Are you aware of what is a BMR calculator? If not, let us see some ideas about the same and along with factors affecting your BMR.
How to use a BMR Calculator
A BMR calculator helps to calculate the Basal Metabolic Rate of your body. In simpler words, a Basal Metabolic Rate means the number of calories your body burns while at rest to perform basic life functions such as respiration, the beating of the heart, the production of the cells, and much more.
Using a BMR Calculator is really easy, here‘s how to use it
Step 1: Select your age in the calculator
Step 2: Select your Gender
Step 3: Add your height and weight and activity level. You can also change the units of measurement if you want to.
Step 4: Now click on calculate. The BMR calculator will show you your BMR.
What are the factors that can affect BMR?
There are many factors that can affect BMR as stated below
1. Size of the body – Your body size can significantly affect your BMR. This is because larger people have more metabolizing tissue as compared to their smaller counterparts.
2. Age – Age plays a crucial factor in deciding your BMR. As you grow older your metabolic rate slows down due to the decrease in muscle mass.
3. Physical Activity – Exercising more and on a regular basis can help increase your metabolic rate as your muscles burn calories at a faster rate.
4. Gender – Men usually have a higher BMR than women and that can be due to men having more muscle mass in general. Also, the levels of physical activity in both the genders may play a role.
5. Diet – What you eat plays a huge role in deciding your metabolism. Eating foods rich in protein can boost your metabolism.
6. Genetics – Your genetics are also a deciding factor in how your metabolism is going to be. Certain races have a higher BMR than other races which can be due to the food choices and lifestyle.
7. Body Fat – If you have high body fat you are more likely to have a low BMR and if your body fat percentage is low your BMR will be high.
8. Temperature – The area where you live and its temperature also affects your BMR. People living in cold climates usually have a higher BMR than people living in hot and warm climates. However, chronic exposure to heat can increase the BMR of the body.
In summary, BMR can be affected due to a lot of reasons including your exercise levels, external temperatures, gender, age, genetics, and diet. In order to boost your metabolism you should focus on eating a protein-rich diet and exercise more.
How to calculate your BMR?
You can easily calculate your BMR with a BMR calculator but if you want to calculate it on your then you can do so by the formula mentioned below.
In order to use calculate the basal metabolic rate people widely use the Harris-Benedict equation.
For men – BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kg) + (4.799 x height in cm) – (5.677 x age in years)
For women – BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight in kg) + (3.098 x height in cm) – (4.330 x age in years)
