The bmr is what your body needs in calories everyday. Then you add in your exercise etc.
To loose weight , you take your bmr, + CALORIES EXPENDED-500 a day to loose .
Any more and you could be put in starvation mode.
There are activity charts out there for calories burned and even reading.
Anne http://www.picturetrail.com/acatalina
Thanks for the help. I knew it was probably a silly question but I wasn't sure what to do with the number. That makes sense. Do you only add the calories you burn during work outs or what you do all day?
Sarah