Get your Metabolic Rate tested !! My Metabolic reset story

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  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    So yes you can suppress your RMR below your calculated Cunningham RMR and below your calculated Katch BMR.

    Or you do endurance cardio training which can also lower BMR/RMR.

    Yes i did a heap of endurance cardio training coupled with not eating enough. Result lowering of my BMR/RMR
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    ps

    I havent been logging into myfitness pal for a while and only just realised this topic had new replies.
  • nextrightthing
    nextrightthing Posts: 408 Member
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    How you can get your BMR accurately or medically measured? I had no idea you could do that. Is it done by a doctor? How do they do it? Thanks

    This^^

    THIS
  • deeksha_s
    deeksha_s Posts: 79 Member
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    bump
  • KristenM1986
    KristenM1986 Posts: 5
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    Bump
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,626 Member
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    Where did you get tested?
  • wwwdotcr
    wwwdotcr Posts: 128 Member
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    So yes you can suppress your RMR below your calculated Cunningham RMR and below your calculated Katch BMR.

    Or you do endurance cardio training which can also lower BMR/RMR.

    Yes i did a heap of endurance cardio training coupled with not eating enough. Result lowering of my BMR/RMR

    What is a "heap"?
  • lynty2
    lynty2 Posts: 48 Member
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    bump :)
  • Doodlewhopper
    Doodlewhopper Posts: 1,018 Member
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    Where did you get tested?

    Google bariatrics, or wellness center or dietician and your town.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    How you can get your BMR accurately or medically measured? I had no idea you could do that. Is it done by a doctor? How do they do it? Thanks

    This^^

    THIS

    Misuse of terms, they mean RMR tested. BMR would be expensive stay in the lab overnight and first thing in am testing after barely waking up.
  • SanteMulberry
    SanteMulberry Posts: 3,202 Member
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    Bump for reading later.
  • katelynal
    katelynal Posts: 114
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    Where did you get tested?

    Google bariatrics, or wellness center or dietician and your town.

    I googled RMR testing my town and the wellness center of our largest hospital offers this testing for $50. Scheduling an appt as soon as they return my call!
  • yogibella
    yogibella Posts: 321 Member
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    bumpity bump for later:)
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    I'm getting tested again next week :)
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    I'll update with what's been happening with meover the last few months later. I gotta go to work right now
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Also another tip. According to katch mcardle my estimated rmr is just 1200 calories now if I went by that figure i would be 300 calories out.

    The Katch McCardle formula computes your BMR, not your RMR. BMR is lower than RMR.

    Not necessarily. My RMR is 1240, my BMR per Katch McCardle is 1371.

    It means the bodyfat figure used in the Katch BMR calc was wrong if you are not suppressing metabolism.

    Or, and this is usually it, the formula's are for your potential - you can suppress that easily.

    So yes you can suppress your RMR below your calculated Cunningham RMR and below your calculated Katch BMR.

    Or you do endurance cardio training which can also lower BMR/RMR.

    Certainly 40 years of endurance training has lowered my BMR/RMR.

    Oh, wait....no it hasn't.

    Not by even a calorie (yes, that is verified via metabolic testing).
  • yuliyax
    yuliyax Posts: 288
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    bump
  • orchidee1987
    orchidee1987 Posts: 97 Member
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    Bump for later
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    Hi

    From October through to January I decreased my calories by a couple of hundred and at the same time upped my exercise. I am 5 foot 2. I have been at scale goal weight since last August. Since then I have been recomposing, ie losing fat and centimeters. I retain muscle mass easily as I have the genetics for it.

    I thought I was adequatly fueling my body eating between 1700 - 1950 calories for those 3 and a half months but I was in for a huge shock when I got my resting metabolic rate tested. It was just 875. My body was in semi-starvation (survivol mode) according the the exercise physiologist. That is why my metaboic rate lowered drastically because i was not fueling myself properly so it slows way down in order to survive.

    Anyway thanks to the Eat more to Weight less group I was reading up about doing a metabolic reset. The exercise physiologist suggested eating 10 - 20% more than I was and gave me some great advice concerning exercise and nutrition. I decided to do my own little experiment. Since the 2nd of February I decided to eat more than my TDEE. I wanted to see just how much I could eat without gaining weight. So I started off eating mid 2500's and then most of the time for the past 5 weeks I have been eating mid to high 2000 calories !! In that time I have put on roughly half to 1 kg in weight I think. From August till end of January my weight was in the range of 57.5 - 59.5 kg and now its in the 58 - 59.7 range for the last couple of weeks.

    Yesterday I had a retest of my resting metabolic rate. (RMR) it was 1497. Originally when i had it tested it was just 875 and the man said it should be around the 1350 mark. So I am absolutely thrilled that I have increased my RMR by over 600 calories !!! Wow I couldn't believe it. My body fat % is 22.5%. I'm working towards high teens perhaps 18 - 20% body fat. Also I'm above average in the general population for my age and height :D I'm more like in the athletic range for body composition now.

    I am now in the process of trying to find my true TDEE. I have reduced my calories by a few hundred and depending on activity levels I am going to be eating between 2200 - 2700. I will experiment at this level for the next 6 weeks to see if I can stabilise at this range. I think I have pretty much stabilized right now but I will give it a good 6 weeks weeks eating at this amount.

    I told the exercise physiologist I still want to cut. I want to lose more off my tummy area. I want a more defined tummy. He believes I can lose the fat eating 2200-2300 calories. I got some great tips in the Eat more to Weight less group and have decided that in 6 weeks time or once i am sure my weight has stablised when im figuring out my TDEE I will cut first down to 2,300 weekly average and see how I go losing at that for a month. Then if its too high an amount still I'll reduce down 100 calories till I hit my sweet spot. So out of all this it appears I do need to eat above the 2000 calorie mark to lose the fat and not f*** up my metabolic rate. It all depends on my exercise levels. If Im heaviily exercising I have to adequately fuel myself so that I'm not cutting any higher than 10 - 15% off my TDEE.

    I highly recommend getting your RMR tested. If its plummeted you can fix it doing a metabolic reset eating at TDEE, you will put on a little bit of weight however once you stablize and are ready to diet again you will then be able to eat more when you go to lose the weight. It is also much more life sustainable.

    Also another tip. According to katch mcardle my estimated rmr is just 1200 calories now if I went by that figure i would be 300 calories out. Also the TDEE is just an estimate too. According to TDEE it says I should maintain on 2100. Nope I can maintain on a lot higher than that. Its all just a starting point you really need to do your own experiment, track what you eat over a time period and see what amount works for you. ie what you can maintain on, what is your cutting sweet spot.

    If you are new and just started your diet. If I were you for the next 6 weeks track all the foods you eat on your phone, and do your own little experiment to see what amount your true maintenance is before you even start cutting calories. So then 6 weeks later cut 10 or 20% off that amount to lose the weight at a healthy sustainable amount.

    If you want help in how to do a metablic reset/eating more then join the Eat more to weight less. There is some awesome information there. Huge plug for this group! They have turned peoples lives around there!! Also check out the roadmap thread for some help too.

    Any questions fire away!


    Also I hope this post doesnt get lost so please keep bumping it up or sticky this lol


    Its now 8 months later being September 24 and I just got the results of my latest test. My resting metabolic rate was tested at 1025. I was quite surprised and dissapointed at this as I have been eating at or above maintenance since February. I put on 6 kg in weight since February.

    My appetite got a bit out of control as I started eating a few hundred calories above maintenance from the start of my metabolic reset. Next time when I'm ready for maintenance i'll gradually increase my calories and not eat heaps more to begin with... Lesson learned. For the past couple of months I think my weight has stabilised between 63 – 65 kg.

    Over the past few months I have tried and failed to stick to a defecit but this time around i have lasted nearly 2 weeks. After being in calorie defecit for 2 and ¾ years I think I had enough of dieting and was enjoying a break from it. But now I'm ready to have another crack. I want to lose about 6 kg and get back to 58 kg. This is all a learning experience for me. Next time I'm ready to maintain my weight i'll know what to do.

    The exercise physiologist recommend I eat at 1500 calories. I said I think I can do well at 1600 plus I feel I will need more than 1500. Also it really does depend on my activity levels too so if I have a day where I burn heaps then i'll obviously allow myself more than 1600 as I dont want to run my metabolism into the ground like last time.

    Apparantly I'm slightly carb (insulin) resistant so she has me on a lowish carb diet 20% carbs. Eating low gi foods so I dont spike my insulin. For breaky and dinner its protein and fats and for lunch I can include some carbs along with protein and fat. This will be tough for me as i'm used to eating carbs but i'm committed to giving it a go for the next 8 weeks and then i'll revisit at the end of November.
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
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    RMR in athletes is well known to be lower, primarily because of the lower resting heart rate that comes from endurance training. Your case is interesting, and based on other studies that have been done on large groups of people, I think you may have had some inaccurate tests... maybe not, but that seems most likely. That, or you may have had low blood pressure that day, it may have been cold... things like that. Lowered heart rate, through any mechanism, generally results in a low RMR. BMR tests take longer and are more accurate because they measure your condition in multiple states.

    If you were told by this "expert" that you were in some sort of "survival mode" I think he may not be a real expert. The scientists who study this concept have shown a maximum of a 20% reduction in BMR in subjects on long-term VLCDs. Even in that worst-case scenario, your RMR should not have been below 1000. The myth of survival/starvation mode has its roots in something called adaptive thermogenesis. While you certainly should have been affected by AT, eating at a deficit for that long, I can't find any studies that have shown a reduction in BMR as great as the one you've seen.

    If your results are real, you might consider submitting to more involved tests. You'd be the only case I know of that has seen these results and I'm sure many of the people who make their living studying these things would love to study you :)

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