Calculate Your BMR

BMR is estimated using the popular Harris-Benedict system, which takes into account your gender, height, weight & age.

BMR for the honourable gentlemen = 66 + (13.7 × weight in kg) + (5 × height in cm) – (6.8 × age in years).

BMR for the lovely ladies = 655 + (9.6 × weight in kg) + (1.8 × height in cm) – (4.7 × age in years).

Whilst your resting, your body burns calories by performing basic functions to sustain life, such as breathing, bodily circulations, important transit of nutrients and cell reproduction. 

Basal metabolic rate is essentially the number of calories your body requires to attain all its most necessary and basic life functions.

Your BMR figures can also be used to help you lose weight, gain some more or even if you wanted to maintain it. 

Just by knowing how many calories you’re burning, you’ll be in a better position to know how much to consume. 

Here’s a good way to think about it: 

• Want to lose weight? Then consume fewer calories than you burn.
• Want to gain it back? Choose to consume more calories than you burn.
• Needing to maintain your current weight? Consume the same number of calories that you burn.

Using BMR to estimate your required caloric intake is one step towards understanding your overall health. The next step is to see where you would place yourself in terms of your level of activity. Based on your current lifestyle, would you say you are: 

• Sedentary: This is very minimal to zero amount of exercise. Multiply your BMR by 1.2.  
• A Little Bit Active: This means you exercise between 1-3 days a week. Multiply your BMR by 1.375.
• Medium Amount of Activity: If you do some exercise, normally between 3-5 days in a week. Multiply your BMR by 1.55.
• Highly Active: Should your activity consist of only hardcore exercises, such as 6-7 days a week, multiply your BMR by 1.725.
• Mega Active: If you engage in the hardest exercise category known to man, then place yourself here. This means 6-7 days a week with a full time job too. Multiply your BMR by 1.9.

Upon calculating your BMR x Activity Level = the grand final number of how many calories you need on a daily basis to maintain your weight. Experiment with the numbers to see how they fit you, Good Luck!