Hi there, I just have a question.

I went to the doctor yesterday and he put me on a calorimeter. Very cool device! You breath into a tube for ten minutes and it tells you what your resting metabolic rate is. This was very helpful for me, because I have always made excuses by telling myself that I have a slow metabolism, but as it turns out mine is perfectly normal.

So my resting metabolic rate is 1550. The amount of calories I burn daily, according to the machine (and myfitnesspal.com agrees) is about 2000. So I've set my calorie limit at 1600, figuring the extra 300-500 I burn moving around will put me at a 300-500 calorie deficit. I've been doing this for a little over a week, and many days have gone as low as 1300. The doc said I could go as low as 1300 but not lower. But I just read online that you aren't supposed to eat below your resting metabolic rate.

So what do you gals think? Can I eat 1300 some days or should I keep it up to 1600? I figured 1300-1600 was a good range.

Thanks for any input!

ooo, a calorimeter?!?! Sounds cool...I would LOVE to find out my BMR...did you go to your PCP or a specialist???

I don't know for certain, but personally I would always go with a doctor's specific advice for me rather than generic advice meant for the population in general..

Congratulations to you on doing so well on your journey to a healthier and happier you!

Call your local hospital or look online. Mine had a program that you could go in and get your BMR with the same test that was mentioned in the OP and then they would give you a nutrional plan including where to aim calorie wise. It cost me $40. I did it a few years ago.

If your doctor thinks you can go as low as 1300 then I would listen to them, but just because they said you can go that low doesn't mean you have to..so you could calorie cycle and do 1600 some days, 1300 other days, and maybe even have one day that is around 1800 so it all evens out.

Here is my absolute favorite site for calculating BMR:

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/bmrcalc.htm

Enjoy!

Andrea

I would go with your doctor but the calorie cycle just might work well for you! I would think eating below what your body needs on a daily basis over time would not be good, but since your not planning on doing this for life and if you calorie cycle it would all even out.

I had my RMR tested at my health club and guess what - it was 947 - Guess why??? A whole lot of reduced calorie dieting over my lifetime - the body adjusts and your metabolism slows WAY down. So with my average level of activity (being a SAHM and not counting exercise) I burn about 1200 cal a day which is lower than what most people diet at! It stinks I can tell you.

You need a solid 500 cal deficit a day to lose 1 lb a week. Sounds like you'd have that at about 1500 cal. Of course everybody would like to lose a little faster. If I were you I'd consult a nutrionist or personal trainer about a safe way to do that because they'd be educated in the overall effects on your metabolism.

So, good luck and just be careful about really low cal diets!

Thanks everyone. I got the test done at my regular PCP, but he's a very cool holistic guy so he often has interesting tests and ideas about supplement which I love.

I like the idea of calorie cycling. Some days I seem to be able to do 1300, so I'll do that, and then other days I'll go higher than 1600 to even it out.

Thanks very much for posting the link to hussmanfitness. I found it fascinating.

I have used freedieting and now like these, as well:

http://www.hussmanfitness.org/bmrcalc.htm

http://www.thedietdiary.com/diet/nut...wMuchMore.html

http://www.thedietdiary.com/diet/nut...ingEnergy.html

Ive read that you must eat to your BMR plus more calories over that, because you move about, exercise, go up and down stairs. That is just if you were sitting still, doing nothing at all, that your body needs the BMR. If you dont eat over that amount weight loss will be slow. You could eat 300 - 500 more calories.

This is in the book Choose To Lose by Dr. Ron Goor and Nancy Goor. Its kinda like WW, but you do count cals and fat calories.