“How many calories will I burn during this workout?” (Calorie calculator): Hands down the question that I get asked most often here on T&T is “how many calories will I burn during this workout?” This is always a tough one to answer because if depends on a lot of factors – your weight, your age, your height, your gender, etc. There are a lot of “calorie calculators” out there – it’s important that you find one that takes into consideration all of these key factors. The best one that I have found and that I use the most often to calculate the most precise number of calories you burn during a given activity is: https://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
“How many calories are in this meal?” (Nutrition calculator): If you have ever wondered about the nutrition content for your favorite meals then I have the solution for you! With this website, you simply put in the quantities of all the ingredients that go into your recipe and the serving sizes and it will calculate for you the nutrition content for each serving. This can be hugely helpful as you try to consume healthy calories and eat right. The one that I use the most often happens to be from My Fitness Pal; you can check it out here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
“How many calories do I burn through the day?” (Basal metabolic rate calculator): Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is a measurement of how many calories your body burns just staying alive. If you were to wake up in the morning, lay in bed all day, and then go to sleep at night, your body would still burn a certain number of calories just performing those functions that sustain life (internal organs, bodily functions, etc.). Often times we referred to our BMR as our “metabolism”. When you combine your BMR with the calories you burn performing a given activity, you get a rough estimate of how many calories you burn throughout the day. Your BMR is dependent upon a couple of factors – your weight, your height, your age, your gender, and your activity level. Here is my favorite calculator for figuring out a persons BMR: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator
“What is my body mass index (BMI)?” (Body mass index calculator): Your body mass index is a calculation using your height to weight ratio. This will give you a number which is then used to assign your body type it into a “category” (underweight, average, overweight, obese, etc.). Please note that when you consider your BMI, it is simply a ratio of how tall you are to how much you weigh. Not included is any indication of body fat percentage. For example, I am 6 feet and 190 pounds. According to my BMI (26) I fall into the “overweight” BMI index. While 190 might be a little heavy for my height, I am also 14% body fat. It’s with great pride, a ton of determination, and an insane amount of hard work, that I tell you the majority of my being “overweight” comes from muscle mass. Nowhere is that hard words reflected in the BMI calculation. That being said, you can get a really good BMI calculator right here, just remember to take it for what it’s worth: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm
Knowing your statistics – what you eat, what you burn, and how healthy you are – is a crucial part of making progress with your fitness. Check out some of these sites and start amplifying your progress today!
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