Is getting your RMR clinically tested worth it?

How long have you been stalled? If it's less than 6 weeks, I wouldn't worry yet. Any time you change anything (exercise, calorie target, etc.), it takes some time for your body to react. If you've been changing things, you need to give your body enough time to stabilize before you can tell what is/isn't working.

I also wouldn't drop $150 on RMR testing, to be honest. Given some time, some patience and accurate logging, you can get a very good idea of your TDEE, and that's more important than RMR. The thing is, though, that you need to be willing to track as accurately as possible, and keep things as consistent as possible, in order to get an accurate picture of your TDEE, and lots of people are too impatient for that.

Could you pick a calorie goal in the middle (say, 1500 or so) and stick with it for 6 weeks? During that time, keep your exercise as consistent as you can, and weigh/measure all your food accurately. After that time, you should have enough data to accurately calculate your TDEE.

Unless you suspect some serious medical condition (and you have more to go on than failing to lose weight) it isn't worth $150.

If you kept accurate records you could just go back 4-6 weeks and calculate your TDEE, which is ultimately all you need to know to set calorie goals. For example, I know that my TDEE is ~2500 based on the past few weeks worth of data. I set my calorie intake to 2250 and I lose ~0.5lb/week. I also know that my TDEE is about to spike up as the summer is coming which means Ultimate Frisbee and lots of running.

Also, how long have you stalled? I've easily gone 2 full weeks without losing anything despite trying to lose 1.5-2lb/week at that time. Water weight can fluctuate a lot. I'm up almost 3lb right now from just a few days ago, and while I've been eating ~2700-3000 calories for a few days, it wasn't long enough to actually gain 3lb of fat. Heck I was up 1lb from yesterday despite eating only 2200 calories.

No you do not need to get RMR tested. If you are concerned about metabolic issues its time to see the doctor for blood testing such as metabolic blood testing, perhaps T4, TSH, creatine, etc.

On the outside of ruling out thryroid, etc through blood testing, you need to pick a number (not a range 1200 - 1800.. this is a huge range).. and eat that exact number for at least 3 weeks. If you eat your exercise calories then perhaps don't for a week or two or three.

This weight loss is a numbers game and finding your number, your deficit through some trial and error is all you need, but you too need patience. You have to buy a food scale if you do not have one yet. It will change the entire scope of weight loss.. $20 food scale, accurate food logging and weight loss priceless...

NotSoPerfectPam wrote: »

Has anyone had their resting metabolic rate tested? I seem stalled after upping my exercise and weighing my food - I'm wondering if this could help. It's $150. I've played around with my calories and going lower, between 1200 and 1800, and nothing seems to help. I feel like if I did the RMR it's one thing I can rule out if it's normal, but then again, is it worth $150?

Shop around for a lower price, I found it interesting and it also told me the RQ ie what proportion of my resting energy was from fats vs carbs.

Weight loss is empirical and I would agree with the others than knowing your RMR to 4 sig figs doesn't help much in the real world as if you don't lose weight you need to change something regardless.

Not necessary to spend that amount imo - figure out your own TDEE over the next few weeks by tracking your foods and see what your weight is doing, if you're losing weight etc.

I do mine once a year. First, I say find somewhere cheaper. My gym/wellness center does them for $50, includes the two page results and a consult with the dietician. The one I did last summer showed a drop in my rate from the year before - too much focus on cardio, not enough on weights. Now I'm working more on weight lifting and strength training, so to me it's beneficial to have the numbers.

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

There's a number of other things you can try that don't cost $150 first. First of all, almost NO ONE has one of the very rare medical disorders resulting in metabolic problems (the only reason to really give a rip about RMR), and those that do manage to use CICO just fine by playing with their numbers and altering the CO side of the equation a little. Second, how long a time period did you do the other calorie amounts? One or two weeks is NOT going to show you anything as far as whether 1500 is working or not. You need to pick a number and stick with it for AT LEAST a month, ideally 6 or more weeks. You are not in a plateau unless you can guarantee you have an accurate count that has not changed for 6 or more weeks. so, how long did you sit at those numbers, which ones did you sit at, and how is your logging? Can you say without a doubt that you KNOW for sure that your counts are correct? I'm not accusing you, I'm asking you, dig deep and decide on that, cause that is the number 1 problem with CICO weight loss, and it has happened to literally everyone on here at least once.

Metobolic disorders are not the least bit rare!! PCOS, diabetes, hypothyroidism etc. Try all 3 like me. I can't eat over 1,100 and lose weight. My maintainence is about 1,600. This is quite normal for women after 40. If anyone is eating right and exercising and not losing, you most likely have a problem. Sometimes Metformin can help, but not always.

@catsdogsh @thatgumyoulike Do forgive me, that was poorly phrased, however:

Diabetes is not as common as the media would like us all to think. 9.3% of the US population is afflicted, and this number includes a statistical assumption of those who likely have it but are not formally diagnosed. It accounts for both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

PCOS is not common. 5% of the total population has it, which is between 9 and 11% of the population that is capable of having it: I.E. Women only.

Hypothyroidism is a little more common at 12% of the population. And in all due fairness, that 12% is not limited to HypOthyroidism, it also includes any of the sub-types of thyroid disorders, including Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism (graves disease, whose primary symptom is rapid weight LOSS), and thyroid cancer (which can cause both hypO and hypER at various stages and with various types).

That's not to mention at all the fact that these disorders all have symptoms which OP can (and I'm sure has) simply google or ask her doctor about if she is worried. But the odds are in her favor considering these disorders affect, generously, 33 million people (individually) out of a total population of 318 million. I'm sorry that you have all three, but the likelihood in OP's case, both mathematically likely and repeatedly observed on this site, is that she has a problem with measuring her food for logging or simply hasn't given enough time to her adjustments to have an obvious affect.

And most importantly: RMR is STILL not the key factor in adjusting CICO for metabolic disorders. Knowing it isn't going to give OP any information necessary to help her alter her plan. She needs to log consistently, at the same intake for a long period of time and weigh herself to check her results, then adjust off that standard. Part of this game is realizing that calorie counting is based on estimation, which inevitably leads to some trial and error at the individual level.

I didn't want OP, or anyone who reads this post, to jump immediately to the conclusion that a metabolic disorder, which is statistically unlikely, is to blame before checking all the MANY other simple, easy-to-fix things that go wrong with CICO estimating first. And I didn't want anyone to send OP into a health panic either: That's WebMD's job.

catsdogsh wrote: »

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

There's a number of other things you can try that don't cost $150 first. First of all, almost NO ONE has one of the very rare medical disorders resulting in metabolic problems (the only reason to really give a rip about RMR), and those that do manage to use CICO just fine by playing with their numbers and altering the CO side of the equation a little. Second, how long a time period did you do the other calorie amounts? One or two weeks is NOT going to show you anything as far as whether 1500 is working or not. You need to pick a number and stick with it for AT LEAST a month, ideally 6 or more weeks. You are not in a plateau unless you can guarantee you have an accurate count that has not changed for 6 or more weeks. so, how long did you sit at those numbers, which ones did you sit at, and how is your logging? Can you say without a doubt that you KNOW for sure that your counts are correct? I'm not accusing you, I'm asking you, dig deep and decide on that, cause that is the number 1 problem with CICO weight loss, and it has happened to literally everyone on here at least once.

Metobolic disorders are not the least bit rare!! PCOS, diabetes, hypothyroidism etc. Try all 3 like me. I can't eat over 1,100 and lose weight. My maintainence is about 1,600. This is quite normal for women after 40. If anyone is eating right and exercising and not losing, you most likely have a problem. Sometimes Metformin can help, but not always.

Yea, according to calculators my maintenance should be at around 1540. That's pretty normal for us lighter shorties above 40. However, this is not a metabolic disorder and CICO still works for us. Mind you, I am hypothyroid and still managed to lose 40lbs without treatment without any problems: weighing every bit of food accurately in grams and choosing the right database entries. The 'meatolic breakdown' of being hypothyroid gets easily overestimated, maybe 4% of TDEE? This happens on the onset of hypothyreodism and doesn't get progressively worse. Being less active due to not feeling so well, and a higher tendency to store water do play the biggest role here. The metabolism doesn't really jump back to normal, but you lose the waterweight and become more active again if you choose to. That's all. Btw, thanks to a good set of muscles my maintenance calories are around 1750-1800. Not bad!