"Fixing" a low metabolism

TrishDLish81

I'm really struggling with my weight loss. Over a pretty long period of time (about 5-6 months) my losses are just not shaking out anywhere near what they "should" be based on my calorie deficits - maybe half of what I'd expect. I use a FitBit for daily burns and weigh/measure probably 85% of what I'm eating and log every.single.bite. I've tried eating/netting more (calculated TDEE - 20%) as well as less (net 1200), changing what portion of my exercise calories I eat, giving each approach at least 4 or so weeks, and nothing seems to really work.

I've been thinking of getting my RMR tested, as I'm starting to suspect that my daily calorie burns just naturally might be much much lower than my FitBit is estimating based on my stats. But, before I spend the money, I want to really consider what to do with the information. I have never eaten at low levels for a long period of time, so I haven't done any damage to my metabolism, it would just be a naturally occuring thing for me (which makes sense, I've ranged between somewhat overweight to morbidly obese since the day I was born). If I continue to eat at what my BMR *should* be plus maybe a portion of my exercise calories (how I've approached the last 4 weeks or so), and continue strength training, will my metabolism improve? If so, I might just stay the course, and not bother with the testing. If I need to adjust my diet to more match my current RMR, assuming that I'm just stuck with burning at a lower than expected rate for the rest of my life no matter how I eat/work out, then the testing makes sense. Anyone with thoughts?

Sorry, edited to include my stats - 5'5.5", currently 221, down from 236 at the end of May. 31 years old.

keeponkickin

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8017-in-place-of-a-road-map

psuLemon

We need a lot more details. First, what is your height, weight age, lifestyle, and workout routine. Second, how much weight have you lost? Additionally, are you eating 15-20% less than the estimated calories your fitbit suggest you are burning? Also, can you open your diary so we can look at the foods you are eating? And the majority of people don't have slow metabolisms, they just eating enough or probably the right foods.

TrishDLish81

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8017-in-place-of-a-road-map

Thanks (sincerely). I've read that; that's where my TDEE - 20% experiment I referenced was inspired. I did that for 5 or 6 weeks and gained a little over that time. That's why I'm thinking my *calculated* TDEE, based on my weight and everything else that goes into it, might actually be much higher than my *actual* TDEE. You know? So that's why I wanted to get my RMR tested, to gauge how accurate my TDEE calculation was. I'm just wondering if it does end up being super low, if there's anything I can even do about it.

keeponkickin

Try increasing your calories slowly. You might gain a little but should level off. Sometimes eating at maintenance for a month or so, decreasing cardio a bit and increasing weight lifting can do a reset. Then follow the link I gave you.

Feed_the_Bears

I had to plateau for 2 months to reset my metabolism and shake off another 5 lbs (10 lbs total). But I'm soo much happier and healthier eating TDEE-cut. My workouts have never been stronger either.

Are you switching up your workout routine? Your body gets efficient at doing the same old thing over and over again and it won't give you the same kind of calorie burn. Try circuits or HIIT intervals for example.

Oh, and are you eating your oils too? That's often the problem with the last ten pounds.

drmerc

Your metabolism isn't broken

BrianSharpe

This may be an interesting read:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/WT00006

TrishDLish81

We need a lot more details. First, what is your height, weight age, lifestyle, and workout routine. Second, how much weight have you lost? Additionally, are you eating 15-20% less than the estimated calories your fitbit suggest you are burning? Also, can you open your diary so we can look at the foods you are eating? And the majority of people don't have slow metabolisms, they just eating enough or probably the right foods.

Height - 5'5.'" Weight - currently 221, start weight of 236 on Memorial Day. 31 years old. Lifestyle - desk job. Workout routine - Mondays and Thursdays are 30-45 minutes of legs and abs strength training on circuit machines plus ~30 minutes of cardio, Wednesdays and Saturdays are 30-45 minutes of upper body strength training plus ~30 minutes of cardio, Sundays are heavy on cardio, Tuesday and Friday are rest days. I do "heavy lifting" to the degree possible using circuit machines; I hope to move to free weights but I'm saving up some cash for a trainer since I have some joint issues (knees and back) and form is extremely important to me, so I don't want to just start up on my own.

In terms of what I'm eating, on rest days my FitBit tells me that I've burned about 2400-2500 calories, on average. On workout days it's typically more like 2800. I've tried eating at several levels of calories; yes, one round was FitBit burn minus 20%.

I can't open my diary. This is going to sound SO stupid, but I have a lot of family and "real life" friends on my friends list and I prefer to keep my forum postings anonymous, so I have a separate account where I only log food and never post, and then have this account to post from. But my macros are 25% carbs, 30% protein and 45% fat. I don't always meet those (often I go a bit over on carbs) but I shoot for it every day. Low on processed foods, heavy on fruits and veg as much as possible.

MyOwnSunshine

While I think the "roadmap" method of caluculating BMRs and TDEEs is a great place for everyone to start, in actuality, the formulas only calculate an average BMR or TDEE for someone your height and weight.

I do believe, and recent research points to the fact that metabolisms do vary, and many obese people actually have much more thrifty metabolisms than normal/average people.

I know that even with 18 months of regular cardio and strength training, including 6 months of New Rules of Lifting, I maintain by eating 400 calories less than my calculated TDEE. If I increase my calories, I gain. My BMR is calculated to be 1550, but in order for me to lose, even with the regular exercise, I need to eat somewhere between 1400 and 1600 calories a day.

There is a lot of medical research out there, and traditional ideas about "one size fits all" metabolism are beginning to be questioned and disproven. If you have access to any of the medical databases like PubMed, Medline or CINAHL through a library, you could do a search for obesity and metabolism. I would help you out, but I'm overwhelmed with work, school, working out, holidays, studying for the GRE and completing a grad school app right now.

Towards the end of my weight loss phase, I asked the "how many calories should I eat" question to two different physicians who specialize in weight loss -- one a bariatric surgeon and one a very competent and informed internist who specializes in non-surgical weight loss. I received the same answer from both -- "There is no magic formula. You need to experiment and find out what number works for you."

With all that being said, I do believe the "In Place of a Road Map" method is the most sound and logical place to begin your quest for your own number.

psuLemon

So when you did your TDEE - 20% how many calories where you eating? Also, if you can use free weights. They automatically cause your body to stabilize so you get a better workout.

cwolfman13

It certainly couldn't hurt to get your RMR tested. Do you graze? When do you work out? I've had the most success when I workout in the AM (which is hard)...it kicks your metabolism into gear first thing. Also, grazing...well, I don't really "graze" per sei, but I eat breakfast, a decent snack at 10AM or so, lunch, another snack around 3, another snack around 6, and dinner around 8:30 (I know, late...but there's no getting around it). I have found that this has also increased my metabolism and keeps my blood sugars stable as well.

As others have suggested, mixing up your exercise routine does wonders as well. You might also want to look at your Macros and what you're eating as well...remember to get those fats and protein...

psuLemon

Also, have you tried the method of eliminating a food group for a month or two? Like grains or dairy? My wife recently found out that she has a gluten intolerance (not to be confused with celiac or a gluten allergy) by a month long experiment without gluten. A GI dr. suggested we try this. We later found out that her heart condition came with a gluten intolerance. I have also tried that with others on this forum and a few saw huge results when they cut one group out. Something to consider.

TrishDLish81

When I did TDEE - 20%, I was eating around 2100 calories per day, give or take a little bit. Instead of using the IPOARM method, I used averages from my FitBit in terms of daily burn (about a month of data) since I thought that could give me a better picture of my true activity level. Right now I have my goal set to 1750 and on workout days I'm eating back about half of my exercise calories - trying to find a happy medium. I've also tried eating 1400 calories and no exercise calories and netting 1200 calories (so eating back about all exercise calories).

TrishDLish81

It certainly couldn't hurt to get your RMR tested. Do you graze? When do you work out? I've had the most success when I workout in the AM (which is hard)...it kicks your metabolism into gear first thing. Also, grazing...well, I don't really "graze" per sei, but I eat breakfast, a decent snack at 10AM or so, lunch, another snack around 3, another snack around 6, and dinner around 8:30 (I know, late...but there's no getting around it). I have found that this has also increased my metabolism and keeps my blood sugars stable as well.

As others have suggested, mixing up your exercise routine does wonders as well. You might also want to look at your Macros and what you're eating as well...remember to get those fats and protein...

I don't know if I necessarily "graze." I usually eat breakfast, then lunch, then an afternoon snack, then dinner, then usually but not always a post-workout snack. Unfortunately the only time I can work out is pretty late at night. With a 3 year old and a 1 year old, an hour-long (one-way) commute and a full time job, there's really no other time to go then after the kids go to bed, so I usually end up at the gym at 9:00pm or so during the week. I'd love to go in the morning, but with the need to get the kids to daycare and get to work on time, compared to when my gym opens, it's just not possible.

TrishDLish81

Also, have you tried the method of eliminating a food group for a month or two? Like grains or dairy? My wife recently found out that she has a gluten intolerance (not to be confused with celiac or a gluten allergy) by a month long experiment without gluten. A GI dr. suggested we try this. We later found out that her heart condition came with a gluten intolerance. I have also tried that with others on this forum and a few saw huge results when they cut one group out. Something to consider.

Someone else recently suggested this to me, and I'm carefully considering it. On one hand, my nature rails against the idea that I should need to eliminate a major food group in order to be at a healthy weight. On the other hand, anything is worth a shot at this point, since obviously something is not working the way that it "should." Based on the way that I eat, gluten would be a lot easier to eliminate than dairy, so maybe I'll give that a go....after Christmas .

CharleneExtreme

Check out Leigh Peele's Metabolic Repair Manual - its supposed to be great for a crappy metabolism. There's a test on it that tells you which level you should be on too so you can tell how badly damaged your metabolism is. I was surprised to find that i'd done very little damage to mine!

Captain_Tightpants

You had your thyroid checked?

BCSMama

I don't know how to "fix" a low metabolism, but I do think there are lots of variations from the "average" that the formulas give. I had my RMR testing a couple of years ago when I was like 20 lbs heavier than I am now and it was 1350. At the time I was 5'10" and 160. Most of the formulas using those stats gave me over 1500 as a BMR, so unfortunately for me, my metabolism seems much lower than "average". I don't believe I did anything to damage my metabolism. I had it tested because I was in a weight loss study and it was just a test they ran. Obviously some people are going to fall below the average and some above just naturally. I find it useful information for me to have because I know I have to eat less than what an online calculator tells me.

geekyjock76

Keep in mind, if you go by the TDEE estimate, you do not apply the MFP method of "eating back exercise calories" since activity is already calculated in to the TDEE equation. You likely already know this since you have tried several ranges, but I am not sure how long you maintained doing so for each trial.

With that said, I do recommend people who have struggled to experience noticeable weight loss over a long span of 6 months or so get a RMR test done especially if they have tried various possibilities. Have you had any blood work done, ruling out any potential condition which may be contributing to your state?

You may think your RMR hasn't decline much since restricting calories, but in a recent study that looked in to whether relative preservation of lean body mass limited the decline in RMR - which it did not. Here is a copy and paste of the abstract which unfortunately requires a subscription to view:

Metabolic Slowing with Massive Weight Loss despite Preservation of Fat-Free Mass
Abstract
Context: An important goal during weight loss is to maximize fat loss while preserving metabolically active fat-free mass (FFM). Massive weight loss typically results in substantial loss of FFM potentially slowing metabolic rate.
Objective: Our objective was to determine whether a weight loss program consisting of diet restriction and vigorous exercise helped to preserve FFM and maintain resting metabolic rate (RMR).
Participants and Intervention: We measured body composition by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, RMR by indirect calorimetry, and total energy expenditure by doubly labeled water at baseline (n = 16), wk 6 (n = 11), and wk 30 (n = 16).
Results: At baseline, participants were severely obese (×± SD; body mass index 49.4 ± 9.4 kg/m2) with 49 ± 5% body fat. At wk 30, more than one third of initial body weight was lost (−38 ± 9%) and consisted of 17 ± 8% from FFM and 83 ± 8% from fat. RMR declined out of proportion to the decrease in body mass, demonstrating a substantial metabolic adaptation (−244 ± 231 and −504 ± 171 kcal/d at wk 6 and 30, respectively, P < 0.01). Energy expenditure attributed to physical activity increased by 10.2 ± 5.1 kcal/kg·d at wk 6 and 6.0 ± 4.1 kcal/kg·d at wk 30 (P < 0.001 vs. zero).
Conclusions: Despite relative preservation of FFM, exercise did not prevent dramatic slowing of resting metabolism out of proportion to weight loss. This metabolic adaptation may persist during weight maintenance and predispose to weight regain unless high levels of physical activity or caloric restriction are maintained.

If you search the title of the study at JCEM, you can find it.

wackyfunster

Metabolism isn't low, TDEE calc is wrong. Most people calculate using formulas that assume average body fat. For anyone who is overweight, those will greatly overestimate BMR (had a friend go from 2300 BMR to 1300 when switching from generic BMR calc to body fat-based calc). Use 370 + 21.6 x lbm in kg. use 1.2 for activity multiplier unless you are fairly active outside of whatever exercise you are doing. Eat 20% under that, and you should start losing weight. At your weight, you may just want to eat 1500 calories per day. That is very easy to maintain, and should produce faster weight loss.

I would also strongly recommend eatin adequate protein and lifting weights 2-3x per week.

You should easily drop 1-2 lbs per week that way.