I Had My BMR Tested - It's 1032 Calories

CATindeeHAT

Interesting. I can't say I'm completely shocked by it. I've used several online calculators for BMR and TDEE and found that they seemed to overestimate mine since I'd been maintaining for over a year with regular moderate to intense exercise on only slightly more than the number of calories the calculators said was my TDEE at sedentary.

Agreed. In retrospect I have no idea why I was so shocked. It's probably from being on these forums so much (and MFP in general) and you hear so many people saying, "you're not eating enough" so perhaps I gained a false sense of what my calorie needs ACTUALLY were.

psuLemon

BUMP for the inevitable debate!

Yup. I'm expecting this.

Here are my predictions:

1. The tests where in accurate (even though they were take multiple times in a university hospital).
2. I am a freak of nature (yes I have narcolepsy, but I was told, MORE THAN ONCE, that my BMR is what was expected).
3. "Me, my mom, dad, brother, sister's boyfriend, and the neighbor's dog all lost weight by eating more." - The usual battery of anecdotal evidence.

On # 2 is just as anecdotal as you mention in # 3. You would have to understand the type of patients that are going to their facilities. Do most of them have some kind of health issue; auto immune disease, etc... I will note, this can be a valuable test, especially for those who are having issue losing weight, but it is still only the first step. TDEE is truly more important as this is where you create a deficit from. Below is an ok study from the NIH which suggest EE and BMR are lower in that of a narcolepsy patient. Unfortunately, it was a small size and needs to look into more. But it's great to know you have your starting point. Good luck.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2706907/

awilmeri

Definitely interesting but I guess I wonder what that really tells us? (I'm not being snarky). What I mean is how many calories does your body need to actually do something. Obviously this give you a number you shouldn't go under but you shouldn't go under a number even higher than this unless you do just lay in bed all day. Am I correct here? I'm assuming you go to the grocery store, take a shower, get dressed etc etc etc. all of those take a few calories and it adds up. We still can't say 100% what your tdee is. The only real way to guess that would be to track your food very deliberately for a time span and see what your body does. And you would still have variables like sodium intake, exercise etc.

CATindeeHAT

I find that any coal tar shampoo does a very good job of getting the glue out of your hair after a sleep study.

THANK YOU! Where do I get it?

Neutrogena T Gel or any generic equivalent. About $5 a bottle for the generic stuff, but I buy it all the time because it's a dandruff shampoo and I have dandruff. Walmrt CVS Walgreen grocery store - any place that has shampoo will have it.

THANK YOU! I will get on it ASAP!

Weezoh

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

MemphisKitten

It's awesome you were able to get your BMR tested. That is certainly valuable information to have!! I also like that you have addressed the "1200 calorie" issue that people believe is a "one size fits all!" For some reason, people think that you have to have 1200 calories or you are not getting adequate nutrition and your body is starving. This is simply not correct, and thank you for pointing it out!!

professorRAT

Hmm it actually makes perfect sense. of course your BMR is going to be 1032. BMR represents your body's energy consumption if you were just to lie down and do nothing (or in this case, the above BMR you got from the test represents what what you were doing during that test) basically the energy your body with its organs etc needs to live. TDEE is the energy your body needs when you do regular activities everyday (and that differs from person to person) . To lose weight, from my understanding is to cut the intake from your TDEE NOT your BMR. Say, if your TDEE is an average of 2100, then losing weight would mean about 1800 or so depending on how much you want to lose in a specified period. I hope this clears up the confusion.

But why should we assume the online TDEE calculators are any more accurate than the online BMR calculators. Don't TDEE calculators use BMR as a starting point? If the starting point is incorrect, then it seems logical that the end point would also.

True, but these calculators are probably based on AVERAGES from the general population. There is variance in the population, which this thread points out. You could be average, or below average, or above average. Most people don't get this tested so it makes sense to start with an average and tweak from there.

bcattoes

Yes it is good to know what your BMR is, but you need to take in more than that in order for your body to function normally.

Wouldn't this be dependent on how much body fat you carry? Not all fuel has to come from food. Isn't the point of calorie restriction to force your body to use fat stores for fuel?

tommygirl15

Thank you for posting this!

CATindeeHAT

Definitely interesting but I guess I wonder what that really tells us? (I'm not being snarky). What I mean is how many calories does your body need to actually do something. Obviously this give you a number you shouldn't go under but you shouldn't go under a number even higher than this unless you do just lay in bed all day. Am I correct here? I'm assuming you go to the grocery store, take a shower, get dressed etc etc etc. all of those take a few calories and it adds up. We still can't say 100% what your tdee is. The only real way to guess that would be to track your food very deliberately for a time span and see what your body does. And you would still have variables like sodium intake, exercise etc.

Yes, I get up take a shower, go to the store, but being a student I mainly sit on my butt all day and read. I can't imagine that little of activity makes a huge impact, which gives me even more of a reason to work out more.

norcal_yogi

...i had a feeling that many of us have been overestimating due to the various online calcs

Kaiukas

Thank you for the thought-provoking thread. I had my BMR tested in the physiology lab and mine is not that different from the estimate that I got from the on-line calculators.

I would like to put your low figure into a more meaningful context. Do you think that your underlying disease is linked to your low BMR? Were you given any useful information about that? Also, was your thyroid function within normal limits?

Once again, thank you for sharing your story and best of luck with everything :flowerforyou:

astrampe

Hmm it actually makes perfect sense. of course your BMR is going to be 1032. BMR represents your body's energy consumption if you were just to lie down and do nothing (or in this case, the above BMR you got from the test represents what what you were doing during that test) basically the energy your body with its organs etc needs to live. TDEE is the energy your body needs when you do regular activities everyday (and that differs from person to person) . To lose weight, from my understanding is to cut the intake from your TDEE NOT your BMR. Say, if your TDEE is an average of 2100, then losing weight would mean about 1800 or so depending on how much you want to lose in a specified period. I hope this clears up the confusion.

THIS!! BMR and TDEE is not the same......

sarahisme18

Dont forget that BMR is: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the minimum amount of energy required for the functioning of vital organs, such as the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, muscles and digestive organs.

This is what they would give you if you were in a coma to survive. This does not account for even simply moving around while awake, or food digestion. That is why it is also important to know your TDEE.

This site tells you more about the test.
http://www.mun.ca/hkr/ahs/BMR.php

Yes it is good to know what your BMR is, but you need to take in more than that in order for your body to function normally.

Exactly. Weight loss is not BMR - 20%, it is TDEE - 20%.

sarahisme18

Hmm it actually makes perfect sense. of course your BMR is going to be 1032. BMR represents your body's energy consumption if you were just to lie down and do nothing (or in this case, the above BMR you got from the test represents what what you were doing during that test) basically the energy your body with its organs etc needs to live. TDEE is the energy your body needs when you do regular activities everyday (and that differs from person to person) . To lose weight, from my understanding is to cut the intake from your TDEE NOT your BMR. Say, if your TDEE is an average of 2100, then losing weight would mean about 1800 or so depending on how much you want to lose in a specified period. I hope this clears up the confusion.

THIS!! BMR and TDEE is not the same......

:drinker:

awilmeri

Definitely interesting but I guess I wonder what that really tells us? (I'm not being snarky). What I mean is how many calories does your body need to actually do something. Obviously this give you a number you shouldn't go under but you shouldn't go under a number even higher than this unless you do just lay in bed all day. Am I correct here? I'm assuming you go to the grocery store, take a shower, get dressed etc etc etc. all of those take a few calories and it adds up. We still can't say 100% what your tdee is. The only real way to guess that would be to track your food very deliberately for a time span and see what your body does. And you would still have variables like sodium intake, exercise etc.

Yes, I get up take a shower, go to the store, but being a student I mainly sit on my butt all day and read. I can't imagine that little of activity makes a huge impact, which gives me even more of a reason to work out more.

Well yeah that's good, I'm hoping most of us shower. :bigsmile: I do think it's an interesting number to have. I'd get mine if someone wanted to pay for it. I'm pretty active though....running after kids and working out. I'm wondering how much it would actually help me to know. And as I said before I think you learn a lot from tracking calories and seeing what happens. For example I set mfp up to lose 1 pound a week but averaged 2 pounds a week so now I'm playing with my calorie number. I'm trying to focus on losing slow so that I don't lose too much muscle.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

CATindeeHAT

Hmm it actually makes perfect sense. of course your BMR is going to be 1032. BMR represents your body's energy consumption if you were just to lie down and do nothing (or in this case, the above BMR you got from the test represents what what you were doing during that test) basically the energy your body with its organs etc needs to live. TDEE is the energy your body needs when you do regular activities everyday (and that differs from person to person) . To lose weight, from my understanding is to cut the intake from your TDEE NOT your BMR. Say, if your TDEE is an average of 2100, then losing weight would mean about 1800 or so depending on how much you want to lose in a specified period. I hope this clears up the confusion.

THIS!! BMR and TDEE is not the same......

Oh I ABSOLUTELY AGREE!!

But with my BMR being so low, it's very easy to overestimate my needs.

CATindeeHAT

Dont forget that BMR is: Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the minimum amount of energy required for the functioning of vital organs, such as the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, muscles and digestive organs.

This is what they would give you if you were in a coma to survive. This does not account for even simply moving around while awake, or food digestion. That is why it is also important to know your TDEE.

This site tells you more about the test.
http://www.mun.ca/hkr/ahs/BMR.php

Yes it is good to know what your BMR is, but you need to take in more than that in order for your body to function normally.

Exactly. Weight loss is not BMR - 20%, it is TDEE - 20%.

Hence that is why MFP takes your BMR and multiplies it by 1.2 for sedentary

jhall1255

i used the harris benedict equation to see what it says yours would be - its 2058 which is 1025 more then what yours is. but this is stated on one of the BMR websites.

vvvvvvvv

The Harris-Benedict equation has been the standard for decades and is still the most widely used for estimating BMR. This is why we offer it to our users. However, numerous studies have shown it to be inaccurate for a number of reasons:

•According to today's test standards the Harris-Benedict equation does not estimate BMR, but rather RMR. This is because the test subjects did not spend the night at the test facility.
•The test subjects used to develop the Harris-Benedict equation did not include an adequate representation of obese people, nor of younger and older people. These omissions continue to become more significant as populations become older and heavier.
•While all equations for predicting energy expenditure only make estimates, the Harris-Benedict equation typically overestimates by 5% or more.
•Since the Harris-Benedict equation was first published in 1919, a number of studies have attempted to improve it. Of these, none has been shown to produce more accurate results than the Mifflin equation we use for calculating RMR.
•For further details please refer to Validation of several established equations for resting metabolic rate in obese and nonobese people, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, September 2003, David C. Frankenfield, et al.

giggitygoo

This is really interesting.

I'm pretty small, and my BMR averages out to just under 1050 according to online calculators. It eases my mind a bit to know that this is a semi-normal number.