Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. Even at rest, you need energy for basic functions like breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, and repairing cells.

WHAT DETERMINES YOUR BMR?

The calories your body uses to carry out these basic functions is known as your “basal metabolic rate” or BMR. Several factors determine your BMR, including:

  • Body size and composition. People who are larger or have more muscle burn more calories, even at rest.
  • Sex. Men “usually” have less body fat and more muscle than comparable women (same age, diet, activity level), which means men burn more calories.
  • Age. As you age, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight, slowing down calorie burning.
  • Food processing. Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing food you consume also takes calories, and foods digest at different rates (some burn more calories to be digested, etc.)
  • Physical activity.

You can change all of these by changing your body composition, activity level, and food intake!

HOW MANY CALORIES DO I NEED PER DAY?

There’s a lot of calculators on the web, here’s one below to try, another one is on Healthline.com, another on active.com. If you go to a nutritionist or gym, they may take your bodyfat.

https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

What number did you get? Let’s say your calculation gave you 2,000 calories. How do you eat 2,000 calories throughout the day? Coming up soon! 😀

Sources: Bodybuilding.com, calculater.net