Calories: The Scoop

Good morning... what a beautiful (though windy) spring day! I'm going to take a long walk with the furkids soon as I finish this blog post. It's been a busy morning. I started working out with a personal trainer this morning at Gold's Gym. We had a good session!



Let's talk a little about calories today. Folks shouldn't get crazy about calories but it's good to know how many you are taking in to maintain your current weight. Sometimes that number is an eye opener!



The amount of energy your body needs to function is called your basal metabolic rate. To figure out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) you have to plug some numbers into a formula:



Women: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men: 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)



Then you need to incorporate activity:


If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent
If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent
If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent
If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent
If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent
Add this number to your BMR.
The result is the number of calories you eat every day to maintain your current weight.

In order to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories .



There are 3500 calories in 1 lb. So to lose weight you must expend (or not take in) 500 calories per day. Keep in mind muscle burns calories much better than fat. Exercise is key to building muscle and losing weight. Exercise consistently and make your calories taken in GOOD nutritious calories.



More about burning fat:



Omega 3 is part of the Shrink It Weight Loss system. There are a lot of good reasons to take an Omega 3 supplement. But for the purposes of weight loss Omega 3 is a GOOD FAT which helps your body burn fat by helping it to respond better to a hormone called Leptin. Leptin does a few things: it tells your brain to suppress your appetite, increases your metabolism and causes your body to burn fat for energy. Omega 3 fats also help to curb your appetite by stabilizing your blood sugar. There was an Australian study which showed people who took Omega-3 fats while on an exercise program burned more fat than people who only exercised (without taking Omega-3 fats).



There are good reasons for the inclusion of all the supplements in the Shrink It Weight Loss system and we'll be talking about this in future posts. BOOKMARK this site!!



Here's what I'm eating today!



(keep in mind this menu may or may not be enough calories for you) I give you my menus as an example for you to model yours after not as a menu for you to follow.



Monday Menu = 1490 calories



Breakfast: Blueberry/vanilla appetizer diet shake

Banana



Snack: Apple slices (1 apple) and peanut butter (1 TBSP) (Organic peanut butter NOT that commercial stuff w/sugar in it)



Lunch: Chicken breast/ Steamed veggies(2 cups)/Salad(2 cups)



Snack: Walnuts/Almonds (Emerald nuts has a 100 calorie pack of walnuts/almonds packaged seven packs per box)



Dinner: Scrambled Tofu (green pepper, onions, mushrooms, tofu, turmeric) over wild rice (1 cup)



Snack: Low fat cottage cheese/pear slices



Got questions? Email me Pamsteam@gmail.com



Ready to change your life? http://pams.shrinkitweightloss.com/ I'm here to help you along the way. Free health coaching with the purchase of the Shrink It Weight Loss System.



Have a smiley day! I care about you!