Can anyone point me to where I can find out what my resting meatbolic rate is?

TIA Robin

The only way to know for sure is to have it tested. There are several machines such as the "Metacheck" and "BodyGem" that are used in gyms, and other more sophisticated equipment at hospitals. Any other method based on age and weight is a guess based on what is average.

Mel

The web site I like to use is: http://www.jimkaras.com/loss_math01.cfm. This gives you an AMR and a recommended calorie level to lose 1 pound per week.

Another web site is http://www.room42.com/nutrition/basal.shtml. This gives both BMR and AMR. I don't usually refer people to it, though, because it recommends going under your BMR to lose weight.

Keep in mind this is only an ESTIMATE which assumes everything about your body & metabolism is "normal." But, it's a good place to start.

Thanks so much Mel and funniegrrl!!

Hi -

Thank you for the sites. I played around a little with different numbers and activity levels....

I was surprised to find that for me the difference between maintaining 140 or 145 a day was only 25 calories !!!! The difference between 140 or 150 was only 50 calories a day !!!!

Now I feel much better about having gained some weight back during maintenance. It wasn't because I over ate in a big way. All other things being the same activity wise, just an apple a day, or an extra banana a day could lead to a 10 lb gain in time.

It has given me something new to ponder over and a new tool to approach which goal weight I might decide now. I tried for 145 because it was the BMI rec weight, but I have realized it was too difficult for me to keep and I got tired of struggling. I am thinking that 150 will probably be my choice for goal weight - not some medical chart's choice of goal weight for me. I know it's healthier than 260 was. I need to pick a goal weight that I can maintain without all the calorie counting and charting of exercises. I've lost my weight without charting anything and I intend to live my life without the constant struggle. I just want to feel lean, strong and healthy.

I think these readouts are going to help me to decide a few things within myself that will help me to be successful 5 years from now and 10 years from now. That's my true goal anyway. When I started making changes, I told myself I would only change the things I thought I would still be doing in 5 years. I don't want to spend the next 5 or 10 years concerned over 25 or 50 calories a day.

Allie

Interesting... the room42 site gives me a BMR that is about 85 calories less than my tested reading on a Metacheck machine, but a ACR that is about 350 over what I can eat and on which I maintain my weight. I assume it's BMR estimate is low because I have a faily high muscle mass for my age, weight and height.

This is so consistent with what both Meg and I and may of you have reported anecdotally.

Mel

I think the information from both sites will be helpful as I try to get to goal