Am I over-analyzing this? MedGem BMR question

heybales

And in fact use it down the road to compare to see if eating at maintenance or higher has allowed it to recover. Because it can.

Oh, one other question then… I can actually "heal" my metabolism somewhat by eating at TDEE consistently and through consistent exercise/weight training? Do you happen to know how long that recovery takes?

Here is one study where the metabolic inefficiency started to come back. (calling the suppressed system metabolically efficient, meaning burning less than prior, not based on anything except diet effect).
For the small eating calorie group, took 3 months eating at tested TDEE to increase by about 1/2 what had been suppressed.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

Here's a case study of someone that still had weight to lose, so probably made repair easier, meaning the good logging and reporting only occurred on the fixing side, so not really study, except it's obvious that it was lower than it needed to be, because it came up.

A similar case study was published by Jampolis (2004).
A 51 year old patient complained of a 15 lb weight gain over the last year despite beginning a strenuous triathlon and marathon training program (2 hours per day, 5-6 days per week).
A 3 day diet analysis estimated a daily intake of only 1000-1200 Calories.
An indirect calorimetry revealed a resting metabolic rate of 950 Calories (28% below predicted for age, height, weight, and gender).
After medications and medical conditions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes where ruled out, the final diagnosis was over-training and undereating. The following treatment was recommended:

Increase daily dietary intake by approximately 100 Calories per week to a goal of 1500 calories
32% protein; 35% carbohydrates; 33% fat
Consume 5-6 small meals per day
Small amounts of protein with each meal or snack
Choose high fiber starches
Select mono- and poly- unsaturated fats
Restrict consumption of starch with evening meals unless focused around training
Take daily multi-vitamin and mineral supplement
Perform whole body isometric resistance training 2 times per week

After 6 weeks the patient's resting metabolism increased 35% to 1282 Calories per day (only 2% below predicted).
The patient also decreases percent fat from 37% to 34%, a loss of 5 lbs of body fat.

Jampolis MB (2004) Weight Gain - Marathon Runner / Triathlete. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(5) S148.

heybales

Wow, two awesome and informative posts. Thank you for taking the time to write me and help me!

Anyway, after looking at the test sheet again, I suppose it is RMR that was measured, not BMR. I thought they were one and the same, with just interchangeable terminology! Oops. But regardless, my RMR is then 1420. I took this test at a weight loss clinic I found in a nearby city, so no, not in a mall or gym or anything of the sort. I sat with my nose plugged and breathed into a little machine with a mouthpiece for probably 10 minutes or so. It went by fairly quickly.

Also, with regards to my body fat… online calculations had me at 20.4 approximately, but I was tested for body fat % at the clinic, too, and I am 16% (which was lower than I thought I would be). So is this what is also making the RMR come back somewhat low?

I do want to build up lean muscle mass, because I know I have lost quite a bit of health through my illness and poor choices. I don't want to starve myself ever again, so I have been eating at about 1800-1900 calories a day as of late. On intense exercise days I am eating around 2200-2400. It's just what feels "right", and that is what I was taught to do after recovering from the eating disorder. To listen to internal cues for hunger, and internal cues for fullness. But it does strike me as exceptionally high.

However, I will just keep plugging away, as I am lifting heavy and hoping any excess might go to building lean mass instead of fat. Also, thank you for the heads up on the spreadsheet in your profile. Checking that out now.

Thank you again!!

Ok, so that was standard metabolic cart RMR test. Tad short at 10 min though, usually hear of 15-20 min, sitting in calm room, laid back - really resting.
So valid enough.

You might ask though if they do go to malls and gyms though, not because you want to go there to use it. Because if they do, they know full well the tests are invalid on surprise like that for folks paying for it. You listed the rules for the state the body must be in, if not in that state, and invalid results for folks using it at places like that - they usually don't waste the time and money properly calibrating the equipment frequently.
If not calibrated, then even you showing up with body in proper state isn't useful.
So here's hopefully to them saying no they don't do it. You can decide if brave enough to ask how often it's calibrated.

How did they test BF%?
7-site Skinfold method in the hands of experienced person can be upwards of 5% accurate with body in correct state - and yours was that morning.
Scale or handhelds can be upwards of 5% too, for good models, otherwise 10%.

Low bodyfat won't result in lower RMR figure, low LBM will, compared to others your age, weight, height. That very athletic BF% is not going to be average, so that wouldn't be the reason.

Oh, Lean Body Mass (LBM) is everything not Fat Mass (FM), it includes muscle, bone, organs, water, ect.
There is no such thing as lean muscle mass for trying to get it. Some muscle has more fat in it than others depending on location, and you have no control over that mostly. Endurance cardio encourages it though, but other than that, your muscle isn't a cut of beef. It's going to be what it's going to be.

Good job eating according to the workouts. Hope they gave all the cues for reading the body well for hunger.
Many that say read the body are totally unaware of how the body can fool you, even the simple fact of eating too little can make hunger go away.
For instance, I can get physically and mentally involved in a project, and not eat 4 hrs beyond when I know I should.
Or get done with massive cardio session, and if I wait too long to eat, don't feel hungry for a long while. Or really hot and get the water and electrolytes in first and not feel hungry.
But my brain knows better, especially if I want to recover as best as possible, and have another great workout tomorrow.

The lifting is the best thing to do either eating at maintenance, or a tad over if trying to get metabolism back up again.
If some calories are in surplus for awhile, the body will know exactly what to do with them when you have a good lifting program.