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Thanks--this is helpful information to know. When women try to "cut calories" to lose weight, it's difficult to do eat within your means without knowing how many calories your body needs (the BMR, as you said) and balancing that estimation with how many calories to consume and burn.

The Diet Channel explained it well:
"your biggest daily calorie cost is something called resting metabolic rate (RMR), or the calories you need just to exist. Breathing, heart beat, cell metabolism, kidney function, and even thinking and dreaming uses calories. Muscle cells use calories even when at rest."

"Eating and digesting food, standing, sitting, talking, and surfing the Internet all burn calories beyond the basic RMR requirement."

Actually, now I'm more confused...ha! I forgot what the difference between RMR and BMR is. Anyone know?!

One of the things that Oprah's fitness guru Bob Greene always emphasizes is to start moving before you start worrying about what you eat. That if we want to lose weight, adding exercise to our routine is the most powerful punch we have in our tool bag.

It makes a lot of sense to me. Whether it's just taking the stairs at work or walking around the neighborhood, it starts ramping up your metabolism so that when you change your diet, you've already made progress. Then, if you cut calories a bit, eat leaner foods and continue with your exercise, you never really feel deprived. And you have momentum -- you are seeing the pounds go down -- which is what motivates us to keep going.

Changing the diet first makes us focus on food too much, he says. We immediately start focusing on what we "can't" eat. I know this is the case with me. I might not have any desire for something at all, but if you tell me I can't have it, it suddenly becomes LOTS more appealing.

Those calculators are cool because you can see not only where you're at now, but where you would be if you increased your effort. Thanks for the tip!

RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) and BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) are often used interchangeably, but they're not exactly the same.

RMR - when you do absolutely nothing

BMR - when you do normal things like breathing

* BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate, and is synonymous with Basal Energy Expenditure or BEE. BMR measurements are typically taken in a darkened room upon waking after 8 hours of sleep; 12 hours of fasting to ensure that the digestive system is inactive; and with the subject resting in a reclining position.

* RMR stands for Resting Metabolic Rate, and is synonymous with Resting Energy Expenditure or REE. RMR measurements are typically taken under less restricted conditions than BMR, and do not require that the subject spend the night sleeping in the test facility prior to testing.

Sources:
Calculating BMR and RMR

Metabolic Rate, Wikipedia

"Move before you eat" is a great concept. So is, "watch what you eat AFTER you move." I'm guilty of a little "pigging out" after arduous exercise in my attempt to replace the calories expended. Oh, my!