Slow metabolism

Question
Laurie
My husband is 55, and healthy and normal except for his extremely slow metabolism.
Since we spend a lot of time together, we are both semi-retired, I can atest to the fact that he cant eat much more than 1500 calories a day or his weight creeps up. He is already overweight at 250 pounds at 5 feet 8 inches.
He does cardio daily, and eats only low glycemic carbs and very little fatty foods. He sees his physician twice a year, and there is no indication of thyroid or other problems. The doctor has chided him about his weight so I hva been accompanying him lately.  The doctor just shrugged and said he just has a slow metabolism.
As a child he was u nderweight and sickly, and had scarlett, fever, measles, mumps-you name it. Maybe these compromised his metabolism, or hormonal issues struck? because he says he was underweight  until adolescence, then became heavy at puberty.
Thanks for any insight. I have researched this issue and most people that claim to have slow naturally metabolisms probably dont

Answer
Hi Barb,
Thanks for your question!

I believe it's highly unlikely a man weighing 250 pounds cannot lose weight on a 1500 calorie intake while he does cardio daily and has no thyroid problems. I would place his energy expenditure much closer to 2500 calories, which means he should be losing 2 pounds a week on 1500.

There are a few explanations:
He may be eating when you aren't aware he is; he may be drinking hundreds of calories a day in juices, milk, coffee drinks or sodas which are not counted; you could possibly both be mistaken on your caloric estimates of foods and portion sizes; or he may be easily discouraged after a few days and be going 'on and off' the lower calorie diet during a typical week.

Your best move would be to find a local dietitian who can work with him one on one. She can have him keep a detailed food diary to review with him, and some medical centers have equipment that actually measures your metabolism (by merely breathing into a mask hooked up to machine for about 15 minutes!) which would be extremely helpful information.

I hope you find the solution, and don't hesitate to write back with any questions, or to let me know what's going on with his progress!

Laurie

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