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Resting Metabolic Assessment FAQ

Do I need to do anything to prepare for the assessment? What is my Resting Metabolic Rate? How is RMR measured? Why would I need to know my RMR? Tried every Diet known to man, yet little success? As an athlete why would I want or need to know this number? What factors affect RMR? Can I do multiple assessments on the same day e.g. A resting metabolic assessment followed by an exercise metabolic assessment? What weight loss program shall I follow? Can I lose weight through diet alone How do I schedule an assessment? Where is My Fitness Company located? Do I need to do anything to prepare for the assessment? For accurate results you should: Don't eat or drink anything(except water) 8 to 12 hours prior to the assessment. Don't work out the day before or the day of the assessment (avoid physical activity as much as possible before the assessment). Additional Instructions What is my Resting Metabolic Rate? Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the minimum number of calories your body needs to support its basic physiological functions, including breathing, circulating blood and all of the numerous biochemical reactions required to keep you alive. Your RMR is generally 60-75% of your total daily caloric expenditure. How is RMR measured? During the RMR assessment you will wear a breathing mask connected to a computerized device. The device measures your RMR based on oxygen consumption. For every calorie you burn, you consume a fixed amount of oxygen; we measure the oxygen and calculate the number of calories. During the assessment you will be asked to relax and breathe through your mouth. We like to think of this as the easiest assessment in history! Why would I need to know my RMR? Knowing the minimum number of calories your body needs is important if you're trying to lose, gain or maintain your current weight. Restricting calories below your RMR is like asking your car's engine to run on too little gas. When you cut calories BELOW your RMR, your body fights back and can go into starvation mode. This will in turn lower your RMR and can have a serious impact on both your health and your athletic performance. RMR is 60 to 75% of your total caloric needs; as such it should be used when planning nutrition for endurance events and ensuring that athletes consume the right amount of calories. Tried every Diet known to man, yet little success? Knowing your RMR tells you how much you need to eat to fuel your body, most diets start with what you should eat and do not take your personal caloric needs into account. It has been suggested that using the Harris-Benedict equation you can calculate your RMR based on height, weight and gender; however the formula has a 1000 calorie margin of error, so might not be appropriate for you. Your resting metabolic rate is impacted by multiple different things, hormones, body composition and activity to name a few. The calculations do not take these factors into account, by measuring your resting metabolic rate you will have an accurate number to use. As an athlete \ triathlete why would I want or need to know this number? You are asking your body to get you from point A to point B, so wouldn�t it be great to know exactly what your body needs to get you there? An Exercise Metabolic assessment measures the number of calories you use in each Heart Rate Zone � in other words, during exercise your body also needs fuel to support its basic physiological functions; RMR tells you how many calories you need. What factors affect RMR? Body Composition: Muscle burns more calories than fat so if you increase your lean muscle mass, you increase your RMR Exercise/Activity Level: You can increase your RMR through exercise Caloric Restriction: Sending your body into starvation mode through caloric restriction can decrease your RMR Age: Your RMR can decrease with age, though not as much as first thought Hormones Can I do multiple assessments on the same day e.g. A resting metabolic assessment followed by an exercise assessment? You might not be training hard enough, or you could even potentially be training too hard. We suggest doing a resting metabolic assessment which will measure how many calories you need each day as well as an exercise metabolic assessment. Exercise assessments measures your individualized training zones the training zones are used to build an efficient training plan that will help you achieve your fitness and weight management goals. What do I need to do to prepare for a Resting Metabolic Assessment? Do not eat or drink anything except water for 12 hours, in addition do not exercise the day before or morning of metabolic assessments as this will impact your results. Can I do a Resting and Exercise assessment on the same day? Yes you can, we suggest scheduling the Resting assessment in the early morning and directly follow it with the Exercise assessment. Our Bucktown location has a shower for our customer�s use, so you can get ready for work and leave from here if you choose to. How often can I do a Resting Metabolic assessment? The factors that affect your resting metabolic rate can change slowly over time. We suggest re-assessing resting metabolic rate every 8 to 12 weeks. What weight loss program shall I follow? At My Fitness Company we do not subscribe to any specific diet, we partner with a Nutritionist in the area to provide you with a personalized plan. Alternatively if you�re following a diet that your comfortable with we suggest that you use the RMR with your current plan. When selecting a weight loss plan we suggest that you follow the American College of Sports Medicines guidelines: ACSM identifies a desirable weight loss program as one that meets the following criteria: Provides intake no lower than 12oo kcal/day for normal adults and allows proper distribution of foods to meet nutritional requirements. Provides negative caloric balance (not to exceed 500 to 1000 kcal/day), resulting in gradual weight loss. Includes an exercise program that promotes a daily caloric expenditure of more than 300 kcal. Can I lose weight through diet alone? The National Weight Control registry found that 89% of people who lost 30 or more pounds and kept it off for at least one year accomplished their goals through a combination of diet and exercise � only 10% succeeded using diet alone and only 1 % using exercise alone. How do I schedule an assessment? Scheduling Details Where is My Fitness Company located? Location Details