Just wanted to share with everybody my little discovery!
I just booked an appointment with the "Health education center" at my local Kaiser facility for the "Basal Metabolic Rate" test. Apparently it's totally easy, you go there, no food, exercise or caffeine for 3 hours before the test, you breath in to a tube and voila! It tells you how many calories you’re burning by just being alive. Cool ha?
And it only costs $50, but not covered by insurance.
I had no idea it’s so easy, just wanted to share it with others who might find it useful.

What did it say for you!? Do they have these places around the country. Does seem interesting to find out.

I'd like to know how it went too. Wouldn't that be great?!

Hey -
Actually, what they are testing is your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). If they were testing BMR they'd be doing it while you sleep. I got mine tested at our university Nutrition Clinic. It cost me $50 dollars as well, and was very worth it.

They recommend to get the most accurate reading to do it in the morning, before eating, and no exercise or caffine before the test. They put a little nose plug on you, and you breathe into a tube for 10-15 minutes, usually while laying or sitting down.

The machine they use tests the gas input and output of carbon dioxide and oxygen. I believe its called calorimetry. About 70% of a human's total energy expenditure is due to the basal life processes within the organs of the body. About 20% of one's energy expenditure comes from physical activity and another 10% from thermogenesis (food digestion). Random but cool fact...your liver is the highest energy burner of your internal organs, using 27% of your bmr to operate! Who'd have thought!?

So what does one do with this information? Do you change your exercise or eating habits? What do the drs do with it?

I think it's just for your personal information. Knowing what you burn everyday just by living can help you determine how many calories a day you need to burn to lose weight. When I got my reading back it was 1295. I did some of the online calculators that will estimate what your RMR is, and they were usually only off by 100-150 calories. So they are pretty accuracte, but not quite on. Keep in mind that as your body weight changes, you'll need to reevaluate what your RMR is, because the less you weigh (usually) the less you need calorie-wise. So after you lose 20 or so pounds, refigure your RMR, and so on and so on.

I do believe it is RMR, not BMR, you,re right about that.

As far as the usefulness of this knowlege, when you calculate your caloric needs through all the formulas out there, there is usually a pretty substantial variation from one result to another. I've seen my own numbers vary by as much as 800 calories and that's huge.
And here you have a scientific, fool-proof way to get your information as precisely close to the truth as possible. I'm a strong believer in the power of information. If you're starting off with wrong numbers, you're less likely to get what you need.
So, to make long story short, I haven't had the actual appointment, they are apparently booked months in advance, so I got one in April. They also told me that I will get a consultation after the test, where they will help me interpret my numbers and answer all my questions. I figure that's totally worth $50.
I will keep all of you posted on my actual numbers and how it all went.
I hope this has been useful.
P.S. Yes, I know that the RMR changes as you loose weight, but that's a problem I'm going to enjoy having. Plus, I wouldn't mind having that test re-done if need be.

Where do you get this test! I'm in NYC, never heard of anywhere to go for this.

There's a RMR test called the BodyGem that's offered by Ballys and other gyms. The test here runs about $50 and you don't have to be a member to get it. It takes about ten minutes and measures oxygen usage (O2 is the fuel of metabolism). You clip a nose plug on your nose and breath through this device:



You take the RMR number that the device gives you and multiply it times a formula based on your activity level to come up with total calories burned in a day. The RMR number is supposed to be pretty accurate, but the activity multiplier is just an average, of course, so subject to error.

I've given at least 100 BodyGem tests to women and gotten RMR read-outs between 965 calories (a tiny 72 year old woman) up to over 2600 calories (a young, very obese woman). It's interesting to figure out where you fall in that spectrum!

I've done the test twice myself ... the first time was right after I had finished losing weight and my RMR was 1365. After a year of maintenance and weight lifting, it increased to 1600. Yay muscle!!

If anyone is interested in a RMR test, try calling the gyms in your area to see if they offer it.

Thanx Meg, I'll see if my gym has it to start!

If you don't have much luck with the gyms, try your doctor's office, they should be able to recommend a place that does the test.

I've never heard of this before but I'm going to look into it. Thanks for the useful info!