The basal metabolic rate is the amount of energy expended in the body for critical physiological activities such as cell synthesis and destruction, biochemical reactions, heart beating, kidney filtration, liver function, and endocrine gland work, among others. The activity of the lean mass, which includes both voluntary and involuntary organs and muscles, is primarily responsible for this energy use.
In general, men have more lean mass than women, and there is a progressive replacement of lean mass with fat mass over time, even without weight gain, therefore the basal metabolism slows with age. Furthermore, because there is a lot of variation from person to person, the usage of calories provided by food varies a lot from one person to the next. This means that even if the food and lifestyle provide the same amount of energy, one person may be more likely to acquire weight than another. The causes of this phenomena are numerous, both hormonal and non-hormonal, but the end effect is always the same: when food calories ingested exceed real needs, weight gain occurs, resulting in fat mass. The sum of the basal metabolic rate (the energy cost of life) and the physical activity performed during the day is the daily energy requirement (the energy cost of movement).
Food contains the energy that the body need. If you consume too many calories in your meals, they accumulate and you gain weight. On the contrary, the more you move, the more energy you expend and the more energy your body draws from its reserves, causing you to lose weight (if the food eaten does not contain enough calories). You can develop health concerns in either case (if you gain or lose too much weight). It is therefore required to intervene on both the energy "outputs" (i.e. the energy consumed by physical activity) and the "inputs" (i.e. the energy ingested by food) in order to achieve and, above all, maintain the desired weight (ie the energy introduced with nutrition ).
The measurement of the basal metabolic rate or total daily energy expenditure is difficult, time-consuming, and requires expensive and complex equipment. It is therefore preferable to utilize formulas that take into consideration sex, age, weight, and height to calculate, predict, or "guess" the basal metabolism. The calculated basal metabolic rate can then be adjusted for the level of physical activity to arrive at the estimated daily need. In actuality, it's better to multiply the basal metabolic rate by the numerous energy expenditures associated with various activities during the day, such as sleeping a particular number of hours, walking a certain number of hours, and so on.
Physical activity can be divided into three categories for ease of use: light, medium, and heavy. A typical day's physical activity is roughly divided into eight hours of sleep, one hour for dressing and washing, one hour for eating, eight hours of sedentary activity (doing office work), one hour of general housework, and one hour of walking at a varied pace without carrying weights.
On the other hand, those who work a sedentary job but participate in non-competitive sports at least three times a week or whose normal day is roughly divided into 8 hours of sleep and 1 hour to get dressed engage in moderate physical activity. 1 hour to eat, 8 hours of standing activity carrying light weights (e.g., being a waiter or arranging items on store shelves), 1 hour to get to and from work by bus, 1 hour walking at a varied pace without carrying weights, 1 hour of low intensity aerobic exercise, and 3 hours watching TV or chatting.
Finally, persons who participate in a competitive or non-competitive sport are regarded to be engaged in severe physical activity if their usual day consists of 8 hours of sleep, 1 hour of dressing and washing, 1 hour of eating, 1 hour of cooking, and 6 hours of strenuous work (e.g. farm work without using machines), 1 hour of unloading products or moving heavy weights, 1 hour of housework (such as mopping or hand washing), 1 hour of walking at a moderate speed without carrying weights, and 4 hours of watching TV or chatting.
0 Comments