(Well, this is my third night trying to get through this post without
falling asleep at my seat. As I can’t
seem to start until after 10:30pm and I haven’t
been sleeping well, it is expected… Please forgive my inconsistency)
I enjoy learning, studying
and researching. Sometimes I look into
health related topics either due to need or curiosity. Here is an interesting fact that I wonder how
many people know: if we sit like a lump
on a log all day, for 24 hours, we will still burn lots of calories- and since
we aren’t moving to eat, we will lose weight J. Of course we wouldn’t be very healthy
without physical activity or food, but that’s a different matter. (This information is all found in my research
of late.)
This burning of calories ‘without
activity’ is actually activity we don’t think about much such as breathing,
organ function, digestion, temperature regulation, blood movement, hormone
adjusting, blinking, growing and repairing cells, etc. Calories burned this way are called basal
metabolic rate or BMR. There are many
online calculators out there to do the math for you (just input weight, height
and age) and many rely on different formulas, but here is the one I use:
(these are only estimates)
Men: 66 + (weight in lbs × 6.3) + (height in in. ×
12.9) - (age × 6.8) = BMR
ex: 66+ (200×6.3= 1260) + (70×12.9=
903) – (63×6.8= 428.4) = 1800.6
Women:
655 + (weight in lbs × 4.3) + (height in
in. × 4.7) - (age × 4.7) = BMR
ex: 655+ (128×4.3= 550.4) + (64×4.7= 300.8) – (47×4.7=
220.9) = 1285.3
To know how many calories
our daily activities (walking, exercise, chores etc) burn, we have to consult
other online sites that can help, and add that number to the BMR to know how
many calories we need every day to maintain our weight.
If we want to lose weight,
we should eat 15% to 20% less calories (than our BMR+ activities) a day, or if we want to
gain weight, then add more calories. The
man in the example would eat 270 to 360 less calories a day to lose weight, and
the woman 194 to 258 less.
It
may seem like even a bigger decrease in calories would promote faster weight
loss, but the opposite is true. If we have
too large a calorie deficit, our body will think it is starving and it will go
into survival mode, maintaining fat stores but promoting lean muscle loss. It’s a double whammy.
All this brings me to a
few thoughts in all of this weight loss and gain:
Formulas might work with BMR’s and total calorie needs, there are no
formulas for relationships as there are far too many variables to
consider. That means we need to give relationships
our best effort and adjust along the way for what works and what doesn’t. It seems to me our relationship with the Lord
is also not based on a formula of sorts (so much prayer, worship, church time,
etc) and that we simply need to give it our best effort to know Him.
(Jesus prayed) And this is life eternal, that they
might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. Jh.
17:3
And they shall no more teach each man his neighbor
and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. Jr. 31:34
Sitting like a lump on a log spiritually will starve us
just as bad causing fleshly fat gain in the wrong areas like worldliness, and
loss of spiritual muscle mass. Another
double whammy!
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do
you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever desires to be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Jm. 4:4
For the flesh lusts against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another…
Gl. 5:17
We spend a LOT
more time on our bodies than our spirit man.
Yet it is our spirit that lives forever, while our bodies return to
dust. Seems to me, we have our
priorities messed up.
For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness
is profitable to all things, having promise of the present life, and of that
which is to come. 1Tm. 4:8
Of whom let not be the adorning of garments, or
outward braiding of hair and wearing of gold, or of putting on clothing, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that
which is not corruptible, the meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price in
the sight of God. 1Pt. 3:3,4
Read the Bible: 2Tm. 3:14-16; Hb. 4:12 ;
Ps. 1:1,2; Ps. 119:11