BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate

Getting your BMR is a fantastic start to your diet planning. Understanding that this is general calculation of the amount of calories your body uses can give you a number to work around. At the bottom of this page you can find the calculator (its super easy to use) but take a second and learn a bit about your BMR just below.

Few important things to know about BMR

Getting your BMR is a fantastic start to your diet planning. Understanding that this is general calculation of the amount of calories your body uses can give you a number to work around.

The calculator below is based on Mifflin-St Jeor equation and even though it is considered to be one of the most accurate ways to find the amount of calories your bodies burns at rest. There are many variables that can affect the amount of calories your body actually consumes.

Some of these variables

• • • Muscle Mass (Muscle burns more energy at rest)
      • This is why things such as weightlifting can be a such a great benefit. The more muscle mass someone has the greater amount of calories their body automatically consumes. (free calories)
    • Exercising can burn a a significant amount of calories. 
      • Your body can continue to burn additional calories even after the workout (more free calories)
    • Sex, males bodies statistically consume more energy than women.
    • Genetics
      • Everyone is different, some people have amazing metabolisms.
    • Hormones
      • There are sever hormones that can affect your BMR and this is something you can go over your doctor if you believe this to 
    • Age
      • As we age, our metabolism tends to slow from muscle tissue loss, hormonal and neurological changes.

There are still other factors that can affect your True BMR. It is a good practice to monitor your calorie intake vs your weight gain/loss.

These are Estimations 

Even though many people use this BMR equation (or calculator) as their base line to start calculating calorie intake. Understand that you should use this number as a estimation. The process of getting a very accurate scientific BMR is quite lengthy and usually unnecessary.

Your BMR can change. As you progress through weight loss, weight gain, muscle mass gain, or loss. Your BMR will change just make sure you continue to monitor your diet and make sure you always stay healthy.

Click here to learn about Meal Planning

This BMR Calculator is based on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation

(Click Here if you would like to learn more about the Miffin-St Jeor equation)

Now that you learned a bit get your BMR. We do all all the math you just fill out the calculator below!

BMR Calculator (Basal Metabolic Rate, Mifflin St Jeor Equation)

This BMR Calculator is based on the Mifflin-St Jeor equation

• The math
  • Male
    • (Calorie per day) = 10 X Weight(kg) + 6.25 X Height(cm) – 5 X Age(years) – 161
  • Women
    • (Calorie per day) = 10 X Weight(kg) + 6.25 X Height(cm) – 5 X Age(years) – 161

Other Calculators we have here at JustLiveSimply

• Heart Rate Calculator
• Calorie Calculator

The post BMR Calculator appeared first on Just Live Simply.

counting calories can sometimes be super simple, but only if you know they are there. It is easy for anyone to miss calories and when you’re trying to count them missing them sort of ruins the process. Here we are going to go over a few tips to finding them calories.

Calorie finding tips.

Here we are going to focus mainly on liquid calories because they can be the easiest to really go overboard on. I really don’t believe in the idea that you have to give up everything that tastes great in life just to lose weight or “Live a Healthy” life. Moderation is key. Sugar can have huge effect on the body and truthfully it doesn’t have any place in a human diet. But we just have to acknowledge the fact that it is in our life. Yes, a can of your favorite drink or those chocolate cookies with cream in them are really unhealthy for you. But if you can cut them 100%, fantastic for you. You have the will power better than tons. But for the rest of use we just have to understand we shouldn’t over do it. Yes 1 small can of soda can have about 10 teaspoons! of sugar but a 44oz (convenient store/gas station/fast food size cups) of it can contain over 37 teaspoons of sugar. My cookies aren’t much better they have the sugar content of more than 5 teaspoons of sugar per two cookies. Again the food item may be really unhealthy, but they can add up to extremely unhealthy very fast.

It’s amazing how much sugar they can really squeeze into something.

But it Sounds Healthy

Just because something sounds healthy doesn’t mean that it is. Many places  and products tend to put titles that can over sell certain aspects of their product. Even though they may not be lying or even bending the truth you should know what else in that product. A perfect example is when places sell all natural of fresh fruit smoothies. These can seem like a fantastic after workout treat its fruit right? It probably true that it has fresh fruit, but you have to account for everything else in it. Perfect example would be a smoothie advertised as Real Fruit Smoothie made with healthy ingredients. But when you look at they nutritional content, you can find 1,200+ calories, 150+ Carbs, and tons of sodium in your smoothie. 

Tip:

Most restaurants will give you the nutritional information readily. Many can easily be found by simply Googling the “calories (product)”

Count It All!

Count everything that is added to what you consume. This may sound complicated and time consuming but after just 1 or 2 times you will be able to do this almost automatically. A perfect example of this can be as simple as your morning coffee. When I started to look out for calories I missed this one because I really thought its just coffee. Coffee by its self has like 1 calorie per cup, maybe 50 calories for extras, I was pretty wrong. I use to like my coffee pretty sweet, but the container looked like it wasn’t that bad. Over a typical day I use to drink about 4 cups (8oz at a time). And when I added the amount of calories of each cup, I was quite surprised. A typical cup would be about 1 calorie for the coffee, 80 calories in coffee creamer, and 65 calories in milk. Thats 146 calories a cup, when you multiply that by 4 or 5 cups a day you get 584 to 730 calories. Thats about 5,000 calories a week, and about 20,000 calories a month. When this happens everyday this is easily enough to throw your entire diet plan off track. This is where exploring alternatives can be super beneficial.

Alternatives

My number one alternative is learn to drink unsweetened tea, because for me personally water can get a bit boring. I know that there are going to be a ton of people that say that they could never drink unsweetened tea, I was one of them. But it really isn’t that hard and it is actually pretty good. Theres a post about it if you would like to try, Just Click below.

 Learn How to Drink Unsweetened Tea

The next alternative is trying to just limit the sweetness without changing ingredients. You can accomplish this by adjusting your tolerance to sugar. There are two ways of doing this and my recommendation would be number one.

First

You just go cold turkey for a few days maybe even a few weeks. Instead of having your super sweet morning drink try to enjoy black coffee, unsweetened teas or water. Even though it is a good idea to limit your caffeine, you can still get caffein from tea.

Second

The  second way is slowly adjusting the amount of sweetener you add to  your morning drink. This may take a bit longer to lower the amount of sweetness you add but you will become accustomed. 

Sugar Addictive?

Because of the addictive nature of sugar it is a really good idea to lower the amount you eat. Normally when you consume something sugary you will normally get even greater cravings for more sugar. Aside from just the calories that this causes, too much sugar can have many health effects on you. If you would like to read more about the addictive nature of sugar you can read this article from HealthLine

Health Line Sugar Addiction

Conclusion

You should really understand everything you eat, at least for a few meals you should count everything. Understand that even something that may seem insignificant can add up really fast. From the 20 calories per tiny ketchup packet to a regular 600 calorie frozen coffee. Just record these for a few days and you will be able to find areas that you can cut calories. 

The post Finding Hidden Calories appeared first on Just Live Simply.

I understand that everyone wants to lose weight fast and this is possible but should you? 

Even though it is generally advised that you should aim to lose 1-2 pounds per week, this isn’t true for everyone. There are a few factors that can drastically change your results. We will go over three here

Calorie Deficit = Consuming less calories than the body requires to maintain its current weight.

Your Current Calorie Needs – if you currently don’t know how many calories your body requires to maintain its current weight you can use our Calorie Calculator.

(Click Here To Learn How Many Calories I Should Eat)

First – Starting Weight 

This is sometimes the biggest factor in determining how fast you can lose weight. A person weight is usually directly tied to the number of calories the body requires to maintain that weight, giving a person a higher BMR. (You can click here to learn more about your BMR) When a person has a higher BMR this gives that person more space for larger calorie deficits, and more “free calorie” burn. Simply put a lighter persons body burns less calories in maintaining its self compared to a larger person. 

Example:

Two people with different weights but same age, height, and activity level.

• • • Male
    • Age: 30
    • Height: 5ft 8in
    • Exercise / Moderately active

Calories Needed to Maintain Weight:

• • • Person A weighs  220 lbs and needs 2,896 calories to maintain current weight
    • Person B weighs 180 lbs and needs  2,451 calories to maintain current weight

This shows that if both person A and B went on very low calorie diets of 1,200 healthy calories per day. Person A would have a calorie deficit of 1,696 while person B would be at a 1,251 deficit. This would give person A a faster weight loss than Person B.

Understand that your calorie needs will continue to change as your weight and muscle mass change. So it is good to monitor both your weight and calorie intake to insure you don’t lose weight too fast or slow.

Couple things to keep in mind about calories.

It is generally advised that 1,200 calories per day should be the very minimum unless prescribed and monitored very closely by you doctor. Many professionals also suggest 1,500 calories for women and 1,800 calories should be a minimum daily calorie intake. 

Using the 3,500 calories is equal to a pound, a 500 calorie daily deficit equals about 1 pound loss per week. It is also suggested that you shouldn’t have a deficit larger than a 1,000 calories per day. 

You can read more about the 3,500 calorie per pound here

Is 3,500 Calories per Pound a Myth?

Second – The stages of weight loss

When first going on a new diet plan Your weight can fluctuate sometimes pretty drastically. This usually comes in a 3 stages. (Starting weight can effect these more or less)

1 – (most people)

Water Weight actually has a considerable effect on weight, just one cup of water weighs just over half a pound. When changing your diet especially when it comes to carbohydrates and sodium (usually found in higher quantities in prepackaged and “unhealthy” foods). When you cut carbs and sodium your body begins to retain less water which can happen pretty sudden.

2 –  (most people)

After losing the first few pounds sometimes really fast, it can feel like you almost stop losing weight. Sometimes losing pounds here can slow down to almost zero, your current weight can also have an effect here. But the water weight can usually make this a pretty abrupt change. Fat loss will be slower than the water weight.

3 – (average/lower weight people)

Gaining Weight for Wight Loss? This is the one that can sometimes make people quit, which is actually just misunderstood. When you decide to lift weights (or almost any exercise really) as your source of exercise you can sometimes experience a gain in weight do to building muscle mass, especially from lesser used muscles. Depending on your current weight you can be gaining muscle mass quickly enough to counter the fat loss you are achieving. This is actually a great thing, this is why weight isn’t the only way you should be measuring your progress. During this time you will usually begin slimming down faster than you think, pounds maybe steady but inches will be flying away. 

Just as a side note. Weight lifting is a great way to lose weight. Increasing your muscle mass can Increase your BMR, this sorta means free calorie burning (even when you’re sleeping). Also, for the many that are afraid of Bulking up too much. With regular exercise or weightlifting most people will just become slimmer and muscles will become more defined. Muscle Builders require very rigorous and very strict diets to achieve their physical appearance. So Lift them Weights!

Third – Heavier Toady than Yesterday?

A regularly Misunderstood fact of weight is that it changes all the time. Your weight can change from month to month, week to week, day to day, hour to hour, and even minute to minute. You can literally weigh your self before going to bed and weigh less in the morning (even before regular morning routines) believe me, just us try it. For women specifically weight can vary quite drastically during a cycle. So because of these reasons we recommend weighing yourself on a consistent basis and understanding how to truly weigh and measure yourself. I would recommend reading our post on Weighing and Measuring Ourselves. You can click below for a link to that page.

(Click Here to Learn How to weigh and Measure Yourself)

Conclusion 

While the answer can vary quite drastically the answer is both vague and direct. The ideal goal for longer term weight loss should be 1-2 pounds per week. While those that have much more weight to lose can experience faster weight loss at the stat. This should be accounted for longer term dieting. Always stay safe during weight loss. Some diets attempt to restrict diets drastically and you should be cautious. Consuming too few calories and over exerting your self during workouts can lead to higher risks of injury.

A Few Posts That May Interest You.

Click Here How Much I should Weigh

The post How Fast Can I Lose Weight? appeared first on Just Live Simply.

Everyone and their mother (Hi mom) wants to know how many calories is the correct number. The hard thing about knowing this number is that it continually changes. But the easy part is that it is pretty easy to find out and adjust as you go once you learn.

AWEOME TIP – Many people forget the easiest way to destroy a diet plan. Even this title is technically wrong! You should count all calories, including the calories you drink. SO… “Here Is How Many Calories You Should Consume”

I will break this down into Four numbers from least to best informed.

First Number – The Bare Minimum

It is generally advised that you should never drop your daily calorie intake below 1,200 calories a day, especially when working out. Going below this number can lead to many negative health effect and even expose to greater risks to injury when working out.

Many advise that this number is still too low and this is why I would recommend using the other numbers below.

Second Number –BMR(Basel Metabolic Rate)

This Number is actually super simple to get and only sounds complicated. You simply use our BMR Calculator which is the number of calories your body needs to sustain its self (such as Heartbeat and Breathing). You then just and then add the calories you burn during your daily activities such as walking and exercise. If you don’t know your BMR just click the link below. ( Understand these numbers are estimates and can vary from person to person) 

Click Here to Get Your BMR

Third Number – Calorie Calculator

This is by far the easiest to get. You can use our Calorie Calculator which estimates your calories with both your BMR and Activity. All the Math is done just Click below and get your Calorie Number. ( Understand these numbers are estimates and can vary from person to person)

Click Here to Get Your Calorie Number

Fourth Number – Your Personalized Calorie Number

You can use our free meal planning print outs to help out. I recommend using pen and paper rather than using apps or full meal calorie guides. Apps and full meal calorie guides tend to miss a lot of the hidden calories. The best approach here is to keep a journal of the calories you consume everyday with your weight. By knowing your average calorie intake you can adjust everything about your meal and exercise planning. You can move your calorie intake up or down from there. You shouldn’t lose more that 1-2 pounds a week after losing the initial water weight.

A few Helpful Posts

Learn About Finding Hidden Calories

Learn About Weighing and Measuring Yourself

Conclusion

Use our Calorie Calculator and you can subtract or add calories from there. If you plan to add exercise later, those would also count towards your deficit.

Example:

• • • Male
    • Age: 30
    • Height: 5ft 8in
    • Exercise / Moderately active
    • Calories Needed to Maintain Weight:

Person A weighs  220 lbs and needs 2,896 calories to maintain current weight

Person B weighs 180 lbs and needs  2,451 calories to maintain current weight

In the example above you can see that weight has a direct impact on the number of calories the body requires just to maintain its self. So when going through your weight loss panning, make sure you adjust you calorie intake as your weight changes. 

Quick Tip:

Using these numbers as a guide with a healthy diet you should be able to determine a Calorie Goal. A round number many like to start with for weight loss is having a 500 calorie deficit to the Number you get from above. Know that the rule for 3,500 calories per pound can be used here but can be inaccurate in some cases. There are many factors that effect your actual weight compared to calories. And when you reach a Plateau during Weight Loss you should reevaluate your calories intake and exercise planning. If you would like to learn more there are additional topics below.

(Click Here To Know How Fast Can I Lose Weight)

(Click Here Why the 3,500 Calorie Per Pound Can Be Wrong)

The post How Many Calories Should I Eat? appeared first on Just Live Simply.

People often forget that weight isn’t the only measurement that should be recorded during weight loss. Even though a person may go in to a diet plan with weight loss being the focus of their goal, you should also record your measurements. We will cover both weight and measurements and how often you should do these.

Key point to understand before weighing yourself. You should understand that your weight can fluctuate sometimes quite drastically, and really often. I will quickly go over just a few of these factors in weight fluctuations. 

1 – Heavier Toady than Yesterday?

 A regularly Misunderstood fact of weight is that it changes all the time. Your weight can change from month to month, week to week, day to day, hour to hour, and even minute to minute. You can literally weigh your self in before going to bed and weigh less in the morning (even before regular morning routines) believe just me try it.

2 – Changing your diet. This one can have some pretty big effects on your weight.

Anytime you make any changes to your diet you can experience some major changes in weight. Things such as sodium and carbohydrates actually make your body retain water. With water weighing over a half pound per cup, this can add up pretty quickly. Usually when people begin changing their diet towards a healthier one, the first things to go are usually prepackaged and the easy to spot unhealthy foods. Many unhealthier foods are usually packed with sodium and carbohydrates (example of this just below). When you suddenly stop consuming salty and carb heavy foods you will many time experience a fast decrease of water weight. Understand that there is only so much water, don’t become discouraged when your weight loss slows. 

Example:

One serving of pecans (about 20 halves) has about 196 Calories, 0mg of Sodium, 3.9g of Carbs, and 2.7g of Fiber. For those of you that count Carbs when you subtract 2.7g of Fiber to the Carbs, thats only 1.2 Carbs from your daily allowance. Anyways for those of you not counting carbs. Fiber is great and lowering your overall Carb intake is generally good.

Let compare them pecans to a single pecan donut 

This donut has about 450 calories, 330mg Sodium, 48g of Carbs and 2g of Fiber. 

With carbs and sodium helping you retain water, you can see how much water you may be retaining.

3 – The Stages of Weight Loss with Exercising. Your weight will usually go through 3 stages and number 1 will be a bit of recap of number 2 above but here they are.

First

Water Weight actually has a considerable effect on weight, and can cause sudden weight decreases and subtle weight increases that can add up in time.

Women may retain additional water for up to a week. For the short term you can omit the readings for this time frame. And, for the long term you can include these when you have numbers from previous months.

Second

After losing the first few pounds sometimes really fast, it can feel like you almost stop losing weight. Sometimes losing pounds here can slow down to almost zero, your current weight can also have an effect here. But the water weight can usually make this a pretty abrupt change.

This usually happens when you’re closer to your ideal weight. Click the link below to go to our ideal weight calculator.

Ideal Weight Calculator

Third

Gaining Weight for Wight Loss? This is the one that can sometimes make people quit, which is actually just misunderstood. When you decide to lift weights (or almost any exercise really) as your source of exercise you can sometimes experience a gain in weight do to building muscle mass. Depending on your current weight you can be gaining muscle mass quickly enough to counter the fat loss you are achieving. This is actually a great thing, this is why weight isn’t the only way you should be measuring your progress. During this time you will usually begin slimming down faster than you think, pounds maybe steady but inches will be flying away. Just as a side note. Weight lifting is a great way to lose weight. Increasing your muscle mass can Increase BMR (to learn about BMR click the link at the bottom of this page), this sorta means free calorie burning (even when you’re sleeping). Also, for the many that are afraid of Bulking up too much. With regular exercise or weightlifting most people will just become slimmer and muscles will become more defined. Muscle Builders require very rigorous training and very strict diets to achieve their physical appearance. So Lift them Weights!

Conclusion

After learning the above we recommend doing two things. 

First

Weigh yourself everyday and keep track of your weight. Understanding that your weight can fluctuate several pounds, you should keep a record of your weight. You can work off your highest number and just keep working on lowering the highest number you record. For women, If your cycle is very consistent. You can work on the highest for a particular time frame or week, or just omit the time frame you are at your highest for a few days. Remember a gain in muscle mass will offset some weight loss in fat loss.

Second

Aside from weighing your self we highly recommend you keep a record of your measurements. You can sometimes notice changes in your measurement (losing inches) faster than changes in pounds. You can measure yourself less frequently, such as biweekly or even monthly. Women should account for changes in measurements during a cycle, it is best to omit weights and measurements during this time. Here are just a few measurements that I recommend.

Measurements List

• • • Waist – About half inch above your belly button, usually smallest part of your waist.
    • Hips – This is the largest part of your Waist area.
    • Bust – Around your chest inline with the nipple.
    • Chest – Just under your Bust.
    • Upper Arm – Largest part of the arm above the elbow.
    • Forearm – Largest Part of the arm below the elbow.
    • Neck – measure your neck (this actually changes)
    • Stomach – I find this one an important one because it can be hard to notice the changes sometimes, but the tape measure doesn’t lie.

A few topics you may be interested in

How Much should I weigh

Our Free Full Weight Loss Guide

The post How to Weigh and Measure Yourself appeared first on Just Live Simply.

The first thing you should understand is that everyone is different. So when using the Calculator below Understand that these are the estimates. There are several factors that can really effect your weight and you should know them first.

First

Everyone is different and your ideal weight can vary significantly. So take the numbers you get as pure estimates.

Second

This can really effect your ideal weight because muscle is more dense than fat. When starting a weight loss plan, you will usually begin to work muscles that sometimes didn’t see much activity. This can cause your weight to sometimes feel stagnant but you should be recording your Measurements to document your progress. If your would like to learn more about Weigh Ins and Measurements you should be taking click the link below.

(Click Here to Learn More about Weighing and Measuring Yourself)

Below, the calculator will give several numbers. The Calculator will generate 4 different weights from different formulates that are used by different medical professional. They are usually pretty similar.

Ideal Weight Calculator

Other Calculators

BMR Calculator

Max and Target Heart Rate Calculator

Calorie Intake Calculator

Here are other topics that may interest you

How Fast Should I Lose Weight

The post My Ideal Weight appeared first on Just Live Simply.

There are actually several things you should be looking at when reading a Nutritional label. Here we are going to focus on just a few parts of it.

For the more popular diets out there there are four key aspects of the label that you should focus on. These are calories, carbs, fiber and the sometimes overlooked serving size. Mainly Carbs are going to be more for Carb diets. These diets usually focus on limiting carbs to set levels per day. You can read more about different diets on a post where we cover several popular diets, Just click below for a link to there.

(Click Here to read Calorie counting vs other Diets)

Serving size

First we are going to cover serving size. Understanding what a serving size is and how to measure it can effect all the other parts of the label. Usually depending on the size of  the container, you will find different ways serving size is stated. For most personal size items you will find one set of numbers. But for some packages that can be divided, you will many times find it says “Per Serving”. Then it will state the number of servings in that container. This means that the nutritional information like calories, carbs, etc should all be multiplied by the number of servings to get the information for the entire container.

Calories

Here we can use a family size bag of chips as an example.

You will find it usually reads a calorie count such as 150 calories. Understand that this is the calories in a given serving and not the bag. These bags will usually have a total of 10 servings. This means that the 150 calories is just one tenth of the bag. So if you eat half the bag you should count 750 calories. There are a few ways you can measure the amount you eat.

First

First you can weigh the bag before and after you eat something and just write down the amount you eat. The bag will usually state a weight of 28g is one serving, if you would like to weight individual servings out. I would recommend doing this for at least a few weeks. This way you start to learn what a serving looks like. The link below is of a scale that we find really helpful, also it comes in different colors and is really easy to use.

Amazon Digital Food Scale

Second

Even though the first way is the most accurate. There are a few other ways to measure this. If you are the only one that eats out of that bag you can simply take the amount of days it take you to finish that bag and average the calories for those days. So if it takes 4 days to finish the entire bag you can take the total 1,500 calories for one bag and divide it by 4 to get 375 calories you ate on average. Even though this may not be completely accurate you can at least account for the total calories you are eating. This also works for things like coffee creamers. Using this method isn’t precise but you at least count the total calories you are eating.

Third

This is by far from the least accurate, but you can sort of guess the amount of the bag you ate. I recommend that you measure the amount you eat a few times. Understand what a single serving of solid and liquid foods look like. You will notice that just measuring the amount you eat, a few times. You will become much better at estimating the amount every time. 

Is Fiber a Carb?

First we will cover what a carb really is. 

A Carb is one of three macronutrients, with the other two being protein and fat. The body breaks carbs down into glucose which then basically feeds everything in your body. This includes your brain which mainly runs on glucose. Regardless of the diet you should focus on sticking to healthier carbs. The healthier carbs are items like vegetables, whole fruit, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains (the real whole grains such as oats and even brown rice), and Tubers (ex: potatoes). The things to avoid are basically those that you can almost autumnally classify as unhealthy, like sugar, candy, and white bread (refined carbohydrates).

Fiber is actually a carb that people unwittingly avoid. Fiber is a type of carb that the body can’t process causing it to pass through the body.  Fiber plays a large role in digestion and allows your body to pass food easier.

To count carbs depends exactly on your diet plan. Most carb based diets allow you to subtract the quantity of fiber from the total carbs. If an item shows 30g of carbs and 3g of fiber this would mean you would count 27g  of carbs toward to daily allowed limit. Again check your diet restrictions and make sure you count your servings correctly.

Count Fiber!

Just a side note regarding fiber, when restricting carbs it is easy to over look you fiber intake and having too little fiber can cause really annoying issues in digestion. 

Conclusion

This simple thing to understand about a food label is not to count on assumptions. Even though something may say it’s healthy and all natural you should always look at the label and just pay attention to key parts. 

If you would like to read more on reading nutritional label here is an article by the 

 American Heart Association

The post How To Read The Label On Your Food appeared first on Just Live Simply.

This simple to use calculator gives you your Maximum Heart Rate and then your Target Heart Rate Zones. 

This calculator will only need a bit of information to get you your numbers. By simply putting in your age you will get your Maximum Heart Rate. Just as it sounds, this number is your maximum heart rate. You should not go over this number and never really attempt to reach it. To get your Target Heart Rate Zones you just need your resting heart rate. There are a few ways to get you resting heart rate and we will go over a few quickly.

It is Ideal to get your resting Heart Rate just as you wake up and before you even get out of bed. There are a few things that can effect your heart rate and it is best to sometimes wait a few hours to get an accurate reading.

It is best to wait 1-2 hours after any exercise or stressful activities.

Caffeine can effect your heart rate and it is best to wait at least an hour after consuming any caffeine.

Don’t take your heart rate after sitting or standing for long periods. This can sometimes effect your heart rate.

Certain medications can effect your heart rate. If you believe you are taking some of these, you should talk to you doctor. If you do take medications that effect your heart rate, this calculator may not apply to you.

There are a few ways to get your heart rate and here are a few.

Of course the easiest is using a heart rate monitor that measures this for your. You may have one of these monitors already, or you can also check them out below.

• • Apple Watch (series 5)
  • Apple watch (series 3)
    • There several series find one that’s best for you. You can find them from $200 for older models (still new) and Up.
  • Fitbit Charge 3
    • About $130
  • Wahoo Fitness tickr Heart rate Monitor
    • About $40

Alternatives

If you don’t have heart rate monitor no worries it only takes 15 seconds. These are the two main ways to get your heart rate manually.

• • Using your index and middle finger lightly press on your wrist just below the base of the thumb to feel for your pulse.
  • I find this second method much easier. Using your your index and middle finger lightly press on the side of your neck just at the base of your jaw.

Now that you found your Pulse count the number of beats in 15 seconds and multiply by three. It is best to do this at least 3 times and average the 3 numbers to get a more accurate number.
Now that you have your number just plug them in below.

Target Heart Rate Calculator

A few things to keep in mind. 

Always consult a doctor before starting anything that may affect your health. Especially if you are on any medication that can effect your heart rate.

When starting a new exercise routine or just becoming more active it is best to take it easy. According to the American Heart Association, if you are just beginning your should aim for a lower heart rate zone. This range is about 50% to 75% of your Max heart rate,  this is slightly lower than the “Your fat-burning range” or first box in the calculator above.  

It is important to monitor your heart rate during exercise. Especially when starting new activities. Depending on your current level of fitness a workout can range from intense cycling, to simply walking. To learn more about work outs we have a great post about this. 

(Click Here to learn Exercise planning)

A few links if you would like to learn more about your heart rates.

• American Heart Association
• Harvard Health 

The post Max and Target Heart Rate Calculator appeared first on Just Live Simply.

This Calculator is one of the easiest way to get your ideal calorie intake. This calculator is also called a TDEE Calculator (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). 

This calculator takes your BRM and Multiples it by a factor level that helps account for your daily activities. 

(Understand that this calculator is an estimate and you should use it as a guide) 

Calorie Calculator

Other Calculators we have here at JustLiveSimply

• BMR Calculator
• Max and Target Heart Rate Calculator

The post Easiest Calorie Calculator Ever appeared first on Just Live Simply.

If you were still a little lost on what kind of diet plan you want to try. This page covers some of the more popular diet plans out there. Here we give a little information on what each of the diet plans look like. We advise you to take a look at our weight loss guide it gives a great explanation on how to actually go through an entire weight loss plan with out having to pay anything.

The Difference of Diets.

As you may have already come to realize there are tons of diets out there. Their methods for weight loss really span a massive spectrum all leading to a generic goal, consume less calories and workout. I will go over a few popular diets below, but if you would like to see Our Weight Loss Guide Just click the link just below this.

(Your final weight loss guide that actually lasts )

First – The Supplement Diets

Many of these Supplements state on their labels and claims, “To achieve optimal results it should be combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise”. This is sort of an easy out, this alone should work.

I am not saying all dieting supplements are bad, some may actually achieve great results. Just before buying and taking any supplements make sure you really know what you are buying. Just because it may say all natural and safe, there is vary little oversight that actually governs the diet supplement industry. Many “Health Supplements” can be very dangerous and have very little actual science backing them. I really can’t put this better than the FDA. Below is a Link of their warning on Weight Loss Products ( please read before going this route).

FDA’s Warning of Weight Loss Drugs

Also Know That even “All Natural” ingredients can mean different things depending on who answers it. So keep this in mind when looking for these products.

Second – The Prepackaged Meals

This can be a great option for some people, but this can have several draw back aside from just being expensive.

Just as the title says. These diet plans revolve around you purchasing just about every food item form them. They will almost always include in their descriptions “along with regular exercise to achieve results”. 

Again these plans can be great because they simplify the decision of “What Should I Eat” (we explain how to figure this out under Step 3). Along with regular exercise and sticking strictly to their diet guide lines you can achieve great results, but there are a few drawbacks.

Because these plans never truly teach you how to build a meal. These plans rely on you purchasing their products to achieve and keep your Weight Loss Goal. So Here you become a paying customer for life…

Sometimes these meals are planned to account for all your calorie allowances which can make even a snack off limits. Pretty harsh sometimes. 

Because these Meals are pre made and shipped to you these plans can sometimes become expensive and discourage some people from starting or quitting over time. This can then lead to a Yo-Yo effect in dieting which can be unhealthy and even more discouraging. 

Third – The Subscription Diets

Again this is also a great option for some. These many times offer some great features like large communities and some support/coaches. Aside from the cost, which can add up very quickly, you should understand the assistance you will receive with your membership. No one except a Certified Dietician that has examined you can legally prescribe you an exact meal plan. Knowing this most subscription plans offer “coaches or assistance”. If you choose these plans you should do it for the additional features they offer. You should still think about making an appointment with a Certified Dietician if you were seeking very specific answers to your personal needs. 

When starting one of these diets understand that much of the information that is given will be estimates to just allow you to make a more informed decision. You should still make sure you always do your research and stay safe. Some of these diet plans can vaguely just say eat 1,200 calories and work out. You can click below to read a bit about finding your calorie needs.

Find Out How Many Calories you Should Eat

Aside from these plans sometimes being expensive they really can help if you enjoy the additional features they have to offer. (FYII just make sure you check for contract Lengths)

Fourth – The Paid Diet Plans 

This one is a bit difficult to explain because it really can include anything. Some sites will offer plans for a set price that will give you access to information they have deemed successful and valuable. There are many good plans you can purchase out there and I don’t doubt that you can achieve great results from some.

Just as with anything you purchase, understand the limitations of what you’re paying for. These will most likely not include one on one assistance, and even if they do only a certified dietitian can prescribe you a personalized diet plan. Even purchasing a plan online that states it has all the information, you should still do your own research.

the only issue I have with these plans which is sort of impossible for them to get around is that they can’t really give you the information that they are selling without you first paying. So, this can leave you gambling a bit.

Again Everything we provide here on our site is free. If you decide to pay for a plan it is best to look up multiple sources of reviews and return policies for the plan.

Fifth – The Carb Diet!!

This is very popular diet for a few reasons, but I will start by saying that I used it. And, with regular exercise I did achieve results, but I still wouldn’t recommend it. Just as its called this diet revolves around Carbs. There are several versions of this diet. But, most will restrict your carb intake to very low numbers. These can be sometimes be down to 50 grams of carbs per day. 

From experience I can say this diet did help but there are a few reasons behind it.

These diets will usually treat all Carbs aside from Fiber the same. An issue is that they usually classify Carbs from stuff like a potato and those of a donut in the same category. 

These three foods would be considered equal making you avoid an apple almost as much as a donut.

• • 1 medium potato has 37g of carbs – 4.7 g of fiber
  • 1 glazed donut can have 42g of Carbs – 2g of Fiber
  • 1 large apple 31g of Carbs – 5g of fiber 

This is Good and Bad.

The Good-

 And when you avoid carb heavy foods the first things to go will be anything that contains sugar. Reducing carbs will usually also lower you appetite, which can be great when you’re trying to cut calories. When combined the outcome can be great, lowered appetite with low calorie foods. Even though this is a carb diet you should understand with a lowered appetite and a diet consisting mainly of low calorie items,  you should make sure you don’t begin to drop your calorie intake to unsafe levels. You still should count your calories.

When you Count Calories you may actually find that you maybe starving your body, which is a terrible thing to do especially during exercising. 

When you Cut Carbs you will also most likely be cutting tons of Fiber out of your diet you normally ate. This can lead to Constipation, and just an overall a bad experience.

Another good is that by looking at Carbs your will most likely be cutting out just about anything unhealthy. That single donut  from the example above would basically take your entire daily allowance. Another negative is that just that one apple does the same. ( Honestly an Apple shouldn’t be avoided the same as a donut )

Even though the Goods ended with mostly Negatives there are more negative negatives.

I don’t want to trash a plan that can be beneficial to someone, but this diet plan has a massive Flaw. It can make this diet almost a waste of time, effort, exposure to health risks, and REALLY discourage people from seeking a healthier way of living.

This Plan is extremely restrictive. Even if you haven’t tried it, you probably thought of it. “I Cant cut bread, pasta, and every other Carb”. Even if you’re a person that has an iron will, just cheating one time can make a fail. Which a true long term health plan should allow you to enjoy even occasional indulgences. I am not saying you should go through a bakers dozen of donuts, but you should to be happy during a diet. if you plan to only diet for a limited time period, you should know that the Yo-Yo effect of weight gain and weight loss can actually be far worse on your healthy than just staying heavy. So you should plan healthy habits instead.

I believe this plan sets you up for failure, even if it works in the short term it is very difficult for it to work long term.

 Many Health professionals agree that this diet can have many more negative health effects than benefits. You can read this article from Virginia Tech. 

Unless you’re under the super vision of a Certified Dietitian, Doctor, and had multiple recommendations for this diet you should avoid the extremely restrictive ones.

Sixth- The Ultra Low Calorie Diets

There really isn’t much to explain because the title really says it all. These diets rely on you having a very low calorie intake sometimes into dangerous levels. Aside from being very cautious about these diets, here are a few things to keep in mind.

An Ultra Low Calorie Diet is a version of calorie counting diet, they just require you to consume very few calories. “Ultra Low” really can change a bit depending on who you ask, but here are a few guide lines. Even though some health professionals agree 1,200 calories per day is still too low, it is generally advised to never cut your calorie intake below 1,200 calories of healthy food. (Example 1,200 calories of donuts will not sustain you, its like 3 donuts…)

On rare occasions a Certified Dietitian may prescribe an Ultra Low Calorie Diet. But, know that the patient is usually losing a lot of weight and is being closely monitored during this process from both Certified Dietitians and Medical Doctors.

Aside from being very unhealthy in almost all circumstances, these diets can expose you to a much higher risks of injury during exercise and even everyday activities.

This is probably the one that you should be most cautious about the most.

We give more information on this in the post Find Out How Many Calories Should I Eat

Seventh – Personal Trainers and Registered Dietitians

This one is pretty straight forward. You really only need to keep a few things in mind if you decide to go this route. 

Personal Trainers are not Dietitians. A Personal Trainer may also be a Dietitian, but only Registered Dietitian can legally prescribe you personalized meal plans and nutritional needs. You should understand your needs and go to the correct person. 

You should shop for a personal trainer or dietitian as you would a babysitter. Do your research and find one that fits your needs and you feel comfortable working with.

Personal Trainers and Dietitians can become expensive and you should make sure you make the most out of the time you are going to spend with them. I recommend taking in a pen and paper with questions you already have written down. I have seen a few personal trainers and it is very easy to forget to ask questions you meant to ask. Just written on your phone really isn’t enough, take a pen and paper. 

One thing I made certain to get from my trainer was a good workout plan. Personal Trainers usually schedule to meet at regular intervals, but if your budget prevents you from regular sessions. Try to get a plan on what you should be doing when not with your Trainer.

Make sure you ask all the questions you need, you are usually paying by the hour or visit. 

There really isn’t much negatives from working with these professionals.

Just make sure you shop around because not everyone is the same, and prices can vary quite drastically from one another.

The only negative is to make sure you CHECK FOR CONTRACTS. This may be a rare occasion but this something to keep in mind. I once went for a Groupon cross fit session and the instructor portrayed himself as a personal trainer, nutritionists and a very pushy sales person. I found the session great. The workout was intense and decently thought out. At the end the instructor was pushing monthly plans for $300+ with contracts and cancelation penalties. The Instructor’s selling point was low weekly payments. Again, this may be great for some but make sure you know what you sign up for and how much your are actually paying. 

THIS IS NOT EVERYONE, some Trainers are awesome and completely worth every penny. But, just do your research.

Our Calorie Counting Method

This Method is actually very straightforward. We just believe that you should go through this plan very well educated to help you achieve the greatest results. Here we explain about the method, But if you would like to lean how to go through this method Just Click Below

(Click Here For Your Final Weight Loss Guide That Actually Lasts)

In the Our Version of The Calorie Counting Method we do just as the title says, but in a relaxed manner. We created this plan more as a guide and to be extremely customizable. Something that you can take and conform to you exact needs. We have tried to give you every possible tool for free. 

The Plan is designed to account for your current condition and weight. Every part of the Guide explains what you should be looking at and how to adjust them as you progress.

Here you don’t have to rely on Expensive Foods, Weight Loss Drugs, Plans, or Subscriptions. 

Here is a quick over view of the different parts of the guide.

Quick tip 1-

Everything we provide is Free but we advise you to talk to your doctor before making any changes to your life style regardless of your current condition.

Quick Tip 2

We try to give you any information we can, whether it be how to you can get educated estimations from widely used guides, or where you can find the information. 

• #1 -First step is just an explanation different diet methods ( a short version of this page)
• #2 – Here we go over the information that you will need.
• #3 – How to easily get this information and how to adjust it as your exact needs changes.
• #4 – How to actually put this information to use.
• #5 – And how to adapt this information.  

If reading this makes it seem simple it is because it really is simple. This method plainly just shows you all information that seems to be so hard to combine and just shows you how to use it.

Remember its all free Just give it a look if you already haven’t.

(Click Here For Your Final Weight Loss Guide That Actually Lasts)

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