First of all - please be patient and pardon my english (I'm Norwegian! :tu:)...

But I have a problem, and after reading this forum for a long time, I hope there is someone out there who perhaps has some thoughts about it, either from personal experience or other sources...

After a long period of illness, bad (=low) food intake and dramatical weight loss, I am now quite underweight. Some while ago I got concerned for my health, and read alot about nutrition.
By using the Harris-Benedict BMR formula and other charts, I figured out that with my weight and height my BMR is about 1500-1600, and including a sedentary work and light activity, I should burn about 2200 kcal a day to maintain my weight.

But recently I went to the hospital, where I let a nutritionist measure my BMR through indirect calorimeter. It came out that my actual BMR is about 25 % lower than what it should be for someone with my weight and height! It came out with 1100 kcal a day :cry:

The nutritionist didn't give me too many answers, other than vague ones, like increase your food intake, and exercise...


I am counting calories in and out, and my net calorie intake is about 1500 now...I know I should gain some kg's, but most important, I want to know how to increase my metabolism!
I read the Minnesota "starvation study", where even those who had a 40 % drop in their metabolism normalized their BMR, but I would like some information on how to do this, and how quick it could happen...

Let's say I now start to eat 2000 net calories a day. That would give me a surplus of about 500 calories (1100 (BMR) x 1,375 (PAL)) a day, and should make me gain 1 lb a week. But for how long do you think I'd be gaining weight? Will my BMR at some point return to where it "should be", at about 1500 calories - or do I really have to live on egg whites and cauliflower the rest of my life? (not that I don't like it :p )


I hope you had the patience to read all this, and do you have any oppinions, don't hesitate to spit it out!

BTW, I could probably add that I do exercise every day, and burning about 300 calories (yes, that's extra calories!) a day through walking and cardio...

It's pretty simple really...Just start eating more :p You're already above your nurse tested BMR right? so just keep at it. You can always go above 500 over if you want more then 1lbs a week. I'm not sure what is too overboard for a surplus on calories, but I'm thinking you shouldn't wory about it since you want to regain the fat aswell as muscle that you had before right?

I figured out that with my weight and height my BMR is about 1500-1600, and including a sedentary work and light activity, I should burn about 2200 kcal a day to maintain my weight.

I don't quite get what you're saying here though. If you want to gain weight do little cardio and more weight lifting. I would say no cardio but a lot of people suggest a bit when bulking.

The more weight you gain will up your BMR. so the bigger you get the more you'll have to eat to keep gaining weight.

I don't know what my exact BMR is today, I have only done one test, and haven't gained much since then...

The reason I do the cardio is to increase my Total Energy Expenditure, so I can eat as normal as possible...

Okay, so let's say I make it up to 60 kg, which is not too far from where I was before I lost weight (I have always been a light weighter). Will I still have a slow metabolism? I know that the BMR increases with more weight and more cells in the body, but as I said I'm already 25 % lower than what is normal, even for my underweight.

If I gain about 7 kg's (14-15 lbs) that would be fine with me, but do I then have to go back to the 1500 calories a day to maintain that weight, or will I then have a "new" BMR that lets me eat more than 2000?

There are so many questions...:p

Lift heavy weights.
Eat more good food.
Build more muscle.
Watch BMR increase.

Repeat.

Muscle increases BMR (and thus TDE) faster than anything else. The process of adding muscle takes energy. The process of maintaining it takes energy. Make yourself strong and it will help your BMR out tremendously.

Yes, I know about the weight lifting/BMR thing...

But if anyone out there has personal experience with gaining his or her metabolism/BMR, it would be interesting to hear!:tu:

And how long do you think it would take before my metabolism normalizes if I now start to eat net 2000 calories?