Why Basal Metabolic Rate Matters to Your Weight
by Andrea Dietrich , B.Kin., CSEP-CPT Fitness and Training Coordinator, Recreation Services at the University of Manitoba What is it Basal Metabolic Rate? Basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is the bare minimum amount of energy expended by an individual at rest while awake. More precisely, the amount of energy your body needs to breathe, lay restfully awake, and control body temperature. Ideally, you would have fasted for 12 hours, and the environment was temperature-controlled as well. So how do you actually use this information? Let’s change the word energy to the word calories . BMR is then the bare minimum amount of calories your body needs to merely function. This has implications for your diet, whether you are trying to lose, gain or maintain weight, feed growing muscles, or spend your weekend lying in bed in a dark room, quietly just existing. Most of us do more (much more) than lay in bed on an average day, and even tasks like sitting up, eating and digesting,