Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy (Calories) required for you baseline, sedentary needs. The more active you are, the more you need to maintain current rate. The calculator to the right will account for that, but you must be honest with your activity level.
You need to know two things; your current caloric need to maintain weight, and the daily caloric need for maintainence at your goal weight. The link to the right does that.
BMR Calculator
Try the expert mode button. You get more information.
Caution!!! Alert!!!
If you are starting this program, or any progam to lose a significant amount of weight, and you are taking prescription medications, especially for hypertension and diabetes; you MUST do this with the guidance of your primary care physician because you won’t need as much medication as you are currently taking. This is a good thing.
If you are STARTING
You will calculate your caloric need at you current weight and activity level, and at your target weight. If the difference is much greater than 1000 Calories, do not immediately decrease your daily intake to that number as it may lower your BMR as your body tries to conserve energy because it thinks it may be starving.
It is better to decrease your calories by 500-1000 Calories for a more gradual weight loss; then you can recalculate a new set of numbers in another month.
The above recommendation is much more important for one of the diets in the middle, as I discussed in the book, Chapter 3, because in those diets where there is a significant intake of carbohydrate and fat, your body’s ability to metabolize fat is more dependent on a caloric deficit, in contrast to the diets that are extremely restrictive of either fat or carbohydrates.