Is it worth the money to get your metabolism tested?

looking forward to seeing answers to this

In a word, YES!!

I just had my metabolic rate tested (well, it was a re-test) on Friday. My resting metabolic rate (RMR) was found to be 1919. According to MFP, my RMR is 1350 or so (it was also around 1350 when calculated using fat-free body mass). My progression has stalled for a long time (several months). Well, no wonder, since I've been eating almost 600 fewer calories than I need to on a daily basis (I usually eat back all my exercise calories)! I feel like an idiot, because I KNEW that it had tested higher than 1350 a couple of years ago, but I let an equation tell me what was better. I checked with the trainer, who verified that the direct test is more accurate than a calculation (maybe if Banks reads this, he can correct me if I need correcting). So, now I'm going to eat the higher number. I expect I'll gain for a few weeks (until my body realizes it's getting the fuel it needs and doesn't need to hold on to every last little calorie it can get), but when my body realizes the food isn't going to go away, I'll start dropping again. Finally.

I also had my Exercise Metabolic Rate tested (again, a re-test). This is the third time and I've really seen progression. I am in Stage 3 - the final stage. This means that my Aerobic Base (the point at which the exercise calories burned come from fat and carbs in equal amounts - i.e., 50/50) and my Anaerobic Threshold (the point at which the exercise calories burned come only from carbohydrates) are right next to each other, so my cardio is at its best.

Another great thing that I got from this test is the actual amount of calories burned per minute, based on heart rate (this includes total calories as well as fat calories). I have found that this number oftentimes is different than what my HRM says (which is based on VO2 max as well as height/weight/age/sex) - usually it's lower.

I highly recommend the metabolic rate test (assuming that the one you're talking about is like the one I took this past Friday). For me, it was worth every penny and then some! :happy:

I don't know anything about the test, but I do feel like MFP calorie suggestion is too low, I would feel like crap if I ate only 1200 calories a day. I have a desk job (I think this is why MFP suggested such low calories) but I live on a farm, when my day job ends, I go home to my "evening" job. I also ride horses, and am consistant with exercise. I quit coming here for quite awhile because I thought MFP numbers were off, but I decided to log my food anyway to see more than just calories.

What does the metabolism test entail? What do you have to do for it?

$15 doesn't seem like that big of a deal lol

DrB - you lost 40 lb by your second deadline! That's incredible!

This is how my metabolic test went:

1. The trainer had me put on a heart rate monitor chest strap in order to measure my heart rate.
2. The trainer then put a mask on me, over my nose and mouth. The nose piece had a metal clip such that it reminded me to not breathe through my nose at all and only through my mouth. I'd say that it "prevented" me from breathing through my nose, but I could have gotten air through my nose if I wanted to do so. It's imperative that the test be performed such that I was breathing through my mouth only.
3. The trainer hooked up a tube to the mask so that the gases I was exhaling could be analyzed by the computer to which the tube was attached.
4. For the resting metabolic rate test, I laid down on a mat in the evaluation office and breathed through my mouth for about 10 to 15 minutes with the lights off and in a very relaxed atmosphere (RESTING metabolic rate, you know? )
5. For the exercise metabolic rate test, the trainer put me on a treadmill and I walked on the treadmill for about 12 minutes or so, starting off at 2.5 mph with 0% incline and gradually working up to 4.5 mph with ~15% - 20% incline. Again, for the EXMR, I had the mask attached and was breathing through my mouth the whole time.

The cost for this test was $130 (it was a re-test, so the initial testing would have been a bit more).

I had had biometric testing performed the week before (I had my body fat measured by a BOD POD - about as accurate as the water test and more accurate than calipers or impedence). By using an equation based on the BOD POD BF%, my RMR should have been about 1350 or so. By the actual metabolic testing, my RMR is 1919. Huge difference. If I were to go with the equation, I'd be eating too few calories for my metabolism.

Am I a typical person? I don't know. What I do know is that my weight loss progress had stalled for quite some time and I'd done all sorts of things to make it better, but nothing was working. I suspect now that my metabolism runs faster than the equations can calculate, so I was near (or in) starvation mode and my body wasn't going to lose anything more. Plus, I'd amped up my workouts with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). That helped to boost my metabolism, too.

If you can afford the metabolic testing (like the kind I got) and you are very OCD about being sure that your RMR is "correct" (as I am), then I'd say "go for it". I don't know that a blood test can determine your metabolic rate, so I couldn't say anything about that.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do! :flowerforyou:

Thanks for the post, stormie!

My story is similar to yours, I believe. The difference (I read your other thread) is that my BF% is 29.1%. I don't think you'd think that to look at my (calipers say I'm 25.6%). I suspect that my body is hiding that extra fat because I've been too darned low for too darned long. I can't wait until I'm fueling my body properly and consistently!

...I also agree that it's kind of hard to eat all the calories I'm supposed to. It's quite a switch mentally!

Before I started MFP, and while eating very low calorie amounts, I never felt hungry. I could easily go two days without eating, the only crisis would come when my blood sugar went haywire and the roof of my mouth became extremely sore and blistery (no idea what's up with the latter). I'm sure the hunger hormones were messed up due to my utterly unreliable eating habits. After 10 months of eating regularly, I do feel hungry anytime I go more than 3 hours without eating. I don't ignore those pangs either, I eat!

That's why I don't always agree with people who say..listen to your body (ie: if you're not hungry, then don't eat). Sometimes you body (like mine) is all kinds of screwed up and is signaling garbledygook. Our bodies can be trained...detrimentally, at times, unfortunately.

Hooray for you and your wife!

I can totally understand how she must be feeling right now - trying to change the whole mindset of eating more calories, since I'm going through that myself!

It takes time to get oneself to see that it's okay to eat more than 1200 calories! And eating exercise calories, too! Just make sure (as I'm trying to do, but MAN it's hard!) to eat quality calories (although a DQ bilzzard really seems tempting every now and then)!

sean23 wrote: »

Just an update. My wife has followed the same diet plan for the past three weeks that she lost weight on and has gained 5 pounds. Knowing that she didnt' eat enough to warrant all the weight gain, she went ahead and got her metabolism tested on a machine that shows amount of calories burned and figured her resting metabolic rate. To her surprise, she actually has a higher than average metabolism. The reason she is gaining weight is because she isn't eating enough. She tried bumping up her calories for 3 weeks and gained, but she only was adding about 100 per day. The test shows that she should be eating no fewer than 1400 calories and as high as 1700 calories and still lose weight. SHe can eat up to 2000 calories and maintain. Its hard to believe that she was eating 1200 calories a day and gaining 1 to 2.5 pounds per week. I have always read on here to eat more to lose weight. Now, since she has a test specific to her showing her what she needs to eat to lose weight, maybe now she'll be confident eating more. Its a hard thing to do to get someone who can't lose weight to accept eating more. We realize she will probably gain for a few weeks till her body adjusts, hopefully then, she'll get on track for good.
I just wanted to recommend doing a metabolism test if you are struggling and nothing else is working. She was ready to give up and now she is hopeful again. I wanted to say thanks for all the good advice about eating more and fueling your body. I will update this and say how things are going. Thanks!

I know it's been a while, but I'm wondering how it's going. I'm increasing calories and gaining weight like crazy - how did your wife do after bumping up?

My take is, in a word, no.

I think people focus WAY too much on the minutiae of weight loss when the simplest basics of it will serve them well. They want programs, and gimmick protein products, and bands, and outfits and etc.

• To know your metabolism, set a caloric goal where you should be losing about a pound a week.
• Make sure your are being EXACT in logging.
• Do it over at least 3 weeks.
• Adjust up or down depending on loss.
• Do another 3+ weeks.
• Adjust again.
• Repeat until you consistently lose about a pound a week.

You know your caloric level for weight loss. Most people can hit that 1 pound loss pretty close to what the calculators come up with for caloric deficit intake.

That said, if it helps you with the efficacy to lose weight or whatever, it is worth EVERY PENNY.