Taking care of our bodies reduces the risk of developing illness and helps in the prevention, and healing, of physical injuries. Im sure our paintball outings wouldn’t hurt from a little cardio training or proper dieting either.

What I would like to contribute here is a little math for all of us to do. I know, I hate math too. This is a pretty simple formula, however, for calculating our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and our Total Daily Energy Needs. For those who are not sure what they are:

BMR: Your BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to sustain itself while at rest. This includes the energy used during respiration, digestion, internal repairs, etc etc. If you were to sleep all day, this is the amount of calories your body would soak up.

Total Daily Energy Needs: This is the amount of energy your body needs to sustain itself (your BMR number) plus all of the energy you exert over the course of the day in your daily activity. This includes walking around, all of your exercise, the energy you use up while at work, etc, etc…

Personally, I find knowing this information useful because I can calculate, with a pretty good degree of accuracy, what amount of energy I need to consume throughout the day to attain my exercise and fitness goals. It also helps in adjusting your diet, because If I am only using 3,000 C a day, but Im consuming 4,000 C (thanks to that extra piece of cake!) then I can count on a little extra baggage hanging off my gut at the end of the month.

So, follow the formula, keep track of your daily caloric intake, and see where you stand in your own exercise and fitness goals.

• Calculate your BMR: You will need to adjust your body weight from pounds to kilograms. Do this by dividing your weight in pounds by 2.2. e.g.

175 pounds / 2.2 pounds per kg = 79.5 kg
This number will also equal your output of kcal per hour (how many calories you are using per hour of every day.

• Calculate your BMR for the entire day by multiplying your kcal per hour (the same as your weight in kg) by 24. e.g.

79.5 kcal per hour x 24 hours = 1,909 kcal per day.

(If you are a woman, you will need to multiply your body weight in kg by .9 kcal per kg body weight per hour instead of 1 as men do)

• Estimate your activity level, and associate daily caloric expenditure, from the following list. The energy cost of the activities is express as a percentage of your BMR. (It is important in this step not to lie to yourself! If you only exercise once a week, then so be it)

Sedentary/Inactive – Involves mostly sitting, driving, or very low levels of activity
Men = 25-40% Women = 25-35%

Lightly Active- Involves a lot of sitting; may also involve some walking, moving around, and light lifting.
Men = 50-70% Women = 40-60%

Moderately Active - Involves work plus intentional exercise such as an hour of walking or walking four to five days per week; may have a job requiring some physical labor.
Men = 65-80% Women = 50-70%

Heavily Active - Involves a great deal of physical labor, such as roofing, carpentry work, and/or regular heavy lifting and digging.
Men = 90-120% Women = 80-100%

Exceptionally Active – Involves a lof of physical activities for work and intentional exercise. Also applies to athletes who train for many hours each day, such as triathletes and marathon runners or other competitive athletes performing heavy, regular training.

• Now, multiply your BMR by the decimal equivalent of the lower and higher percentage values for your activity level. For a lightly active man, at 79.5 kg for example:

1,909 kcal/day x .50 (or 50%) = 955 kcal/day
1,909 kcal/day x .70 (or 70%) = 1,336 kcal/day
These two calculations illustrate the range of energy, expressed in Calories, you may expend on an average day.

• Finally, your Total Daily Energy Output. Simply add your BMR to the two numbers above to see how many calories you should be eating on an average day.

1,909 kcal/day + 955 = 2,864 kcal/day.
1,909 kcal/day + 1336 = 3,245 kcal/day.





Now the numbers you have now are pretty good averages of how much energy you should be consuming. They do not, however, tell you what kinds of energy to consume! Protein, carbohydrate, etc... That is for a different thread.
But, on average, Americans underestimate the amount of energy they are consuming on a daily basis by nearly 30%
Imagine how much healthier we could all be if we were able to keep our daily caloric intake in equilibrium with our physical activity!

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Zippo First

Well done. Stickied.

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Good information.

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I believe the second number in that calculation should be 24. You may want to edit that before someone thinks they can eat 1/3rd more than they should per day.

Noted and corrected, thanks!

Thank you as well for the positive response to the information.

Here is a link for a website that I have been using to find caloric/nutritional info on the food that I eat. It is pretty easy to use, as you can search for most any foods you might be eating.

The info you get from this site you can use in conjunction with the BMR formula to keep track of your energy intake.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

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Zippo First

i did all the math and it turns out..... Im fat

Reading this makes me hungry. Where did I put those bacon flavored chips.

I was about 30 pounds overweight a couple years ago. The doc sent me to the dietician and she took a look at what I was eating. Turns out I was eating way too little. What ever I was eating the body was holding onto. I was probably just over 1100 calories a day. I have never been one to sit and eat snacks etc and there were times I could go a day or more forgetting to eat! I doubled that intake and there ya go. Back down to 175 now.

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lol! welcome to my world

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Cool info!

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