I am hoping to be able to share this information with you.
And yes, I’m taking appetite control vitamins. I HAVE to. Haven’t you ever amped up your exercise only to find your starving and you eat tons and tons and never lose weight?
Which is exactly why I wanted to know what the bare minimum calories I need to be consuming so my metabolism doesn’t go down but I can still effectively lose weight, or in other words, my resting calorie burn. According to this website, If I continue at the rate of around 1496 calories a day with my workout schedule, I’m on track to lose 2 pounds a week.
Bring it.
Want the website to get your resting calorie burn number? Click HERE.
