MC,
Thanks for the reply.

Let me provide a little more background. I'm going to start working with this friend starting in the next week. They have expressed their desire to lose weight and get in to better shape, and I've explained some of the basic considerations behind that. They know they are in for a long journey, they understand that they are going to have to make some fundamental life style changes, and I have expressed that I am committed to helping them understand and accomplish this with what knowledge and experience I have.

At a very fundamental level, they do not know how to eat. A general guide line of "eat when you are hungry" is pointless with this individual, as all indications have them so out of whack with their body that they have no idea when that may be.

I've read the PN material, and some of it is very interesting, but I don't feel that taking someone who is currently only eating one to two meals a day at a great caloric surplus to a multi meal plan with no caloric guidelines is neccesarily the best idea.

The request for a BMR calculation for the morbidly obese is so that I can put my head around their basic calorie calculations. I fully understand that calories are not the be all end all of this situation, but initially I will have to provide them with a very thorough set of eating guidelines, probably including examples of what a normal days eating should look like.

I know how to eat to make myself lose weight, but I weigh over a hundred lbs less than this friend, and my physical activity level is miles beyond theirs....so the rough guidelines by which I prepare my own food would seem to be inadequite for my friend.

My current plan is roughly as follows.

The first step is to get them away from a diet consisting largely of sugar, alcohol and processed meat to one that includes more fruit, vegetables and unprocessed animal products.

At the same time I want to get them moving in a concerted manner, my current thinking has activity progressing as follows: 1) walking on a level path,focusing on breath and movement with coordination 2) walking on an uneven path (light - moderate trail climbing) 3) rudimentary body weight exercises 4) weight lifting

I'm going to try to structure their training around 6 to 8 week blocks in which we will build on the diet and exercise principles I'll be teaching them.

My long term plan is to leave them with a skill set to make their own dietary decisions, and push themselves in regards to exercise, but it's going to have to happen in many many small steps over a long period of time...so I feel that the more information I have in my arsenal, the better.