RMR Testing

[Tri Girl]

That said, you should be calculating your caloric requirements that include calories lost from exercise. That means your caloric need includes your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) PLUS the calories consumed during activity. If you have a polar that estimates Own Cal, that is among one of the best ways to judge expenditure. There is also a multiplier you could use... based on your description of your activity, you could use 1.55 (that's your RMR times 1.55). Now, to lose weight, you cut the caloric requirement by no more than 500 calories. Cut out more calories and you just won't have the energy you need and you could throw your body into starvation mode.

Thanks for your answer! So I'm to understand that I should consume enough calories in a day that includes my RMR, and whatever calories I burn through exercise?

I use a Nike HR monitor (same as Polar in all the functions) that calculates cal burned based on info I put into it.

When you say cut the caloric requirement by no more than 500 calories. What do you mean? What caloric requirement (the RMR, right?). So if my RMR is 1500 cal, and I burn 800 through exercise, I should consume 1800 calories that day? (1500+800-500?). Am I understanding right? Sometimes I have to have things spelled out for me like I'm 5.

My body fat percentage is high. To me that is the more important number than the scale. At my lowest, my trainer at the gym measured me at 18% body fat. Currently I'm at 27. I'd be thrilled with 24.

Thanks again so much for your information!!! It really helps me!

[rabidgirl]

TriGirl, You've got it right.... 1500 (RMR) + 800 (cals burned) - 500 (for weight loss) = 1800 total cals. To be honest, if I were you, I'd start at 2000 and see how it goes. You can safely lose 1 pound of body fat per week. If you aren't losing that, then go to 1800 cals. The goal is to avoid pushing the body into starvation mode. Be sure to get enough protein and good fats. One nifty trick is to eat carbs around exercise (for energy and recovery) and eat more fat & protein on non-exercise days and in the hours after exercise (if you exercise in the morning, then the evenings could have more fats & protein with less carbs).

I see you live in tornado alley... whereabouts? I'm just north of KC, MO. One of my long term goals is to complete an Ironman... I'd love to get your take on training for the average human being. :-)

[Tri Girl]

Woo hoo! I understood. Thanks, again, for helping me see clearly. I will go ahead and start with 2000 cal + exercise cals burned - the 500. According to some rough calculations that I've made today based on Nancy Clarks Sports Nutrition for Athletes and some internet searching I did, I probably need to eat 2400 calories a day to maintain weight. Granted, my body may be different, but until I get the RMR test done- this will be a good starting point.

I live in OKC- right now we are not so much tornado alley, but just one big marshland. I guess with all the rain the severe thunderstorm/tornado threat has disappeard. I can be thankful for that.

As for training, it wasn't easy, but I don't have kids and I have a husband who's very understanding. I did the trifuel 36 week program, and it was great for me (www.trifuel.com- under the training section). When I do another, I'll use that program again. As for nutrition for going long distance, I used the book Going Long by Friel and somebody else (can't remember). Excellent book on fueling for iron distance events.

[Tri Girl]

I'm soooooooo glad you posted about this, RM!!! Thank you for sharing your findings. If you hadn't- I wouldn't have sought someone to do the test and get myself measured. I think knowing EXACTLY the number of calories I need to consume will be very beneficial (for weight loss currently, but also for maintaining weight and when I do another IM I'll know exactly how much to eat to fuel me properly).

So I did the RMR test yesterday.
The test was nothing exciting. Like RM- I had to do some adjusting to make sure the mask had a snug fit (man- that was a little confining). I just sat in a chair with my feet propped up for 15 min. with a mask over my mouth and nose and had to be still and relax and breathe normally. It was interesting, but VERY hard for me to sit still that long. I'm a figdeter, so being still that long was kinda tough.
He e-mailed me my results later this afternoon. Said my RMR was 1383 calories per day. There are 4 factors that go into figuring your daily caloric needs. RMR is one of them. The others are:
1. ADL (activities of daily living- what you burn just going about your normal day- I'm wearing a monitor for a week to measure how many calories I burn just doing normal things- not exercise).
2. TE (thermal effect of digesting, transporting and abosorbing food). Don't know how that's measured- we'll get into that next time.
3. Excercise (what you burn exercising daily)
4. RMR

He also said that depending on where you're at in your monthly cycle, your metabolism can have an increase of about 150 calories- you burn more at mid-cycle. Interesting. I didn't know that. No wonder I want to eat more at certain times of the month.

After I turn in my monitor that's measuring my calories burned through daily activity (non-exercise) we'll figure in exercise and the thermal effect then come up with a number of how many calories to eat daily to lose (and then maintain). I'm very excited. Sometimes too much information is just- well, too much information. But in this case, I think too much information is a good thing. Hopefully it'll get my butt in gear and help me lose this weight that I've been struggling with for a year.

Thanks, RM and rabidgirl for all your help!!!!