Low metabolic rate?

[E7]

I could use some advice.  My metabolic rate is apparently so low that on a day when I don't exercise I burn no more than about 1600 calories, if that.

Even on an active day, the total calorie count (per my Charge HR) is really low. A couple of days ago, I spent about 20 minutes on a bike to get to the gym, did 50 minutes of rowing (which fitbit confirmed got my heart rate up to pretty high levels), then spent about 35 minutes walking to work. My work is entirely devoid of physical activity, but I spent another 20 minutes or so walking on my commute home. This is probably the most active kind of weekday I'm ever likely to manage. Grand total: 1989 calories.

How can that be?  Am I doing something wrong? And how can I possibly do more?

[whome]

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@E7 wrote:

How can that be?  Am I doing something wrong? And how can I possibly do more?

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 #1 - How can that be?

  The human body is an amazingly efficient machine. It takes a lot of work to burn a lot of calories and you may not appreciate just how much you ARE burning. Maybe it will help to think of this - on a regular day you burn 1600cal/24hr. That is 200cal/3hr or 66/hr. The day you gave as an example with biking, rowing, and walking for about 2 hours you burnt an extra 400 calories or 266 cal/hr. That is quite bit. Don't put yourself down when you quadrupled your average output for 2 hours that day. But it also helps explain why you will see people around here point out that "fitness is made in the gym, weight loss is made in the kitchen" or "you can't out-exercise a bad diet".

 #2 - Am I doing something wrong?

  Doesn't sound like it to me!

 #3 - And how can I possibly do more?

 You say you have a sedentary job. Is there anyway you can arrange to stand up to work for part of the day? Every little bit helps. 

 One last thing - don't be in a big hurry to lose the weight, you probably didn't gain it all at once and it usually isn't a good idea to try to lose it all at once - or as I like to phrase it "be the tortoise, not the hare" or "slow and steady wins the race"

 Keep up the good work and you WILL see results - good luck

Craig

[E7]

Thanks, whome!  That's a very encouraging answer, much appreciated.  For context: I'm not so much looking to lose weight right now, but more looking to tone up/gain some muscle definition. I don't really know much about the science of exercise, but it seems that a combination of cardio and strength training (plus good nutrition) is the recipe, but I have some doubts that it works at such low caloric levels.

My fitbit put my default calorie goal at 2,033 for the day.  (In the same way as its default settings call for 10,000 steps and 10 flights of stairs.)  I'm assuming this is based on age, gender, and weight, or some such combination.  But apart from weekend days that involve a lot of walking, I'm having trouble reaching this goal.  I'm hitting 10K steps and 10 flights routinely, but even on pretty heavy exercise days, the 2,033 calorie goal remains elusive.  I'm just wondering if the goal is wrong or if I'm not looking at this the right way.

[Dominique]

It’s difficult to say if 1600 calories is high or low without knowing anything about you. Your BMR and TDEE depend on the following factors: age, gender, weight, height. You can use this calculator to get a "second opinion". It uses the same Mifflin-St. Jeor formula used by Fitbit, so the results should be quite close.

[Dominique]

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@E7 wrote:

My fitbit put my default calorie goal at 2,033 for the day.  (In the same way as its default settings call for 10,000 steps and 10 flights of stairs.)  I'm assuming this is based on age, gender, and weight, or some such combination.  But apart from weekend days that involve a lot of walking, I'm having trouble reaching this goal.  I'm hitting 10K steps and 10 flights routinely, but even on pretty heavy exercise days, the 2,033 calorie goal remains elusive.  I'm just wondering if the goal is wrong or if I'm not looking at this the right way.

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Yes, the default calorie goal set by Fitbit is rather challenging: merely reaching the default step goal (10,000 steps) will usually not be sufficient to reach the calorie goal. For instance, my own calorie goal (set by Fitbit) is 2566 calories; right now, it’s 11.20pm and I’ve only burned 2397 calories so far, although I have 10,441 steps and 91 active minutes. I’m a guy, 55, 174cm/66kg. The calorie goal set by Fitbit is very close to the TDEE I get with "High Activity (Hard Exercise 6-7 Days/Week)" using the TDEE calculator I mentioned in my other reply.

[E7]

Thanks, Dominique.  That's a very helpful calculator.  It suggests that fitbit may indeed be aiming rather high.  When I put in my data (female, 5'3", 111 lbs / 1.60m, 50 kg) and choose the "Maintain weight" option, I have to pick the "High Activity (Hard Exercise 6/7 Days/Week)" option before I get even close to fitbit's calorie recommendation.  The calculator says my BMR is in the high 1100s.  Yikes. 

[Corney]

Let me preface this by saying I'm not a Doctor.  After reviewing my Merck's manual, it may be Hypothyroidism.  Symptoms include slow Heart rate, dry scaly, coarse skin, drooply eyelids, constipation, forgetfulness, and many more. Another cause may be low muscle mass, since muscle burns calories 24 hours a day, but judging from your activity level I doubt that is the case.  If this really concerns you, you should consult your Doctor.

[emili]

@E7- I mean this with the utmost respect- you are tiny, your BMR is going to be low. Which is actually just right for you. I agree that your focus is excercise and shouldn't be about calories. If you want to read about differences in cardio, lifting, etc... http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/ when you have time. he explains the difference between each activity really well.

[Dominique]

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@emili wrote:

@E7- I mean this with the utmost respect- you are tiny, your BMR is going to be low.

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Yes, it’s exactly what it is about: we expend energy at different rates depending on our size, age and gender. Just like a subcompact car needs far less gasoline to cover the same distance at the same speed than some big gas-guzzler. It’s not fair when you go out at all-you-can-eat places and still pay the same as the big guys who ate three times as much as you do