calorie confusion

L

leilat33

New Member
Hi! I have been working out for a while now and just recently started with Cathe. I am confused as to my calorie intake for weight loss. I work out 6 days a week I need to lose 15lbs. I work out with cathe for 5 days usually 3 days cardio and two muscle and the other day swim or elip. at the gym. I have been reading the forums about various diets and methods and feel clean eating is the way for me. But do you count calories? if so how much do you need and why do some people eat different cal. intakes on different days?? I want to eat enough so that I can reach my best performance but is this dependant on how much or what you eat?? I currently work out about 500-700 cals a day and eat about 2000 is this correct to lose weight? or am I not eating enough? I know I am rambling but I have been so confused that it has actually affected my eating and working out b/c I don't know that I am doing the right thing...please help:)
leila
 
There are many plans to choose from when "dieting" or changing eating habits. Some count calories, some don't. I have found a good site for calorie info at http://www.hussman.org/fitness/index.htm

For me to lose weight, I eat about 1300-1500 (not including my 1 tbsp of flax a day). I'm 5'5" about 120-125 depending on the time of year :) I follow BFL and I don't count calories but occasionally log into fitday just to see where I'm at. I don't "measure" per se either but go by palm/fist measurements.

Some other plans to check out: WW, Body for Life, Zone, South Beach, Atkins, Leanness Lifestyle, Body RX, etc.

Colleen
 
Leila,

I have an idea that might help you, if you have a few funds. Where I work, we have a nutritionist, and she has recently acquired a tool called a Body Gem that very accurately (supposedly) calculates your resting metabolism, or what you would burn if you spent the whole day sleeping. You breathe into this tool which calculates your rate of oxygen exchange, which is what the calorie burning process is. The great thing about it is its so specialized to you - the nutritionist, who looks similar to me, had a resting metabolic rate of 1200 calories, whereas mine was 1420 - I might have assumed we needed the same number of calories, but this was not the case. When she factored in my daily activities without exercise, it was 1900 (this is walking, talking, shopping,etc) and when exercise was included, I'd need 2500 calories to maintain my weight!

This was very good info for me because I was trying to shoot at around 1300 calories, which I now know was probably slowing my metabolism and screwing with my progress. Now, on days when I don't exercise, I know 1400-1600 is still weight loss, and on exercise days, 1700-1900 would cause me to lose. Anyway, you might want to consider consulting a nutritionist (dietician) who has this technology so that you can find out your unique needs...
 
Hi, Leila, you don't necessarily need to count them, but you do need to have a rough idea of the caloric content of the foods you eat and also to be certainthat you are eating the correct serving size. Nutrition labels are wonderful for that and knowing how many servings of each protein, fat and carbohydrate you ate getting, how many you need to eat is not nearly as tricky as it seems when you start to consider the right diet for your lifestyle.

Here are some sites that might help.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/tnrockyrun/whatsa.htm
http://www.dietitian.com/
http://www.weightlossforall.com/calculate cals.htm
http://www.fitday.com
http://www.thriftyfoods.com/nourishingyou/ntrtn_artcls_clrsan.html

I eat about 60 percent of my daily calories from carbs, 15 from protein and 25 from fat. This is another area that varies from person to person. And you are so right that daily caloric intake varie quite alot too. I've been very active and eating like a horse lately. My intake ranges from 1800 to 2200 calories. My Basal Metabolic Rate is approximately 1300 and my life as full-time mom is quite busy before I even factor in my exercise and I like to exercise, so that allows me to eat quite a lot. I gauge my hunger level closely and ask myself if I am really hungry when I want to nibble. Usually, I am! :)

And hey, this can be fun. You might consider tracking your intake by writing everything down or using a calculator like the terrific one at fitday.com. Using measuring cups and scales in the beginning is also effective and takes the guess work out of what you are really consuming. After awhile, how much should be on your plate becomes easy to discern. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

- Mary Oliver
 
thank You!!! these links were awesome!! these links were great and I am on the right track I believe. thanks you!
 
Future Fitness Dynamo,
I did the Body Gem and got a reading of 2200 basal metabolic!!!!! Guess it was wrong, huh?? Really feel cheated on that one...
 
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