Almost a week ago I blogged about my testing. This is a follow up blog to share my results. We've heard it time and time again, but the bottom line seems to be I haven't been eating enough calories.

"There is one basic truth to weight loss (and I believe we all agree on it): You need to burn more than you eat. Target Metabolic Zones tell you exactly how to do that. The following results of your test show you precisely how many calories your body actually burns, and calculates how many calories you should eat to lose or maintain your weight.

There are 3 categories under "What you burn" --

* Exercise - This is an estimate of the number of calories you would burn with 30 minutes at a moderate exercise level

* Lifestyle & Activity - This is the number of calories you burn performing your daily activities...working, playing, eating, etc. Activity accounts for a significant portion of the calories you burn each day.

* Resting Metabolic Rate - Today we measured your Metabolic Rate. This is the number of calories your body burns everyday at rest.

So my TOTAL ENERGY OUTPUT is a combination of the 3 categories above (RMR + LIfestyle + Exercise) = 3,549 calories

The next section indicates how much to eat and explains I need to burn more calories than I eat.

* Maintenance Zone / 2491 to 3238. Once you reach your goal weight, this is how many calories your body needs to maintain your weight.

* Weight Loss Zone / 1993 to 2491. Comfortable weight loss comes from eating slightly less calories than your body needs. By eating healthy foods throughout the day you should not feel hungry.

* Medically Supervised Zone / 0 to 1993. Very low calorie diets should only be done under medical supervision. Supervision is required to ensure adequate nutrition, and to monitor and treat the potential slowing of metabolic rate.

NOTE: These ranges are unique because my metabolic rate was compared to what is "normal" for my age, height, weight, and sex. The test determined my metabolic rate is normal.

Prior to the test, I was aiming for a caloric range of 1500 to 1800 calories per day and what I've learned from this test is that based on my stats, I wasn't consuming ENOUGH calories. It becomes further complicated by the fact that I'm a T2 Diabetic, and as a result my carb intake is strictly limited. I do not use insulin but I do take 2 Metformin 500mg ER per day, so it's important to balance my carb intake with respect to blood sugar control. I also have to monitor my blood sugar before and after exercise and base my food intake on those numbers.

I'm still processing this information. I'm going to fax it to my endocrinologist and ask for her input and share it with the nurse who coaches me from my insurance provider. I'm determined and I'm not going to let this plateau I've been on get the best of me!



P.S. We had to defer my Vo2 Sub Max Test to this week due to a problem with the equipment.