Basal Metabolic Rate is the number of calories required to keep your body functioning at rest. This is the baseline number if you were to basically do nothing all day, which now that your a mama will NEVER happen again.
To get your BMR, simply use the steps below. You’ll need to know your height, gender, age and weight. Once you’ve determined your BMR, you can begin to monitor how many calories a day you need to maintain or lose weight.
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Step 1
Step on a scale to determine your weight in pounds. Multiply your weight in pounds by 4.35. For example: 154 pounds x 4.35 = 669.9. Measure your weight early in the morning before eating breakfast.
Step 2
Measure your height in inches using measuring tape. Multiply your height in inches by 4.7. Example: 4.7 x 66 inches = 310.2
Step 3
Multiply your age in years by 4.7. Example 4.7 x 32 = 150.4
Step 4
Calculate your BMR by plugging the values from height, weight and age into the BMR formula for women. In this example we will use a woman who is 140 lbs, 67 inches tall, and 35 years old.
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x 140) + (4.7 x 67) – (4.7 x 35).
BMR = 655 + (609) + (314.9) – (164.5) = 1414.4
The BMR for the woman in this example is 1414.4. This means that she would need to eat 1414.4 calories to keep her metabolism operating at an optimal level if sedentary all day long.
Now you know your BMR and you can adjust your caloric intake from there. If you’re working out, moving a lot, and breastfeeding, you’ll definitely want to up those calories significantly.
It’s estimated that you need an additional 300-500 calories per day when breastfeeding and approximately 10 calories for every minute of exercise.
So 1 hour of exercise for a breastfeeding mama would be additional 900-1100 calories.
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