Lose Weight - Do You Need to Lose One Pound of Fat Per Week?

There are many products sold to help you lose weight. You don't need another product, you simply need correct information. To know if you should lose fat you need to know your BMI or Body Mass Index. it is a ratio of your weight to your height. You can search Google for a BMI chart or calculator or go to my blog where I have such links available. If you are in the over weight or obese category by BMI you need to lose some fat.

If you are in the normal or acceptable BMI category you are not off the hook yet. Some people are what I call skinny fat. They are normal weight but have so little lean tissue, they still have too great a percentage of their body weight as fat. They may not need to loose weight but they do need to improve the percentage of lean tissue on their frame.

There are 5 ways to check your body fat percentage. The easiest is an electrical method. You stand on a scale or hold an instrument in your hands and a small imperceptible electrical current is sent through your body. The more muscle you have the more water in your body and the faster the current moves. The instrument will calculate your body fat percentage from the speed of electrical conduction. This like other methods is an estimate within 3-5 %. It is close enough to make decisions about your percentage of lean tissue as it relates to your total weight. Calipers, measuring with a tape, Hydrostatic weighing, and the DEXA scan are the other 4 methods.

After you are sure you need to lose fat weight, you need to know your resting metabolic rate (RMR). It can be directly measured but can also be closely estimated using different formulas for men and women. In addition to knowing the formula, you need to know the person's height, weight and age.

The formula for men is 66 + (6.2 x wt. in lb) + (12.7 x ht. inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

For women it is 655 + (4.4 x wt. in lb.) + (4.3 x ht. in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

RMR is the number of calories needed each day to maintain your weight at bed rest (no activity).You take that RMR (number of calories) and multiply it times an activity factor. These factors are 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4. 1.1 is for sedentary activities. This person would not walk except to the car, always ride the elevator, park close to the store and not do any exercise except minimal household and work chores a few minutes each day. The more days of activity and the more vigorous the activities, the larger activity factor you use. Check the web or my blog for more information on activity factors

Once you know your total calories needed per day, you are ready to decide how you will lose your one pound of fat per week. One pound of fat stores 3500 calories of energy. If you want to lose one pound in 7 days, each day you must reduce your energy intake by 500 calories or increase your energy need 500 calories with more activity or a combination the two.

To summarize

1. Know your BMI

2. Know your body fat percentage

3. Calculate your RMR

4. Multiply your RMR by the appropriate activity factor

5. Decide how you are going to reduce your calories and by how much

6. Don't reduce calories below 1200 per day

7. Keep records of food intake and activity levels each day.

I invite you to learn more from Bruce L Bair, life and wellness coach and PA.

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