Had My BMR tested..

Hi Ladies! I just wanted to let you know that I had my BMR tested.  My BMR is 1681, they said this is above average for my age, weight, etc.  Figuring in "light activity" for a lifestyle which is very worse case scenerio (b/c I work as a nurse 2 days a week on a floor but that's it) and stay busy otherwise around the house, running errands, etc.. I also run 3-5 times a week 2 miles at a time and haven't done too much strength training so far, but plan to increase what I have done (free weights to circuits), the test said I could consume 2353 calories to MAINTAIN!  Now we know that CANNOT be right for a WLS patient.  It also said my Fuel burning mixture was 88% fat and 12% carbs. So the trainer that did my test told me this. 1) My 1200 calorie a day diet is too low.  See.. I am losing but its slow now that I am below my own personal goal and pretty much feel it will stop here soon.  I am 135ish, personal goal was 140.  I wanna now go down to 130 though to be honest.  I am 5'5" and smaller bone frame. 2) He says I will bring my BMR down by eating so "little" that I should strive to get my cals up near 1600 (closer to my BMR) to avoid bringing my BMR down in the future which he says for me could be devastating.. would gain weight back, now is the time to correct this.  He says the body will get used to this little caloric level over time.  He also said I process carbs terribly and fats well.. I actually already had this figured out on my own and strive for more good fats and less carbs. 3) I took this info to the PA and nutritionist at my doc's office.. they honestly didn't know what to tell me.. that I was in tune enough with my body and will "get it figured out". I already know I am eating the right foods, complex carbs, low fat dairy, lean meats (get in 100 grams a day of protein) and don't eat sugar or white refined flours, pastas breads, carbs of any kind. But at the same time I wanna keep being successful and not sabotage myself inadvertently by destroying my BMR now by eating too little?  What are your thoughts?  I paid good money to have this test done and so far nobody can assist me with it :(  Thanks so much!

As some background, I had my BMR tested back in May and it came at just under 2000 calories per day.  At that point, I weighed 205 pounds (down from 396), was eating an average of 2300 calories per day and losing 3-5 pounds per month.  I was lifting weights for upper and lower body 2x per week, and doing 40-60 minutes of cardio 3-5x per week.   I agree with the trainer that your 1200 calorie a day diet is too low.  I also agree that by eating too little, you're actually slowing your BMR down below what it could be.  Think of your BMR as a fire that needs to be stoked.  If you don't give the fire enough fuel, it burns slowly and goes out sometimes.  If you stoke it regularly, it will burn longer and more efficiently.   I would not suggest that you immediately jump to eating 2300 calories per day though.  It would confuse your body and, since you haven't been eating quite enough calories, it may just store them up and save them for a rainy day, if you get my meaning.  I would suggest adding calories to your diet - start out by adding another 150-200 calories per day - and see how your body reacts.  I know it seems counterintuitive that you need to eat more to continue losing, but it does work.  I've done this and so has one of my co-workers who did not have WLS.  (She was eating 1200 calories per day and had plateaued.  She worked her way back up to 1500 calories per day in 100 calorie increments, lost another 7-10 pounds and is maintaining on 1500 calories per day).  You'll want to stick to your regular protein/carb/fat ratio when you start adding calories so you can keep your nutrition in balance.  One of the other things you can try to bump up your metabolism is to eat several smaller meals/snacks throughout the day rather than 3 "regular" meals.  This works on the principal about keeping the "fire" going; stoke it will small amounts regularly and it will burn continually.  I eat 5-6 small meals/snacks over the course of the day, followed by dinner and sometimes a small snack in the evening.  Here's a typical day for me: Breakfast:  1 cup 1% milk in coffee, Quaker weight control oatmeal Snack:  1 cup low-fat cottage cheese w/ 4 tbsp. sugar-free preserves and splenda Snack:  banana or apple or orange (if I'm going to workout at lunch time) Lunch:  Lean cuisine or leftover protein w/ veggie and/or salad Snack:  large non-fat latte or 6 oz. light yogurt w/ 1/3 cup Kellogg's AllBran buds Snack:  1 slice whole wheat breat, 3 slices smoked turkey, 1 slice lowfat cheese Dinner:  5-6 oz. protein, veggie and/or salad (this really varies, but is generally 350-500 calories) Snack:  something around 100 calories - a couple sugar-free fudgesicles, a haagen-daas frozen yogurt bar, etc.   My BMR is still running between 1800-2000 calories per day (according to my body composition monitor) and I'm still losing between 3-5 pounds per mond (closer to 3 most months, but still on a downward trend).  This plan is something I feel like I can follow on a long-term basis, so I'll be in good shape when I'm ready to maintain.   Boy, I feel like I've been rambling on, but I hope some of this is helpful.  Keep seeking information, analyzing and digesting it, until you find something that works for you.  Please, please, please do not be hesitant about adding a few calories to your diet; I think you'll be amazed at the results (who knew we could eat more to weigh less????).   Good luck on your continuing journey -  Kellie

The last response was great!  Let me add a few thoughts.  The RMR or BMR is a measured value, analyzing your body's use of fuel.  This measurement can change from day to day (with activity) and based on the type of foods you are eating (this affects the efficiency of fuel burning somewhat).  The activity factor on the other hand is a calculation - based on some decent data, but generalized to a population of people. I wouldn't suggest for a second that you bump your calories up to 2300 - at least not until you start running marathons. You can clearly see that your body can utilize 1600 calories per day. You have an excellent knowledge of nutrition, types of foods to eat, etc. Start slow, add more calories and see the results. I'm not sure I completely agree with the sabotaging your BMR - but studies have shown long term effects of very low calorie diets.  The fact is many WLS people may already have long term effects on their BMR from chronic dieting (pre-op) or the starvation of weight loss (post-op). What do you need help with - are you reluctant to increase your calories?

Yes, honestly I am.  Also I have my protein at 100 grams already sometimes more and I know I am maxed out on that.. my fat is already at 35% of my diet.  Its the carbs that scare me.. I go over a 100 grams and find the scale goes up almost immediately.  How do I add calories?

What type of carbs are you adding?  Do you see gains from all types of carbs?  Do you have better luck with whole-grains, fresh fruits, fresh veggies, etc?  Or do those also cause you to gain?  Can you try adding one carb item to your daily routine for a couple weeks - a banana, a glass of skim milk, an apple, a slice of whole grain toast, etc. - and see what happens?   If you have been eating fewer calories than your BMR on a consistent basis, your body may initially "stash" your carbs in the form of a slight gain.  That's a normal reaction because your body hasn't been getting enough energy to meet your daily needs, and it wants to set something aside for the proverbial rainy day.  (As evolved as we are, we are just animals and thousands of years of self-preservation programming just doesn't go away...)  I honestly think if you do this for a more extended period of time -- several weeks -- so your body knows that more calories are coming on a regular basis, that you will start to lose again.  I'm pretty confident because that's what happened to me.  But you have to make choices that you're comfortable with.   Anyway, good luck on your continuing journey -  Kellie

Hi Kellie, thanks for all the help! You asked what type of carbs I am adding.. I don't eat ANY white refined carbs at all or flours, breads, pastas, etc.. My carbs consist of whole grains, low glycemic fruits, nonstartchy low glycemic vegtables, some milk (low or nonfat) dairy carbs, and beans oh and what is in protein bars and kashi go lean cereal.  That is it.  I usually get in around 80-90 grams of carbs, 100-115 proteins, and 35% of my 1200 calories from fat, which usually is around 37ish grams around there.  My BMR testing said I was bad carbohydrate fuel burning so it scares me to up those.. carbs are what got me obese and I understand the ones I am eating are good for me but nonetheless scare the hell out of me honestly.  I just love how far I have come and don't want to put the weight back on yet don't want to sabotage myself with this whole eating too low thing.. today was 1250 calories but then you see all these farther out postops eating NOTHING.. like less than 1000 calories a day, even with exercise, I DO NOT GET THAT!  So I am just confused... thanks for you help, its good to see a postop eating a bit more than 800 a day.

When you had your BMR tested at New Leaf, did you also do the exercise test to see what type of energy you are burning at different heart rates?  It would have been a 10-15 minute test on piece of cardio equipment while you were wearing your mask.  I ask because I'm trying to figure out what they meant by telling you were are bad at burning carbohydrate fuel.  I used New Leaf as well and my rep was able to tell me, based on my exercise test, what type of fuel (carbs or stored fat) I was burning at different heart rates.  My rep made some recommendations about my cardio routine to help me improve my ability to burn more stored energy (fat) in a broader range of heart rates.  I'm not sure whether changing up your cardio routine could help you improve your ability to burn carbs, but it might be worth checking into.  Our body's ability to adapt and change is pretty amazing...

Anyway, if you have additional questions about the information you got from New Leaf, you may want to call them back with some follow-up questions.  My rep was super responsive in helping me understand the information from my test, and hopefully your rep will do the same.   I could never eat 1000-1200 calories per day on a long-term basis; it's just not going to happen.  I still like food too much.  Plus, my body would not function well on that few calories.  It may work for some folks, but it doesn't work for me.  Not everyone who has WLS eats that little, but most folks I know who are eating ~2000 calories per day and maintaining their loss are diligent exercisers.   Good luck on your continuing journey -  Kellie

Hi Kellie! Yes, I did do the "active" portion of the test where I ran on the treadmill and was able to see my different zones.  The resting one gave me my fuel mixture though.. 88% fat burned to 12% carbs.  The active portion told me how many fat calories per total calories I burned in each heart rate zone.  Also told me what my aerobic base and anerobic threshold was.  It did not tell me how many carbs I was burning at each stage just how many fat calories.  But it did tell me that once I got to my AT that I was only burning carbohydrates at that point.  I spent a lot of time with the trainer and understand all the information it provided me, just may not be the same details as you got.  It is weird how we are so different.  I know of others that are working out like 2 hours a day and still only eating 1200 calories and maintaining their weights, I have to believe they are killing their basal metabolic rates doing this and doing a huge injustice for themselves.. sure they won't gain but do they realize they CAN eat more and still maintain.. I guess this is where I get confused and you Kellie are the minority and I tend to agree with you that we should eat a bit more to keep from letting our BMR's get too low so we can avoid regain in the future.  Why sabotage ourselves now so we can regain later?  It's sad if you think about it.. there are so many afraid to eat more and then kill their BMR's and then later regain when they felt they were doing the "right" thing all along.. now if I can just get over my fear and allow myself to creep up my cals.  I am not exercising these past couple weeks like I normally do so I am keeping it at 1200 cals for now but after the first of the year when things slow down a lot for me its back in the gym and I will start creeping the cals up to meet my BMR.. thanks so much for helping me with this.. I just need to get over my fears some.  *hugs*

You're doing the right things, Melissa; gathering information, analyzing it critically, and making good decisions for yourself.  And realizing that there is no "one size fits all" solution.   For me, I'm seeking a balance between being comfortable with how much I eat, what I eat, and how much I exercise.  I'm also not concerned with being a particular size or weight; I'm going to keep "tweaking" my plan to improve my health and overall fitness.  If I continue to lose weight, that's great.  If not and my body settles in somewhere, that's fine too.  I know I'm much healthier at 189 pounds than I was at 396 pounds!!!   Good luck on your continuing journey.  Continue to seek information, analyze it, think about it, etc.  Keep what works for you, and let the rest go... Kellie

Thank you.. congrats to you on looking at how you feel in the "big picture" finding a way to eat what you can with the exercise you do and be HEALTHY.. so important.  I congratulate you and thank you for helping me understand my own personal journey better.. Merry Christmas to you and yours and may you have a very happy and HEALTHY 2008!