The disturbing results of my metabolism test.

ChoiceNotChance

I mentioned a week or two ago that I was having my metabolism tested. The machine had just come back from being calibrated and they were looking for a guinea pig. I prepped for the test. No exercise, no food, no caffeine for 4 hours. No problem. The test really just consists of sitting and blowing into a tube with your nose pinched, much like snorkeling. Again, no problem. So at the end of the test the registered dietitian inputs my info in to the machine for it to calculate. Imagine my shock when the result comes out at 17% below predicted for my ht, wt, age. According to the test my Resting Energy Expenditure is 1094 calories per day. Even factoring in daily activities, it doesn't leave much room for a deficit. It certainly explains why I've gained weight instead of losing.

Curiously, when I did the test this past spring, it showed my REE as 1642. For obvious reasons, I like this one better than the current one. I've done the test several times over the past few years and this is the first time I've gotten a below predicted reading.

baconslave

Ugh! Did they even have any suggestions on how to remedy that? Anything you can do?

ChoiceNotChance

No suggestions. They're going to have someone else do a test and compare their results with their previous test. I'm hoping the calibration is whacked. (Wishful thinking ).

Yogi_warrior

Last thing you need to worry about is deficit or weight right now. Fix the metabolism, eat more and do resistance training. You will gain weight but you will also slowly fix the damage by increasing the metabolism. If you have been eating at a deficit for long time, its not surprising that RMR went down. Did you get your body composition tested? May be there was a muscle loss if you have been following a fasting protocol longer than 24 hrs. I wish every one would stop thinking about calories deficits and so on, instead of just listening to the body.

KnitOrMiss

Going_The_Distance wrote: »

Last thing you need to worry about is deficit or weight right now. Fix the metabolism, eat more and do resistance training. You will gain weight but you will also slowly fix the damage by increasing the metabolism. If you have been eating at a deficit for long time, its not surprising that RMR went down. Did you get your body composition tested? May be there was a muscle loss if you have been following a fasting protocol longer than 24 hrs. I wish every one would stop thinking about calories deficits and so on, instead of just listening to the body.

THIS ^^

Restricting too much for too long just hurts our bodies. I'm hoping it was a calibration thing, too. Plus, you might see about fasting LONGER before going in to be in that strongest ketone zone before testing. I'd be curious to know if it made a difference.

But yeah, folks working out and refusing to eat back workout calories when their normal calorie goal already includes a deficit can't understand the damage they are doing - and then wonder why they aren't losing - and restrict further, worsening the issue.

Right now, I was off keto for the holidays, and I'm back on board a week or so now, and I lost 2 pounds a couple days in, gained it back 2 days later, and have been steadily climbing again. I'm struggling with my water, so I know some is water retention as my sodium/water levels back out keto-style, but it's still frustrating. I just keep reminding myself that being off plan for the holidays means I'm having to reboot the keto-abilism again. I know that for sure because I had a minor but intense workout the other day that had my muscles screaming like they were dying with no DOMS the following day...

macchiatto

I can imagine that was discouraging. Interested in what PP's know about fixing one's metabolism. I too am wondering if it was a calibration thing if it took such a nose-dive.