The science and technology of metabolic testing can provide powerful information to help you design the most effective weight management strategy possible. Here are the 6 reasons that our clients have valued this service:
1. You value precise data to help guide your efforts.
Metabolic testing provides the most accurate commercially available measurement of how many calories you burn. While other forms of determining caloric utilization exist – formulas, internet calculators, spreadsheets, etc – they are only estimates or predictions. The problem is that estimation is very often incorrect, and the figures that are calculated by these methods are based on an entire population, not your specific body. In fact, some of the more widely used predictive formulas & equations were developed over 60 years ago, for a population with a much lower average BMI & bodyweight. In other words, the formulas may not apply to you. And if your eating plan is based on an inaccurate figure, the whole plan can fail. With metabolic testing, you receive a precise number that is based on your body’s specific makeup. Science, not guesswork, is what will carry you to the finish line.
2. You are tired of suffering through low-calorie diets.
With metabolic testing, you can say goodbye to unsustainable, low-calorie diets. Have you ever been on a crash diet that left you tired, irritable, and unable to enjoy life? Well, this type of diet is not necessary, and definitely not a long-term strategy for success. In many cases, these ultra-low caloric limits were established through estimation methods, like those mentioned above. What if you were able to eat more calories, and STILL lose weight? For example, let’s say your current low-calorie diet requires you consume no more than 1200 calories a day, because that was your PREDICTED metabolic rate. Taking a metabolic test may show that your MEASURED Resting Metabolic Rate – the energy required just to sustain life – is 1700 calories a day. That means you can eat an additional 500 calories and STILL lose weight. This may sound like a fabricated scenario, but this very phenomenon has occurred many, many times with our clients at The Maven Method.
3. You want to prioritize building or maintaining muscle.
Metabolic testing is a powerful tool to help you build & maintain muscle. If someone is looking to lose weight at all costs, they may get away with randomly restricting calories. On the other hand, if your desire is to build and/or maintain muscle – which, frankly, should be on everyone’s goal list – a more nuanced approach is necessary. To build/maintain muscle, adequate calories should be consumed to keep the body in an anabolic state. Eating too few calories can cause the body to burn its own muscle for fuel & maintenance. Metabolic testing can provide this important caloric target. Once this target is established, we can determine specifically how much protein, carbs, and fat you should be consuming for maximum results.
4. You want to track your body composition changes over time.
Metabolic testing is a perfect way to determine if your body composition is trending in the desired direction. Lean body tissues – such as muscle – tend to utilize more energy than non-lean cells. That’s why increasing muscle is a great way to increase your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Let’s say you took a metabolic test today that measured your RMR at 1800 cal/day. If you take a subsequent test in three months that measures your RMR 1950 calories, while bodyweight stayed the same, that suggests an increase in muscle and a loss of fat. On the other hand, if your subsequent test measures your RMR at 1650 cal/day, with no change in bodyweight, that signifies a possible loss of lean tissue, and may suggest that a change in dietary patterns may be needed.
5. You want to gain weight in a healthy way.
Metabolic testing can guide your efforts to increase bodyweight in a healthy way. While one might scoff at the idea of someone intentionally trying to gain weight, many people have sought to increase their weight for a variety of reasons: athletic performance, recovery from illness, doctor’s orders, aesthetic/visual goals. For those people, they must eat above a specified minimum of calories each day. Rather than eating as many calories as you can and hoping you hit the target, a more effective method is to employ the science of metabolic testing to measure your body’s specific caloric minimum, then use that figure to construct a diet with the optimal amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to allow your body to grow
6. You are convinced that you have a “slow” metabolism.
Metabolic testing can confirm if you metabolism is relatively “slow” or “fast”. We often have an idea or “gut feeling” of how our body operates, with no corresponding data to support it. Those unfounded feelings may be discouraging, and may have someone feeling like they are doomed to their genetic fate. But just because you are gaining weight, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your metabolism is slow. In reality, after a metabolic test, you may realize that your metabolism is relatively quite “fast”, which would change the strategy of your weight loss program. At The Maven Method, we don’t base our programs on gut feelings – we utilize the science to create successful eating solutions.