What is BMR? How do you calculate it?

BMR stands for basal metabolic rate. This is the number of calories your body burns just to keep you alive. It accounts for about 60-70% of your total daily calorie expenditure. (Exericse only accounts for ~20% of calories burned per day; the other 10% is due to thermogenesis aka digestive processes).

How to calculate your BMR:
For most accurate testing, a person must be fasted and completely at rest for a gold standard BMR test to be completed. (That is, a test done in an actual lab environment).

Important variables: age, weight, height, sex, diet, activity level, muscle mass, & fat mass. (more muscle = increased BMR b/c muscle is metabolically active tissue!!!!!).

Generic calculation using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation:
Men: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) – (5 × age in years) + 5
Women: (10 × weight in kg) + (6.25 × height in cm) – (5 × age in years) – 161