Metabolism Test

Today I had my metabolism test at Kaiser. The results were expected (by me anyway) but still disappointing.

First, my metabolism was 18% below normal. That can be due to dieting/low calorie intake but there are many other factors including just having a family history of being slugs. ;-) And, I pretty much have NO muscles, LOL. Very squishy. My granddaughters love it for cuddling. Just like a marshmallow...

So for the actual test, you breathe through a tube for 10 minutes and it measures oxygen and carbon dioxide as you inhale and exhale. From that it can determine metabolism, and calories burned under different circumstances.

So if I never moved all day I would burn 1037 calories to maintain my current weight. Normal daily movement takes me up to 1336. And adding real exercise allows more calories to be eaten while without gaining- so for example 30 minutes of exercise takes the calorie figure up to 1454.

I'm actually not tracking calories right now, but it would be interesting to test this by coming up with maybe two weeks of meals at right about 1300 calories and see what the scale does.

So of course it would be nice to have these numbers be higher (a faster - or more normal- metabolism), but I was told they've seen lower! Age, hormones, lack of sleep, and stress are also factors that impact metabolism.

The paper they gave me with my results also said that my BMI was 25, which according to the chart I looked at was just over the edge from normal into overweight, but waaaay below obese, where I used to be.