Understanding BMI and BMR

Using a BMI Calculator

BMI, or Body Mass Index, is a measurement attained by calculating a person’s weight and dividing it by the square of their height. This does not actually measure fat, just where your weight falls on a chart as it pertains to your height. The categories that you may fall into on the chart are underweight, normal, overweight, and obese. These categories are further divided, for instance if you are underweight or obese, you may find your weight classified as mild, moderate, or severe. A BMI calculator simplifies the whole process.

BMI calculatorDoctors sometimes use this calculation to help diagnosis eating disorders, but your BMI is not a true indicator of body fat.

Those who are very tall, or are very muscular may have a BMI Chart number that indicates being overweight or even obese when that is not the case. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat obviously weigh the same, but they look a lot different on your body. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat.

If you use a BMI calculator, you may consider using it in conjunction with other methods to put your numbers into perspective.

Using a BMR Calculator

A Basal Metabolic Rate  BMR calculator tells you how many calories are burned while you are doing nothing. Once you figure out how many calories you burn in a day if you just stayed in bed, you have a good indication of the calorie count you need to adhere to in order to lose weight, or gain weight. Lowering your calorie count by 100 calories a day and increasing exercise for 30 minutes a day above your norm can produce results in just a few weeks.

The heavier you are, the faster the weight comes off during exercise. This is because of the extra weight. If you are 100 pounds overweight, and you walk for 30 minutes, it’s like a person that has a normal weight carrying 100 pounds of weights with them on that 30 minute walk. The weights add significantly to the calories burned.

Using BMR and BMI calculators can help you plan a healthy lifestyle. Formulating a plan to meet your goals is much easier when you know just what your starting point is.

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HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our blood alcohol, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years. Our team of health professionals, and researchers use peer reviewed studies as source elements in our articles. Our high quality content has been featured in a number of leading websites, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Live Strong, GQ, and many more.

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Written by HealthStatus Team
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our blood alcohol, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years. Our team of health professionals, and researchers use peer reviewed studies as source elements in our articles. Our high quality content has been featured in a number of leading websites, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Live Strong, GQ, and many more.

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