Calorie Needs: Calculate Your Basal Metabolic Rate Your BMR
(basal metabolic rate) is the number of calories your body needs
each day to simply perform basic functions. From the time you go
to sleep one night until you go to sleep the next night, your
body is using calories to fuel the body. Nearly 75 percent of
the calories you eat each day are used by the body for this
purpose. You expend energy no matter what you're doing -- even
when you are sleeping. It takes calories each day to breathe,
build new red and white blood cells, build muscle tone, pump
blood throughout the body, think, raise or lower your body
temperature, and all other basic body functions -- not to
mention the calories needed for moving around, working, reading
and everything else you do in a day. If you've noticed that
every year, it becomes harder to eat whatever you want and stay
slim, you've learned that your BMR decreases as you age.
Likewise, depriving yourself of food in hopes of losing weight
also decreases your BMR, as your body a