I’ve always been told I have a fast metabolism because I eat lots of cakes and chocolate without getting fat. But, I’ve also been told it won’t last because after the age of 30 metabolism slows down by about 1% a year. There seems to be some truth in this because over the last few years I put on 14 lbs. So, when I was offered a metabolism test at a fitness centre, I couldn’t resist.

A small wire was taped to my hand and another to my foot. Then a tiny current was passed up and down between them. Like the Osron Body Fat Monitor this gadget measured resistance that blocks the flow of electrical current and calculated my percentage of body fat. The difference is that it claims to distinguish between fat and muscle or lean body weight.

In theory, women should have about 15 – 25% of their weight as fat, which I just managed to be within. But it was a shock to find out that I am carrying around almost 40 lbs of fat and 3 litres of excess fluid (toxins).

The machine produced a readout which looks like a credit card receipt. It told me to eat at least 1633 calories per day to maintain normal body functions (that’s without doing activity or exercise). Any less and my body would apparently go into starvation mode by slowing down my metabolism and taking the extra calories it needs from muscles rather than fat.

A personal trainer was on hand to help me interpret the results. He said I needed to lose 7 lbs of fat and gain 4 lbs of muscle. That’s probably good advice, but I’m not convinced the machine is capable of such accuracy and I don’t believe there has been enough research done to know what the ideal proportions are for each individual. But the readout does suggest that I do have a high metabolic rate and may be useful as a set of personal statistics to see if anything changes next year

Catherine

Osron Body Fat Monitor