Few Questions about my Plan.. Am I eating Enough?

T

tiadhani

New member
I've recently started on the road to a healthier life style, I've changed my eating habits and I was hoping to get a personal trainer but the price is just too extravagant right now. I foster Animals for the SPCA and help out a lot so most of my "extra" money goes there. I'm only been eating between 1100 - 1500 calories a day but it hasn't really been intentional, I still eat a lot just seem to be picking a lot of low calorie foods.
Day consists of:
Oatmeal w/ tea for breakfast @ 6:30AM
Fruit w/ tea @ 10 AM
Salad or Steamed Veggies w/ Cheese @ 12-1 PM
Raw Veggies @ 3-4 PM
Chicken w/ Veggie or Salad & small amount of rice @ 7, sometimes I don't have the rice
Yougart @ 9 if I'm hungry
Of course there are variations but that's about the guideline.

Is that not enough food? I mean I always feel full, should I be making myself eat more? Also right now I'm walking my dogs (2 full grown dogs, 55 & 85 lbs) for 45-60 minutes every night. Clearly I know I need to be doing more but I'm not exactly sure what. I'm thinking an additional 30-45 minutes of Cardio and some weight training? Any help would really be appreciated. I recently bought a Wii fit so I’m going to try that out, I like going to the gym but I have a hard time with all the equipment. I have a Bow flex and a Treadmill at home so I was hoping to get the most out of those. Again, any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!! :)
 
In order to know how much calories you should be consuming, we'd need to know your body weight, height, and even sex. Look up your "BMR" on google.

Just know, that if you're eating that few calories I wouldn't recommend much exercise. Only weight training. Give us more info!

All cardio should be for is the heart benefits and allow you to eat more food.

Weight loss should be gradual, as you're looking for fat loss, probably not some arbitrary number that doesn't accurately represent your physique.
 
Sorry! Duh.

I'm 21, Female, 5'7 at 218 lbs (Down from 230)

I'm definetly not starving myself, if I'm hungry I grab something to eat, it just happens that when I am hungry I'm able to grab veggies, or fruit or whatever and it's keeping my calories down. I'd like to start exersizing more not only for the weight loss but I use to be a very active person, running use to be a big frustration outlet for me and I'm trying to ease back into it. If I need to be eating more calories with the exersize program I can, I want to not only slim down but become an active person, which is why I wanted to incorporate more exersize = D Any help is soooo appreciated!
 
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Ok, I looked at your BMR, which assuming no calories consumed, your maintenance would be 2183 calories. (Meaning no weight loss, no weight gain assuming you do NO exercise, just lay in bed all day)

There is a threshold where your body uses more than just fat to lose weight, that's why you have to be careful what you wish for, and how you approach your diet. Typically, most of the experts agree, that 1-1.5 pounds of body fat per week is sustainable, and healthy. In order to do that, you would need to reduce your calories by 500-750 from that BMR. So in effect, you should be consuming around 1433-1683. It's not always that simple either. That doesn't necessarily reflect the most efficient weight loss without losing lean body mass, but it's usually close. (AGAIN remember, that the 1433-1683 is assuming NO exercise whatsoever, you can increase the calories based on work done) Google "the daily plate" for a great application for monitoring your daily consumption.

The way to find out how much you can cut with maximum fat loss without taking out much lean mass can also been approximately calculated. So if you're able to find out your body fat percentage, you can tweak these numbers even further.

IE: (body fat percentage x your weight) x31 = Calories you can reduce from your BMR (2183)

So therefore: 2183 - (calories you can reduce from your BMR) = Your approximate calorie goal daily.

You'd need to update and recalculate that value as you lose weight (and body fat), but the more overweight you are, the faster it should drop.

I also recommend doing 3 strength training workouts a week (1Hr), even for you girls. I recommend seeing a personal trainer to get you started. But you can do it on diet alone. Cardio is good, but generally I'll use use cardio for is increasing heart health, and it allows me to eat more. (the same calories burned)

Diet is the most important thing in losing weight. Keeping a 30-40% protien, 20-30% fats, 30-40% carbs ratio is also pretty widely accepted. But not eating too much is the most important thing.

Just know: this may not be the absolutely fastest way to lose weight, there are other methods, but I think this is the healthiest, most efficient way to lose weight.

There are great stickies in the nutrition forums and exercise forums to get you started. Good luck :)
 
I think you should up calories slightly. Try to get more protein in there. Maybe a good idea would be to get another serving of chicken or maybe some almonds with your veggies.

Also, you'll benefit a lot if you start doing some light weight lifting. It will increase your metabolism and make it easier to lose weight.
 
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I would stop eating so late. It's shown that eating after 7 if you go to bed at 11 is bad for you. You also need to eat lighter at dinner and more at lunch. It's hard, I know. We were raised to eat a big dinner everyday and a sandwich for lunch. But that's not how our bodies want us to eat if we want to lose weight. I struggle with this too but I have noticed if I keep lighter at night, I lose.
 
Sorry, I'm going to counter that statement about when you eat.

Think about it..what difference does it make in the body eating 500 calories at 7 pm or 8 pm? It really doesn't. What does matter is the number of calories you eat. Everyone is difference to say a blanket statement like don't eat a large lunch and a light dinner.

Again, it doesn't matter. It is the amount of calories that matters. Now for some people, they feel hungry towards the evening but not in the day. Fine. Some like the 'eat 6 small meals' idea, some goes for 3 steady meals. You know your body and your habits. The key..again..is the number of calories.
 
Jericho said:
Sorry, I'm going to counter that statement about when you eat.

Think about it..what difference does it make in the body eating 500 calories at 7 pm or 8 pm? It really doesn't. What does matter is the number of calories you eat. Everyone is difference to say a blanket statement like don't eat a large lunch and a light dinner.

Again, it doesn't matter. It is the amount of calories that matters.
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It does matter. If you eat a big meal and then go to sleep, the body cannot metabolize it like it should. There are hundreds of experts that recommend this thought process and it does work. There are many members on this site that say the same thing. I've lost 40 pounds since September after 10 years of weighing the exact same thing. The difference was not eating after 7 and eating bigger meals at lunch. This is a proven method and most diet plans recommend the same thing.
 
Most scientific studies actually has disproven the idea that you gain weight purely on when you eat the calories.





Just think about it. Are you saying that your body stops when you sleep? Nope. It doesn't. It might 'slow down' but the calories you take in doesn't magically sit in your body all night just to become fat.

there are studies that people who eat late tend to eat more during the whole day than those who eat more early in the day. That's psychological..not physical.

Also, think of what most people consider 'dinners'. Most people eat more calorie dense food for dinner as a western culture. We eat carbs like potatos and fats like gravies. We eat steaks and fried foods and such more as part of dinner than we tend to at lunch. It's not WHEN we have these foods but what the foods are. It's calories in vs calories out. There is no magical window of food eating time that changes this science.

So I'm going to disagree with you. I think what is more likely with your weight loss isn't changing dinner to a ligher meal but reducing your calorie intake overall.

The bottom line is the total number of calories.
 
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You seem far more intent to argue than offer help. What works for you, as a man, is not what will work for a woman. I'll let the OP decide what help she wants to take. I'm not going to argue with someone so obviously combative. Disagreeing is one thing, outright nasty is just another.
 
OP ~ consider looking around this site. There are many helpful, non-combative people here who want to help you who will offer you methods that have been proven to work. Good luck on your journey. And remember, we're all different, hopefully you'll find what works for you.
 
I would stop eating so late. It's shown that eating after 7 if you go to bed at 11 is bad for you.
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Sorry, but I have to agree that this is a diet myth.

There is no need to stop eating at a certain period of time unless you find that it helps YOU personally (because we're all a little different).

Calories in vs. calories out is the bottom line - when during the day you eat your calories is immaterial.

What works for you, as a man, is not what will work for a woman
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This is also not true. Losing weight has some differences, but it's not that drastically different between men and women - calories in vs. calories out. Period.
 
Sephora 0128 said:
OP ~ consider looking around this site. There are many helpful, non-combative people here who want to help you who will offer you methods that have been proven to work. Good luck on your journey. And remember, we're all different, hopefully you'll find what works for you.
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I'll be honest. I'm a bit put off by your claim that I am combative. Am I passionate? Yes. Will I fight against misinformation? Yes. Did I insult you or say anything Nasty? No.

I countered your statement. While I agreed with the wine, I did not agree with the late night eating statement. I was polite about it. I linked articles including one to a medical study. Instead, you basicly called me nasty and for the original poster to ignore my statement. I will stand by my reputation on the forum.
 
Jericho said:
I'll be honest. I'm a bit put off by your claim that I am combative. Am I passionate? Yes. Will I fight against misinformation? Yes. Did I insult you or say anything Nasty? No.
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It's always the ones who don't think they are nasty that are the nastiest because they have no filter. You are combative and I noticed that every post I've made you've been nasty toward me over. You give the impression that if I said the sky is blue, you'd say no it's not.
 
If you noticed, I agreed with you when it came to the bottle of wine.

Sorry if you feel I am being combative but I have not been nasty to you. I just pointed out the myth of late night eating equating to weight loss just because of the time of day. It is incorrect. Again, I will stand by my reputation on this board. If I am wrong, I say I am wrong. I think you are taking this as some sort of personal attack and it isn't.
 
Jericho said:
If you noticed, I agreed with you when it came to the bottle of wine.

Sorry if you feel I am being combative but I have not been nasty to you. I just pointed out the myth of late night eating equating to weight loss just because of the time of day. It is incorrect. Again, I will stand by my reputation on this board. If I am wrong, I say I am wrong. I think you are taking this as some sort of personal attack and it isn't.
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I rest my case. You are combative, regardless of your thought process. Even your avatar indicates you are a combative person. And, of course, your reply. If arguing that you aren't combative isn't combative, I don't know what is.
 
Sephora 0128 said:
I rest my case. You are combative, regardless of your thought process. Even your avatar indicates you are a combative person. And, of course, your reply. If arguing that you aren't combative isn't combative, I don't know what is.
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My avatar is from Disney's Sleeping Beauty cause I am a disney nut and it represents the fight of my noble self against the demons of why I gained the weight I did.

But yeah, if you want to say disputing your claim I am combative is combative, so be it.

I still stand by my reputation I have gained on this board.

I also stand by my statement that what you said is a common dieting myth.
 
Jericho said:
My avatar is from Disney's Sleeping Beauty cause I am a disney nut and it represents the fight of my noble self against the demons of why I gained the weight I did.

But yeah, if you want to say disputing your claim I am combative is combative, so be it.

I still stand by my reputation I have gained on this board.

I also stand by my statement that what you said is a common dieting myth.
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And you continue to be combative and argumentative. Yet you don't think you are?

I know damn well what your avatar is from. 16 years spent at Disney, I can recognize their animation with my contacts out. It's still a combative avatar. At least your spin was good for a laugh.

And just because you found a couple of sites that call something a myth, doesn't make it so. I could find thousands of sites that say God is a myth but I know people who actually believe in God.
 
Might I ask why you are attacking me? Is it because I disagreed? It's just there is this angry coming towards me for no reason that I can see. Do understand people disagree here. I have done nothing to cause this sort of anger. Everyone is wrong sometimes. Kara stated the same to you about it being a myth and yet you are attacking me.

But here is where anything I say just enforces what you said. I can either not defend what I stated or I am combative no matter what I say.

BTW: The difference is I am stating science. God is a belief. I am not going to bring religion into this.

I know you will reply to this and that is your right. This is my last post about this said matter. EDIT :corrected wrong word
 
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Jericho said:
I know you will reply to this and that is your right. This is my last post about this set matter.
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The phrase is "said matter" not "set".

Myth is myth. Just as you found one article on your myth, I could find many that dispute your myth dispute as myth. Just like God. And there are a lot of people that don't believe his existence is just a belief, even scientists.
 
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