http://www.room42.com/nutrition/basal.shtml

I went here and computed what my basal is and got this onfo from this site:

The Basal Metabolism Results Were Calculated.

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Based on Your Individual Criteria:
Input Weight is: 180 in U.S. Pounds
Input Height is: 66 in U.S. Inches
Input Age is : 29
Input Gender is: female
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The Metabolism Results Are:1622.3 calories per day is your Basal Caloric Rate.
This is: no more then 54.078 grams of fat (30%) for your Basal Caloric Rate
60.838 grams of protein (15%) for your Basal Caloric Rate
223.07 grams of carbohydrate (55%) for your Basal Caloric Rate


2109.0 calories per day recommended for your Active Caloric Rate.
This is: no more then 70.302 grams of fat (30%) for your Active Caloric Rate
79.089 grams of protein (15%) for your Active Caloric Rate
289.99 grams of carbohydrate (55%) for your Active Caloric Rate


No less then 1200 calories per day recommended for safe consistent Weight Loss. This is:
no more then 40 grams of fat (30%) for your Weight Loss Caloric Rate
45 grams of protein (15%) for your Weight Loss Caloric Rate
165 grams of carbohydrate (55%) for your Weight Loss Caloric Rate
At this safe consistent Weight Loss Caloric Rate,
you will lose 1 pound every 8.2868 Days


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Based on personal experience:
To lose weight, you must eat less calories then your Basal Caloric Rate.
To gain weight, you must eat more calories then your Active Caloric Rate.
To stay the same weight, eat no less then your Basal Caloric Rate and no more then your Active Caloric Rate.

The best way to increase your metabolic rate is to decrease the amount of FAT you're carrying and replace it with muscle, which means a combination of heart-pumping aerobic activity and muscle-building weight workouts.

Interesting?