F is for Friday!

Today, F is for.....(drum roll)..... Fitness! I am pretty sure it's not a secret to anyone who may read this that I teach Group Fitness classes. Having this background puts me in a unique position of being able to share information I have regarding health & fitness. I have several interesting tips I am excited to share with you on fitness day's, but the first one will help lay the ground work for any health and fitness plan. Weight loss, weight gain, and weight maintenance is all about balance and numbers. Too many numbers go in, not enough numbers go out, and up your number goes. Conversely, when you lower the numbers coming in and increase the numbers going out, your number will go down. So, to help you get started ,here is an algebraic equation on helping you figure out how many "numbers" you need coming in. And by "numbers", I mean calories! Here is the Harris Benedict Equation to calculate your caloric needs.

Step 1. For Women: 655+ (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - ( 4.7 x age in years)
           
            For Men: 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

Step 2. Now take the number from above and multiply by the level of exercise listed below.

                 Exercise Factor                Category                    Explanation
                     1.2                                     Sedentary                 Little or no exercise
                     1.375                                 Lightly Active            Light Exercise (1-3 days)
                     1.55                                   Moderately Active     Moderate Exercise (3-5 days)
                     1.7                                     Very Active               Hard Exercise (6-7 days)
                     1.9                                     Extremely Active       Hard daily activity/physical job

Step 3. The number you have now is your caloric need to maintain your current weight!
             - For weight loss, subtract 500 calories per day from your current number.

* Remember to solve for the parentheses first.

Clear as mud, right? Now, this is just the ground work. The first step is to get moving and to know your numbers. Obviously, not all calories are created equal. If you need 1250 calories a day to loss 1-2 pounds a week (the safe and permanent way!) you can't eat 1250 calories in snickers and see the results you want. So, this is a tease, in hopes you will check back and learn a little more about how you should fill these numbers. TTFN!