Calorie Burn

There are several methods for estimating caloric consumption. Some of us may never come into contact with the acronyms used by health professionals, but it’s a good idea to acquaint ourselves with their definitions because learning should be part of our lifelong commitment to health.

MET = Standard metabolic equivalent of the amount of oxygen used by the body during physical activity. The higher the MET, the more calories burned per minute. Some examples of the low to high range of a MET score would be the difference between sitting on the couch reading a book (low MET) or jogging (high MET).

REE = Resting energy expenditure represents the amount of oxygen required by the body during a 24-hour period of inactivity. This method is generally used in hospital settings in order to determine what a bedridden patient needs to prevent malnutrition. It is also helpful in determining calories burned while leading a fairly sedentary life with low activity levels.

ACTIVITY CALORIES: Is the number of calories burned performing a specific physical activity for a precise period of time. For example: The treadmill report on your screen reports that, for the height and weight you provided during data setup, you burned 340 calories for jogging/running ½ hour.

TOTAL CALORIES: Net measurement of Activity calories burned less REE.

Okay, let’s make this easier to understand for all of us who exercise regularly and are unsure of how many calories we should eat to achieve weight loss and/or maintain a current weight. We burn calories as long as we are living. The amount of calories we expend depends to a large degree upon physical activity as well as diet. The more we exercise, the more likely we are to become fit. The less we eat over and above the calories our bodies require for mere existence, the more likely we are to maintain or lose weight.

Joe, for example weighs 180 pounds. Given that you can figure that a sedentary lifestyle requires about 12 calories per pound per day;

Example 1:

Total Calories Consumed 3200
Less REE (2160)
Less Treadmill (303)

Total Calories ‘stored’ 737

Example 2:

Total Calories Consumed 2400
Less REE (2160)
Less Treadmill (303)

Total Calories ‘stored’ (63)

From this example we can conclude that if Joe cut back on his calories and exercised at the same rate, he would begin to lose weight. It is inadvisable for Joe to cut his daily calorie levels below 2400 and maintain his current exercise routine. It would be far safer for Joe to increase his activity level slightly and keep the calorie count level at about 2400 calories per day in order to achieve weight loss without sacrificing important nutrients in his diet.

The Better Life Experts | May 4, 2009