This is part two of this week’s series on diet.  To read part 1, click here.

Yesterday, I talked a little bit about how finding a diet that works for you can be both objective and subjective.  Finding a diet is objective because we all have to eat the same types of macro nutrients to survive, but it’s subjective because we don’t require the same amounts and some of us have to avoid specific foods.  For the purpose of this week’s series, I focused on finding the Best Subjective Diet (BSD) for myself and left you with some ideas for finding your own BSD.

If you read the post, then you know that I factored in several factors to find my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  Basically, by factoring in details like your height, weight, and body fat % you will find a rough estimate of your BMR.

So what is a Basal Metabolic Rate?

The Basal Metabolic Rate is how many calories your body can typically burn in a day while at rest.  While your BMR may be somewhat low, with moderate activity you can expect to have more room for calories in your diet; but keep in mind that going too far over your Basal Metabolic Rate each day will lead to fat gain.

It’s probably best to eat within 500 calories of your Basal Metabolic Rate for any situation.  If you are trying to gain weight, stick to eating about 500 calories over your BMR.  If you are trying to lose weight, stick to eating about 500 calories under your BMR.

Here is a calculator you can use to calculate your own Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR):

Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator

View Source…

Displays calculated BMR.

Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator

Since wordpress.com will not let me use my own html widgets, click here to calculate your own Basal Metabolic Rate.

Keep in mind that there is also a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) but it is a slightly less accurate number than the BMR.