Body Analysis Testing

A few months back AJ booked us in to a special exercise science studio for Metabolic Function Analysis. AJ works at a company where they are offer free health coaching and his health coach suggested that we do this to get a better understanding of our metabolisms and the foods we should be eating for weight loss. I was a little nervous because the centre deals primarily with elite athletes and it all looked a little serious for me because I don’t really believe over analyzing weight loss, but I thought it would be interesting.

The main reason we went was for the metabolism test where you breathe into a machine for 12 minutes and the machine tells you how you metabolise food. I went first and was told that my metabolism run 5% slower than the average person, which didn’t really surprise me too much. Then AJ was up next and his results showed that his metabolism runs at a 20% faster rate than the average person. Feel free to hate him.

We didn't do the Bod Pod test to get an exact reading of body fat/muscle analysis because I wasn't certain of the accuracy when I have a lot of loose skin that needs to be removed. I guess it would be interesting to do it one day, but I’m not really sure if knowing how much of my body is fat or muscle will impact on my life too much…

We were booked in for a 2 hour session but in the end we were getting bored so we cut it short so we could go shopping. The person running the session reminded me of one of those guys trying to sell you a gym membership. He didn’t really listen to us and just seemed to give us the standard spiel. I was prepared to tell him that I had lap band surgery and had previously lost 50 kilos, but I honestly couldn't get a word in and so I gave up.

TESTS

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).

Resting Metabolic Rate: This is the number of calories your body burns everyday at rest.

MY RESULTS

Exercise: 190 calories

Lifestyle & Activity: 456 calories

Resting Metabolic Rate: 1526 calories

To maintain my current weight: 1526 - 1982 calories per day

To lose weight: 1222 - 1526 calories per day

The consultant told me that to lose 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) per week I would need to eat 1400 calories a day and exercise for at least 30 minutes per day. He advised I balance my diet out as following:

40% carbs
40% protein
20% fat

If I ate like that I would be the side of a house! There is no way my PCOS body could tolerate 40% carbohydrates, but of course I wasn't able to tell him that because he was more interested at talking at me rather than listening to me.

I am probably being a little harsh on the poor guy, he really wasn't that bad. I understand that he is used to working with dedicated athletes so I don't think he knew what to do with a fat woman who has no interest in dedicating her life to exercise or calorie counting. It was a fascinating experience though and I'm glad we did it. I do recommend body analysis testing if you are curious to see your numbers... or just want to wear a nose clip and breathe into a tube for 12 minutes...

You can tell this was taken a few months ago because I am wearing my skinny jeans that no longer fit!

AJ taking this test very seriously! (stupid photo won't flip the right way, sorry)