Your Metabolic Rate
Even when you are fast asleep, your body is expending energy on its essential functions. It is estimated that around 70% of the body’s energy is expended by the processes in the major organs such as the liver, brain, heart and kidneys. The energy in calories that your body would burn if you were completely at rest for a day is known as your Basal Metabolic Rate. This rate tends to decrease as you get older. One of the main reasons for this is that muscle needs more energy in order to function than does fat and as people get older, they tend to lose muscle and gain fat.
The main reason why relying only on reducing your food intake in order to effect weight loss does not generally work long term, is that the body also lowers the Basal Metabolic Rate in response to the reduced energy intake, thereby burning less fat. The best way to achieve more reliable weight loss and keep your metabolic rate higher even as you get older is through regular, varied exercise and healthy eating.
You can find a handy calculator to work out your Basal Metabolic Rate here. This calculator also allows you to go on and work out the estimated daily calorie intake that you need based on your typical activity level and the time that you spend on activity each day.
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