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AyeGuy
New Member
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Posted: 26 Feb 2007 04:52 pm |
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I've been on a plateau for six months now. Since I was getting conflicting advice to either add more calories or eat fewer calories, on Friday I went and got my Resting Metabolic Rate medically tested to see exactly how many calories I was actually using per day, and not rely on the generalized online calculators.
Turns out my metabolism is actually 6% greater than predicted for my height/weight/age (probably due to all the exercize I do). Mr RMR was measured at 2376 kcalories, and I normally do 1000 calories worth of excersize per day, and have been eating 2400 calories...a deficit of about a thousand per day. It appears I have been running several hundred calories under maintenance levels daily; the computer said my minimum daily caloric balance should be no less than 1900. Saturday on a long bike ride I burned 2077 kcals!
But yet...YET! my metabolism is still high...and apparently my body is in "Starvation Mode"!
That tells me Starvation Mode is not a result of low metabolism.
So...what causes it?
Here is what I don't understand: my belief was that eating too few calories would lead to a lower metabolism, and thus no weight loss, because the body wants to conserve what it has....at least, this is how it is explained on several internet health sites. Yet, I've been under-eating, and my metabolism is still running high. So, is the bit about the body trying to hold on to what it has true, but perhaps some other mechanism stopping me from loosing weight? Thinking there might be a medical reason, two weeks ago I got blood tests, and everything looked real good.
I just got an Omron body fat monitor to see if in fact I'm displacing fat with muscle, but I don't have enough data yet to say. But, I sure don't feel trim and muscular, since I still have quite a lot of bodyfat (30.6%, according to the Omron).
I also got a Polar heart rate monitor last week, which also calculates calories burned; it tells me I'm actually burning MORE cals per day than I thought during my workouts...about 1000 per day, which when subtracted from the RMR of 2376 gives me a typical daily balance of +1376, well below the 1900 minimum the RMR test counselor told me. A 1000 calorie deficit is considered safe on some websites.
*****
Basically, what I'm asking if "starvation mode" is seperate from "metabolism". I just found out my metabolism is higher than average, and also that I'm taking in calories at a level below Maintenance. So, something doesn't make sense.
I'm 5'8" and currently 233 lbs.; I started at 350 lbs. and my goal weight 175, so I have quite a long way to go.
Last edited on 26 Feb 2007 04:55 pm by AyeGuy
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 26 Feb 2007 09:42 pm |
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What you have there is a confirmation of your RMR - your resting metabolic rate.
However, your under-eating combined with exercising has probably caused your body to be very efficient at performing those exercises without expending the energy that it should (i.e. it probably isn't expending 1000 calories per day - or you would be losing 2lb per week).
I trust that your next step is to increase calories and monitor results?
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AyeGuy
New Member
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Posted: 26 Feb 2007 10:00 pm |
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I used my new heart rate monitor to get my caloric expentiture from exercise numbers.
I'm going to use the RMR kcals (2376) I got from the test, add my caloric expenditure due to exercise, and subtract 1000 kcal to get a new daily intake amount...that averages about +500 to 600 kcal/day more per day (I used a RMR of 2100 to get the amount I based my old diet on).
Does that sound right?
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OWF
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 27 Feb 2007 12:37 am |
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AyeGuy,
Where did you have this test taken? I am not sure I know of anyplace I could have it done, so I am relying on these online calculators. Hopefully they will work.
 owf
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AyeGuy
New Member
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Posted: 27 Feb 2007 02:45 pm |
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| Obsessed, contact your hospital or health care organization to see if they give Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) or Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) testing. It cost me $50, but it is well worth it if you want to know your own caloric needs.
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trimB
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 27 Feb 2007 07:03 pm |
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| Very interesting, as you say. Thanks for sharing the info with us... and come back to post an update on your progress soon!
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