Basal body function refers to your body's most basic requirements. Your nervous system, respiratory and circulatory system are all examples of basal functions. These functions keep you alive, allow brain functions and help fight diseases. To maintain these functions, your body needs energy, or calories from food.
Basal Metabolic Rate
To maintain basal function, you need to know your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. Your BMR is a quantification, based on age, height and gender, of the number of calories your body requires for its basic function. You can determine your BMR with a relatively simple calculation. For women, BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years ). For men, BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x height in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in years).
Weight Loss
Weight loss is achieved when you reduce your body's caloric needs. If your BMR is 2,000 and you only eat 1,500 calories, you body will look for that energy deficit elsewhere. Energy is stored in fat cells, and when your body needs extra energy it burns fat. You can eat fewer calories than your body requires to lose weight.
Considerations
The National Institutes of Health does not recommend weight loss of more than 2 pounds per week. Broken down into daily caloric requirements, this equates to reducing your daily caloric intake by no more than 1,000 calories per day.
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