BMR & AMR

I ran into this information a while back ago and I’ve been calculating ever since….my mom, dad, sister, Chris, and me. I think it is important to have an idea of the amount of calories your body needs, that way if you are trying to lose weight you can be careful not to eat too little or too much.

here is the equation just in case you want to do some calculating:

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )

This equation is used to give you a ball park figure of what your basal metabolic rate is (BMR). Your BMR is basically the number of calories (amount of energy) your body burns up just by you doing nothing. These calories are burned up by your basic body functions.

With this number you can calculate your AMR, which is your active metabolic rate. This is your BMR plus the amount of energy you need according to your daily level of physical activity. To figure out your AMR you’ll need to multiply your BMR number from above times one of the following numbers, according to which one fits you best:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): Multiply BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/work 1-3 days per week): Multiply BMR x 1.375
If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/work 3-5 days per week): Multiply BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week): Multiply BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/work 6-7 days a week): Multiply BMR x 1.9

This will give you a good overall idea of the number of calories your should stick to on a daily basis.

My BMR is 1,359 and my AMR is between 1,869 and 2,107…depending on my activity level.

The Chiropractic Pen

I went back to the chiropractor yesterday afternoon to finally get adjusted.  The diagnosis according to my x-rays is that my spine (right at the neck area) is supposed to be in this curved position.  The Dr. showed me an example of an x-ray of how it should look in comparison to my x-ray, let me tell you, there is no kind of curve on mine at all! it is just a straight up line….dang, no wonder my neck and head hurt 24/7!

 Dr. Zemba told me that he was not the bone cracking type of chiropractor but that instead he would be using this crazy looking machine that was in one of the rooms.  I layed down sideways with my head on this machine thing, he took a while to position my head on it and then “CLICK”, he clicked the side of my neck with this pen looking thing. 

My question to him was ” what exactly is this thing supposed to do for me?” . He explained it but I’m still not sure how it works.  He did the pen thing about 4 or 5 times and checked my alignment each time after he did it. He kept asking me if I felt a difference, I just wasn’t sure if I did or not…..Oh and can I just tell you that I ended up having to pay for my x-rays, insurance companies can be so sneaky! But oh well, no big.

The pen thing did work! I feel so much better today….Thank you JESUS! I will be going back to see Dr. Zemba again for sure.  Tension headache my behind! I knew there was something out there that would be able to help me…..I just didn’t know it would be a high tech pen looking thing!

SLOW & HEAVY

That’s exactly how I felt yesterday during my run, I hate that feeling! I was trying so hard to speed up a little bit more but my body was just not cooperating. My legs felt so heavy and tired but I was bound and determined to get at least one mile in. Towards the end of the first mile the song “Rompe” by Daddy Yankee came on, this pumped me up to give it another round for a BIG TOTAL OF 2 miles! Woo hoo!

Random Work Moment

In my current job I do a lot of International things that I never imagined I would ever be doing. Today was one of those moments. I was asked to write a letter in spanish for the minister of health in Ecuador. The funny thing is that they had no idea who the minister was so, part of my task included figuring out this little mistery!

Off I went and with the help of my dear friend Google, I was able to call and speak to a very nice lady in Ecuador who so kindly told me who the Ecuadorian health minister is…..Caroline Chang, name don’t sound very Ecuadorian to me but whatever.

Minister of Health Caroline Chang will be receiving a letter all the way in Ecuador written by lil’ ol’ me. Pretty random but cool.

SHORTNESS

This picture cracks me up! Yes, I’m standing on my tippy toes trying to look tall next to Chris.
This is at a mountain top in Chatsworth, GA.

BIBLE BASEBALL

At our church, Nuevo Amanecer, we have these bible baseball tournaments. Basically it takes two teams, each team has to study and memorize a whole book of the bible (usually one of the shorter ones from the NT). On bible baseball day both teams battle it out with questions about the book and also bonus challenges….good incentive to get us to memorize God’s word.

Anyways, we have ever only done it with the adults, only a couple of the youth had participated in the past. This time we set up a youth bible baseball and focused on just Ephessians chapter 6. The teams were girls against boys….with the girls being big time out numbered 2 to 7 by the boys! I decided to go in and help the girls out b/c it didn’t seem so fair that the boys would be memorizing 3 verses a piece, while the girls would be memorizing 12.

As of a week ago we were all in bad shape! No one had memorized their verses, a couple of the boys were saying that it was too hard, some were saying they didn’t like to read….excuses, excuses, excuses!

Last night was Bible baseball night and those kids made me so proud!….especially the boys! It was rough for the boys captain there for a while. I heard he went over to a couple of the other kid’s houses and sat with them until they memorized all their verses….is that awesome or what!

The game was close the entire time. We had two challenges to face, the first one (which I ended up getting volunteered for) was to see who could chug down an entire bottle of water. I gotta tell you I failed miserably! I was only half way done by the time Juan had his bottle upside down.

The final challenge is the one that decided the winner. Since I had already not so graciously only drank my half a bottle of H2O I was safe from being volunteered again. This time it was Ruby vs Edwin. The challenge was to pull out (with your mouth, no hands) six popcorn kernels that were hidden in a plate full of flour. I was a little nervous about this one b/c usually boys tend to be faster at doing that sort of crazy stuff……BUT LET ME TELL YOU, Ruby killed it!!!! That girl had her face all up in that plate pulling out even two at a time!

So, the girls took home the Bible baseball victory! Now the boys have to cook us breakfast, sing us a song and present us with a winning flower in front of the entire church! Fun times with the jovenes of Nuevo Amanecer.

Off to the Chiropractor

Last week I was very excited b/c I found out that I actually have Chiropractic coverage through my insurance! I have never in my life been to the Chiropractor but I’m desperate to try anything that will get rid of these never ending tension headaches.

I went today for the first time and I must admit I was a little scared of the whole thing, the doctor however was very nice. He took some x-rays and examined my spine and by Friday, when I go back, he’ll have a better idea of how to treat me. I am so looking forward to Friday b/c he said I should feel a significant amount of relief just after one treatment…..Thank you Jesus!

So my hypothesis on the whole tension headache thing is that they are a result of a car wreck I was in a couple of years ago. My car hydroplaned, flipped off the highway, and landed upside down in a ditch….yea, definitely not a good memory. I guess I’ll have to wait till Friday to know how messed up I really am!

Louisville Marathon…..MINI that is!

I have decided to set a goal on my self….one that I have been fighting for about a week out of just plain laziness!

My goal is to train for the Louisville Mini Marathon. I have ran two minis before but it has been a couple of years since, I really have no life long goal to run a full one…..that’s is just way too much running and too much pain!

I have until Oct 19th to train and get my self up to running the 13.2 miles. I got my start yesterday with an outside 3 mile run. So far I’m not alone in my goal! Chris is down and so is my friend Lori. Hopefully our little support system will keep us going on those long runs.

So it’s official….I’m doing it! and you guys have to keep me accountable.

Old vs New

Check out the extra support around the arch, this is what you need to look for if you have low arches and over pronate.

NEW KICKS @ FLEET FEET

This weekend I finally made it out to Fleet Feet, which is a running store in Louisville that specializes in fitting you in the correct type of running shoe. As part of the test to fit me for the right type, I was first fitted with a neutral pair of shoes. I then had to get on the treadmill you see here and run or walk at a comfortable pace. There is a camera set up that records the movement of your feet and is used to observe the way in which your feet impact the surface.

I had been wanting to do this for a while since I felt like my current running shoes were not providing enough support for my feet. Even though my shoes were still in good shape, they were hurting my feet and causing me to have shin splints. I got to try on three different pairs of shoes with more support in the arch, and even get back on the treadmill with them on to see which I thought was more comfortable.

If you are looking to get your money’s worth on a good pair of shoes, I highly recommend that you go to a store like Fleet Feet….where the sales person actually knows what they are talking about and is willing to help you find the best fit for you. I’m hoping to be able to run many comfortable miles in my new running shoes, and maybe even considering to run a mini marathon….still giving this one some thought!