Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR)

[SunsetRunner]

I recently got my Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested, and it's rated as 10% slower than "normal." Does a normal RMR rate figure into the amount of calories that my Fitbit says I can eat every day?  If yes, how do I account for my slower RMR, do I just assume that I have to eat less than what it's telling me I can? Thanks!

[JohnnyRow]

You can check what fitbit is using for your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) by looking at calorie burn chart overnight while you are asleep.  If your test did not give you an actual burn amount, it's tough what their "normal" is.  And there are different thoughts as to how accurate BMR tests actually are, depending on how they are done.

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

What was the test?

Wear a mask with hose lying down in low light first thing in the morning for about 20 min?

Fitbit is basing calorie burn estimates on BMR, which is a tad lower than RMR (Basal VS Resting Metabolic Rate) anyway.

If you have some actual numbers and not a %, then you can run a calc for what RMR would be based on gender, age, weight, height.

Lower the height until it matches in the calc.

Then do the same on your Fitbit stats for the BMR figure.

And then correct your stride-length back up to normal or all kinds of calc's will be screwed up and you might as well not even use it.

BUT. Huge pause.

Were you in a diet prior to that test?

If so, and depending on how long or how steep the deficit - you may have caused it to go lower than expected.

Tests of people NOT in a diet in prior 3 months shows vast majority within 5% of calculated. Yes some are outside that and you could be. But....

In which case lowering everything down is not the answer - that is merely chasing and running into the ground your metabolism that would serve you better flying high.

So be very careful setting everything to be lower and possibly causing it to lower yet more.

Now, you can only make the body adapt so much. It can only slow you down so much. It can only lose hair and stop growing nails so much to conserve energy. It can only stop keeping you warm so much when cool out. Eventually you can eat so low weight will be lost.

And I hope that description stands out showing how stressed the body is in that state.

And people that do that are part of the 80% that fail to reach goal weight or maintain for any decent length of time, because of the huge negative on the body.

Were you in a diet prior to the test, if yes how long?