Very low RMR test result - advice or your experience?

rowdylibrarian
rowdylibrarian Posts: 251 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Good morning, all! After months of nothing happening with weight, inches, clothing sizes and fit, etc., I had my Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested yesterday. For my stats (F, 39, 63", 158lbs, 38%bf), I should have come out to around 1490 for my RMR. It was 1207. Dang it.

The person running the test was a Registered Dietician with a Master's Degree in Nutrition. I don't have those qualifications, so I certainly don't want to say that I know more than her, or that she's wrong, BUT... The first thing she told me was that I needed to drop to 1200 calories. I politely questioned that, and pointed out that if I exercised at all, or even moved around a bit, instead of sitting all day, I'd be netting below my BMR. She didn't see a problem with that. She also couldn't tell me what the VO% numbers meant on my printout. It just sort of gave me pause.

At any rate, a couple of my MFP "the science of the numbers" people have suggested that I NOT adjust my eating to way down there, and see it as a challenge to raise my RMR to where it should be. I do have hypothyroidism, but it was just checked, and it was normalized by the medication, so it shouldn't be suppressing it.

According to the tech, my TDEE is 1666 based on the 1207 RMR, and "lifting heavy" three times per week, plus about an hour of cardio. Does that sound right? If so, should I just take the 15-20% off of that? Has anyone else tried eating their way to a higher RMR? How can you do that safely without gaining weight? I haven't gained or lost on 1300, 1400, 1450, 1500, 1550, or 1650, (though the weight was starting to creep up a little bit toward the end of the 1650 in the last couple of weeks).

I really appreciate your input! Thanks! :)

Replies

  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
    hmmm 1200 does seem like a low RMR, however I think you could take that knowledge and ignore the rest, if you so chose. As in, consider that number to be accurate as your RMR, but make your own decisions about how much you should be eating based on your knowledge here.

    I feel like the TDEE number is really the scary one, though. I feel like it sould be higher if you're lifting and trying to build muscle. Perhaps you could try eating 10% off of that instead of 15-20%?


    I suppse you could give it a try and go back to those professionals if it's not working. Though I suspect if you went back with no results they would want you to cut cals even more..


    edit to add- I'M NOT BEING VERY HELPFUL! :( lol
  • rowdylibrarian
    rowdylibrarian Posts: 251 Member
    You are very helpful, and I appreciate that! Yeah, I'm not really sure how to figure the TDEE thing. It does seem low... Maybe I should do one of those "what do you do every second of the day MET type tests...
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    I meant to bring my worksheet to work with me so I could see what numbers were on it. Mine had calories listed for specific weightloss goals, but even using the amount she told me to use, which was 1850-1900, I wasn't losing for a while, and then started to creep up, and that was eating below my TDEE! I took that 2 week break and then cut back to 1850 and lost 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Maybe you need a diet break. I also took a 1 week exercise break that first week.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    I meant to bring my worksheet to work with me so I could see what numbers were on it. Mine had calories listed for specific weightloss goals, but even using the amount she told me to use, which was 1850-1900, I wasn't losing for a while, and then started to creep up, and that was eating below my TDEE! I took that 2 week break and then cut back to 1850 and lost 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Maybe you need a diet break. I also took a 1 week exercise break that first week.

    Here's an article to further explain what Cupcake wrote: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Hope this helps, good luck!! :flowerforyou:
  • lindsiswatchingyou
    lindsiswatchingyou Posts: 114 Member
    Dana- thanks for the interesting reading. I just hit maintenance and I'm so paranoid about weight gain. The truth is, I haven't given my 'diet' an extended break since I joined MFP over 7 months ago. This article gives me a bit more confidence about eating at maintenance without having to up my caloric burn. THANKS!
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    I meant to bring my worksheet to work with me so I could see what numbers were on it. Mine had calories listed for specific weightloss goals, but even using the amount she told me to use, which was 1850-1900, I wasn't losing for a while, and then started to creep up, and that was eating below my TDEE! I took that 2 week break and then cut back to 1850 and lost 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. Maybe you need a diet break. I also took a 1 week exercise break that first week.

    Here's an article to further explain what Cupcake wrote: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Hope this helps, good luck!! :flowerforyou:

    Thanks Dana! :icecreamforyou:

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