Question

Tonya Tonya is 5' 3" tall, weighs 151 pounds, and is 38 years old. Her waist circumference is 37". Her life is busy but sedentary. She simply does not have the time or energy to stay with an exercise program after working all day as a receptionists and caring for her two socially active children. She would like to lose about 20 pounds but knows dieting doesn't work for her-all the diets she has tried in the past have left her hungry and feeling deprived. Losing weight has taken on greater importance since her doctor told her that both her blood pressure and glucose levels are at "borderline" high levels. What is her BMI? Assess her weight based on BMI. Estimate her total calorie requirements using the rule-of-thumb method of calculating BMR and adding calories for a sedentary lifestyle. How does it compare to the level of calories recommended in Table 7.3 of your text for a woman her age with a sedentary lifestyle? Which calorie level do you think is most accurate? Why? How many calories would she need to eat to lose 1 pound of weight per week if her activity level stays the same? Two pounds per week? Is a 2-pound weight loss per week a reasonable goal? To help her avoid feeling hungry while eating fewer calories, what foods would you recommend she consume more of? She knows she should drink fewer soft drinks. What advice would you give her to help her do that?

Answer 1

Because she is overweight, estimating her BMR must be calculated by multiplying the average weight within her healthy weight range. Tonya weighs 151 pounds and would like to get down to a healthy weight of 131 pounds. The average of this is 141 pounds. Her estimated BMR is then 141 lbs × 10, which is 1410 calories.