Weight-Loss caloric intake: too much, or not enough?

Weight-Loss
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kateedid

New member
Hello. I have always had a problem with my weight. I used to weigh 185 pounds, but when I moved about a year ago I lost around 30 pounds by just barely eating (not on purpose, I just lost my appetite). Well, losing this much weight without trying encouraged me to try and get it under control once and for all. So, i watched this show on the health channel and these people were trying to lose weight, so they were told to keep their caloric intake under 1500 a day. So I started doing the same, keeping my caloric intake under 1550 a day. I also started eating healthier foods, like more fruits and veggies, fat free milk, ground turkey instead of ground beef, wheat bread, stuff like that. I dont exercise at a gym, but at my job I keep really busy and hardly ever stop moving. I try to exercise almost every night to tone up. However, I am not losing weight. I'm not getting smaller at all. It has been about three months now, and I'm not losing any more weight. I don't know what to do, but I'm getting tired of trying so hard for nothing. :(
What else can I do? I'm afraid if I try to eat fewer calories I'll be too hungry. Someone said i was eating too few calories and making my metabolism too slow, but I don't understand that. Any advice?
 
why don't you check out http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
And also www.sparkpeople.com

The first will tell you how many calories and the second will help monitor said calories. How much you intake really depends on how tall you are, how much you weigh, as well as how much activity you do.

You might try some strengthening exercises to help tone, since you don't go to a gym.
 
Hi there,
proper calorie intake is a highly individualized thing. Telling people "eat under 1500 calories" in my opinion is a bad idea. SOme people need more, some people need less. I weight 117 pounds and I need 2500 calories a day to maintain my weight. If I ate 1500 my body would shut down! I have a male friend who weighs nearly 200 and has a super slow metabolism...he maintains around 1400 a day. That's just an example.

Anyway, my point being that it may not be the right calorie level for you. I think calorie calculators are dangerous too. There are so many factors that they don't take in to consideration. As a professional I don't receommdn them. They could give you a good number for you, or it could be way off. When I assess my clients I ask so many questions before I ever make calorie recommendations. There are countless factors to consider.

How do you FEEL on the calories that you are eating now? Hungry a lot? Full? How is your energy level? If you're hungry a lot and tired you may not be eating enough. If you feel full you may want to try a slight decrease. Another option for you would be to consider calorie cycling. You said you weren't eating much for a while. That probably messed up your metabolism. Calorie cycling may help it.

Hope that made sense and let me know if it didn't!

Sarah
 
SarahPT said:
Hi there,
proper calorie intake is a highly individualized thing. Telling people "eat under 1500 calories" in my opinion is a bad idea. SOme people need more, some people need less. I weight 117 pounds and I need 2500 calories a day to maintain my weight. If I ate 1500 my body would shut down! I have a male friend who weighs nearly 200 and has a super slow metabolism...he maintains around 1400 a day. That's just an example.

Anyway, my point being that it may not be the right calorie level for you. I think calorie calculators are dangerous too. There are so many factors that they don't take in to consideration. As a professional I don't receommdn them. They could give you a good number for you, or it could be way off. When I assess my clients I ask so many questions before I ever make calorie recommendations. There are countless factors to consider.

How do you FEEL on the calories that you are eating now? Hungry a lot? Full? How is your energy level? If you're hungry a lot and tired you may not be eating enough. If you feel full you may want to try a slight decrease. Another option for you would be to consider calorie cycling. You said you weren't eating much for a while. That probably messed up your metabolism. Calorie cycling may help it.

Hope that made sense and let me know if it didn't!

Sarah
Click to expand...

ive started just keeping it under 2000 a day and that seems to be working. i wasnt eating enough and it was storing what i did eat as fat. however, i now need help managing hypoglycemia. i have never been to the doctor to see about it, but i have been told by an ex-paramedic and a nurse that i have hypoglycemic spells when i feel very tired and sick because my blood sugar drops. im still trying to learn what i need to eat to prevent this from happening.
 
Hi,
I have hypoglycemia as well so I very much understand that struggle. Your macronutrient breakdown--how much of your diet is carbs, protein and fat, will matter a lot for you. Also, what type of carbs you eat and at what times of the day matters even more for you than the average person. It's a pain in the neck, but you can adapt to a lifestyle where your blood sugar will stay stable. Keeping your blood sugar stable will enable your body to lose fat a lot easier!

Sarah
 
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