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My understanding is that one's basal metabolic rate is for when you are inactive. Of course, when you are asleep, you are not moving. But I would guess there are differences in how the body metabolizes when you are awake but deliberately lying prone, and when you are asleep.

Near as I can figure, my BMR is roughly 1700, not including exercise or daily activity. Which means, that if I sleep for 8 hours, I should burn about 560 calories, give or take.

Is it reasonable to assume the same BMR for sleeping hours, or should one adjust up or down?

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BMR is basically an average over the day, and there isn't a whole lot of difference between waking and laying on a couch than sleeping. You're basically still just sitting there moving air in and out. Any differences between the two are minimal.

The average sleep figure for calories burned is around 80 per hour, which may vary from individual to individual.

It also isn't really necessary to track intake/expenditure by hour or specific time frame, since it's a long term process. Make sure that you track what you eat for a day until you have a handle on your caloric intake, and let the scale over time set your trends. If you aren't losing weight, you either need to exercise a bit more or eat a bit less. Over time, it really is that simple.

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    It should be stated that adequate sleep is critical for the body to build muscle, burn fat, lower cortisol and stress, and repair any damage done throughout the day. If you skimp on sleep regularly, you will get fatter, weaker, more easily aggravated, and burn more muscle. Good sleep habits are an important part of health and sport performance. Sep 3, 2014 at 18:04

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