Body Movin'

How's the calorie counting going? Now that you've got that down, we're going to talk about a different calorie count: your calories burned... Don't stress! This kind of calorie counting is waaayy easier. If you remember our equation to losing/gaining weight:

Calories eaten - calories burned = weight loss or weight gain

BMR:
We already figured out what how many calories you burn just existing here. Remember that is an average of everyone, and we have all experienced that everyone has a different metabolism. Some people can eat anything, and not gain a pound. Some people eat a potato chip and sprout a 4th chin:

You probably have a good idea of what end of the spectrum you are on and can assume the actual number may be higher or lower.

There is one definite way to lower your BMR (which you don't want to do) is diet. People who get stuck in a diet cycle of dieting over and over again without exercise, just keep driving their BMR lower and lower, thus making it harder and harder to lose weight. This is because when you are dieting, your body thinks its starving, and slows its own metabolism.

Ways to raise your BMR:

1) Nicotine

2) Crystal methamphetamines or phenphen

3) Caffeine

4) Building your muscles

I have to say I do not recommend 1-3, but many people already are using method #3. And no, the caffeine from a soda doesn't increase your metabolism enough to burn the calories you drink with it (not even close). Even though traditionally weight lifting has gotten a bad rap when trying to lose weight, adding some to your exercise regimen can help. For every pound of muscle you gain, your BMR can increase in the range of 10-50 extra calories per day.

Exercise:

Any exercise you do is extra calories on top of your BMR to put in the 'burnt' column. This is even easier to figure out than food, because most of us only participate in a few different exercises (the more variety the better, but lets be real). Here is the calculator for a bunch of exercises based on your weight. If the one you like isn't there, you can probably find it somewhere online. Plus, after you exercise, your body's BMR can stay elevated for several hours afterward.

How much exercise? The recommendation used to be 3 days a week of 25-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, but now many are recommending 5 days a week. That can be tough, so shoot for 3 days a week at first and expand as you can. Try to mix in a couple days of strength/weight training a week, too.

I personally like the days I exercise because I tell myself I don't have to be as strict watching my calories eaten on those days.