Weight-Loss My diet log
- Thread starter altheria
- Start date
Weight-Loss
PLB
Moderator
Hey altheria, welcome to the forum!
I'm not quite clear on what exactly you're asking for... it sounds like your nutritionist has already given you instructions for what to do. Based on your measurements, it seems like pretty good advice that you should be putting on a bit of weight and adding strength training to your exercise routine.
In terms of volume of food required to increase your calories each day, if you add more fruits and veggies, you can basically eat a larger volume of food than if you added more dairy, nuts, seeds, or meat. The types of foods that you eat seem to be high quality, so as long as you're eating a variety of foods, not the same thing every day, then you should be getting a good variety of vitamins and minerals. As long as you're increasing your daily calories using mostly good quality food choices, then you should be good.
At 200 extra calories per day, that's only 1400 extra per week, and some of that will be offset by extra exercis that you do, so your weight gain should be pretty gradual, which is good.
How do you feel about what the nutritionist said?
I'm not quite clear on what exactly you're asking for... it sounds like your nutritionist has already given you instructions for what to do. Based on your measurements, it seems like pretty good advice that you should be putting on a bit of weight and adding strength training to your exercise routine.
In terms of volume of food required to increase your calories each day, if you add more fruits and veggies, you can basically eat a larger volume of food than if you added more dairy, nuts, seeds, or meat. The types of foods that you eat seem to be high quality, so as long as you're eating a variety of foods, not the same thing every day, then you should be getting a good variety of vitamins and minerals. As long as you're increasing your daily calories using mostly good quality food choices, then you should be good.
At 200 extra calories per day, that's only 1400 extra per week, and some of that will be offset by extra exercis that you do, so your weight gain should be pretty gradual, which is good.
How do you feel about what the nutritionist said?
AGoodmorning ! Thank you very much for your response 
My goal is to gradually and slightly increase my everyday calorie consumption in order to gain some more weight . As you mentioned ,my nutritionist said to me as much the same things as you said I'm concerned about a few things though !
What do you think about the fat percentage of my results ,is it really low ? I don't want to gain weight that will show out as extra fat in my tummy for example .. How can I avoid this possibility ?
Also ,if I keep on consuming 1600 calories per day ,do you believe that this is going to decrease my metabolism ? How many calories do I need in order to maintain my weight according to my metabolic rate ? I do aerobics about 5 to 6 hours per week .
And finally ,do you think that eating certain hours and frequently really matters ?
Thank you very much for your time and attention !
My goal is to gradually and slightly increase my everyday calorie consumption in order to gain some more weight . As you mentioned ,my nutritionist said to me as much the same things as you said
I'm concerned about a few things though ! What do you think about the fat percentage of my results ,is it really low ? I don't want to gain weight that will show out as extra fat in my tummy for example .. How can I avoid this possibility ?
Also ,if I keep on consuming 1600 calories per day ,do you believe that this is going to decrease my metabolism ? How many calories do I need in order to maintain my weight according to my metabolic rate ? I do aerobics about 5 to 6 hours per week .
And finally ,do you think that eating certain hours and frequently really matters ?
Thank you very much for your time and attention !
PLB
Moderator
No problem, glad I could help! I'll try to answer your questions as best I can...
Yes, your body fat percentage is quite low. However, everyone is different and people naturally carry fat differently and what is "healthy" may be different for each person. On average, a "healthy" body fat percentage is probably around the 18-20% range. This is for someone who is regularly active and follows a decent daily diet. Someone who is more active may have a lower body fat percentage. It also depends on the method that was used to determine your body fat... all methods carry some error, but some methods are worse than others. A good way to avoid fat collecting in abundance in unwanted places is to add the weight on gradually, with good quality food choices, and by strength training (whole body program, 3 times per week, and don't be shy about lifitng at least moderate to heavy weight once you get into it - light weights, high reps will probably not get you very far).
Your nutritionist estimated your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) to be around 1300 kcal per day. One thing you need to be sure of is whether they were actually measuring BMR, RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), or your daily calories burned (already including daily activity and exercise). If we are assuming that they estimated your BMR, once you add in calories that are burned through daily activities and your current exercise, I'd be willing to bet that there's no chance of you even maintaining your current weight if you only take in 1600 kcal per day. Most people tend to underestimate their caloric intake and overestimate how much they burn through exercise, so with your current diet and normal estimation error, you might just maintain. How long have you been following your current exercise and diet routine? Have you been gaining weight, losing weight, or maintaining?
How many calories you would need just to maintain really depends on your answers to the questions above. You can do all of the calculations in the world, but they are still just estimates... You actually have to follow a nutrition and exercise plan for a while, record what is happening with your weight, and adjust your caloric intake accordingly until you start seeing the results that you want. If you lose weight following a 1600 kcal per day diet, then yes, your metabolism will go down, but that is simply because you will be smaller and your body will have less tissue to maintain.
And no, I don't think that the frequency and timing of meals matters that much, HOWEVER, I strongly disagree with anyone eating less than 3 meals per day due to insulin responses, etc. Eating six meals per day at regularly scheduled times works for some people. Eating 3 meals per day at somewhat regular times works for others. You just have to find what works for you. Some people find that they get to hungry between meals and then they tend to overeat at their regular meals... Some people choose really high calorie snacks that don't help them lose weight... Again, just try things and see what works for you!
Hopefully that answers some of your questions!
Yes, your body fat percentage is quite low. However, everyone is different and people naturally carry fat differently and what is "healthy" may be different for each person. On average, a "healthy" body fat percentage is probably around the 18-20% range. This is for someone who is regularly active and follows a decent daily diet. Someone who is more active may have a lower body fat percentage. It also depends on the method that was used to determine your body fat... all methods carry some error, but some methods are worse than others. A good way to avoid fat collecting in abundance in unwanted places is to add the weight on gradually, with good quality food choices, and by strength training (whole body program, 3 times per week, and don't be shy about lifitng at least moderate to heavy weight once you get into it - light weights, high reps will probably not get you very far).
Your nutritionist estimated your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) to be around 1300 kcal per day. One thing you need to be sure of is whether they were actually measuring BMR, RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), or your daily calories burned (already including daily activity and exercise). If we are assuming that they estimated your BMR, once you add in calories that are burned through daily activities and your current exercise, I'd be willing to bet that there's no chance of you even maintaining your current weight if you only take in 1600 kcal per day. Most people tend to underestimate their caloric intake and overestimate how much they burn through exercise, so with your current diet and normal estimation error, you might just maintain. How long have you been following your current exercise and diet routine? Have you been gaining weight, losing weight, or maintaining?
How many calories you would need just to maintain really depends on your answers to the questions above. You can do all of the calculations in the world, but they are still just estimates... You actually have to follow a nutrition and exercise plan for a while, record what is happening with your weight, and adjust your caloric intake accordingly until you start seeing the results that you want. If you lose weight following a 1600 kcal per day diet, then yes, your metabolism will go down, but that is simply because you will be smaller and your body will have less tissue to maintain.
And no, I don't think that the frequency and timing of meals matters that much, HOWEVER, I strongly disagree with anyone eating less than 3 meals per day due to insulin responses, etc. Eating six meals per day at regularly scheduled times works for some people. Eating 3 meals per day at somewhat regular times works for others. You just have to find what works for you. Some people find that they get to hungry between meals and then they tend to overeat at their regular meals... Some people choose really high calorie snacks that don't help them lose weight... Again, just try things and see what works for you!
Hopefully that answers some of your questions!
Good evening ! Thank you very much for your time again !
The calculation of 1260 calories is about BMR ,according to my nutritionist's results .She used a Tanita digital scale for the calculation .Is this method considered valid ? I've been consuming this amount of calories ,about 1600 , since September and i have lost about 1 kilo. So i guess that means i burn more than these calories daily ? My nutritionist said that my metabolism seems to be very fast because of the type of food i eat . Does that mean that if i eat something else ,it will have a different result to my body ? I know this may sounds silly
The problem is that some years ago i had anorexia/bulimia and i still try to balance myself .I am a little afraid of increasing calories and changing the nutrition i follow because it makes me feel safe and i dont want to store fat in the areas that tends to get stored (tummy ,stomach) . One thing that happens some times is that although i have consumed fewer calories than i sould have ,i am not hungry at the time of my next meal .Do i have to eat anyway or not ? I know i should start listening to what my body says but i am anxious ..
The calculation of 1260 calories is about BMR ,according to my nutritionist's results .She used a Tanita digital scale for the calculation .Is this method considered valid ? I've been consuming this amount of calories ,about 1600 , since September and i have lost about 1 kilo. So i guess that means i burn more than these calories daily ? My nutritionist said that my metabolism seems to be very fast because of the type of food i eat . Does that mean that if i eat something else ,it will have a different result to my body ? I know this may sounds silly
The problem is that some years ago i had anorexia/bulimia and i still try to balance myself .I am a little afraid of increasing calories and changing the nutrition i follow because it makes me feel safe and i dont want to store fat in the areas that tends to get stored (tummy ,stomach) . One thing that happens some times is that although i have consumed fewer calories than i sould have ,i am not hungry at the time of my next meal .Do i have to eat anyway or not ? I know i should start listening to what my body says but i am anxious ..
PLB
Moderator
Hey altheria,
The tanita digital scale is a fairly commonly used piece of equipment, and it's not a matter of validity, just possible error in the accuracy of the measurement. Just looking at the FAQ on the Tanita site, they say that their scales should be able to measure body fat within +/- 5%. So just avoid using the numbers that you get as fact, they are just estimates. When you follow a consistent pre-measurement routine, like measuring first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom, before eating or drinking anything, no clothes on, etc., then your measurements should be more consistent and you should be able to see a trend in weight and body fat changes, which is very useful, even if the numbers are not exactly accurate.
I should thank you for sharing about the issues that you've had in the past with weight... I got a bit of a sense of that but didn't want to call attention to it. Plus, I am in no way an expert in that area, so forgive me if my approach isn't correct, I'm just trying to give you information more than telling you what to do. If you are struggling a lot, I hope that you have someone that you can talk to about it!
I'm not sure what your nutritionist meant by your metabolism being fast due to the type of foods that you eat, so I'm sorry, but I can't really shed any light on that one. I wouldn't want to put words in her mouth or interperet things wrong.
As far as whether or not you should eat even if you're not hungry, I'm not sure that you really need to do that.... But maybe there are ways around that so that you can get in your goal amount of calories per day, such as having a glass of juice or milk or some other liquid that wouldn't necessarily make you feel full. What might also happen is that you might be more hungry some days (so you could eat a bit more) and less hungry other days. If your caloric intake is balancing itself out over the week, then there's nothing wrong with that.
In my opinion, it really seems like you're just going to need to take it one step at a time. Your first step might only be to increase your daily caloric intake enough so that you simply maintain your weight. Don't even think about making any other changes until you are feeling comfortable and confident with the results. The next step might be to add one day per week of strength training and to prevent a loss in weight, add the corresponding amount of calories into your diet so that you don't lose weight. Continue until you've added 3 days per week of strength training and are eating enough so that you don't lose weight. After doing this for a while, THEN maybe start thinking about actually gaining weight. How does that sound? The biggest reason that I can see for gaining weight right away would be if there is a medical reason that you should do so. If not, then (again in my opinion) it sounds like you just need to work on maintaining weight and adding the strength training first. The process above may take a while, say, up to six months or even more. If you try to go too fast, you might get overwhelmed and revert back to old habits. Give yourself lots of time and don't pressure yourself about having a strict timeline. Get comfortable with small changes (which might not feel that small to you) before moving on to the next change.
Oh and by the way, the strength training will be your best bet for avoiding the "tummy" fat
Just looking at how many calories extra you would need to eat to maintain weight... Just as a guess, if you've been following your plan since September, we'll say that it's been 10 weeks? If you've lost 1 kilo, in theory that is about 7700 kcal (3500 kcal per pound). So if you divide that by the 10 weeks, you need about 770 kcal extra per week, which would work out to just over 100 kcal extra per day. How do you feel about adding that amount per day? If adding 200 kcal per day is just too much for you to handle, then maybe this would be a good place to start?
The tanita digital scale is a fairly commonly used piece of equipment, and it's not a matter of validity, just possible error in the accuracy of the measurement. Just looking at the FAQ on the Tanita site, they say that their scales should be able to measure body fat within +/- 5%. So just avoid using the numbers that you get as fact, they are just estimates. When you follow a consistent pre-measurement routine, like measuring first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom, before eating or drinking anything, no clothes on, etc., then your measurements should be more consistent and you should be able to see a trend in weight and body fat changes, which is very useful, even if the numbers are not exactly accurate.
I should thank you for sharing about the issues that you've had in the past with weight... I got a bit of a sense of that but didn't want to call attention to it. Plus, I am in no way an expert in that area, so forgive me if my approach isn't correct, I'm just trying to give you information more than telling you what to do. If you are struggling a lot, I hope that you have someone that you can talk to about it!
I'm not sure what your nutritionist meant by your metabolism being fast due to the type of foods that you eat, so I'm sorry, but I can't really shed any light on that one. I wouldn't want to put words in her mouth or interperet things wrong.
As far as whether or not you should eat even if you're not hungry, I'm not sure that you really need to do that.... But maybe there are ways around that so that you can get in your goal amount of calories per day, such as having a glass of juice or milk or some other liquid that wouldn't necessarily make you feel full. What might also happen is that you might be more hungry some days (so you could eat a bit more) and less hungry other days. If your caloric intake is balancing itself out over the week, then there's nothing wrong with that.
In my opinion, it really seems like you're just going to need to take it one step at a time. Your first step might only be to increase your daily caloric intake enough so that you simply maintain your weight. Don't even think about making any other changes until you are feeling comfortable and confident with the results. The next step might be to add one day per week of strength training and to prevent a loss in weight, add the corresponding amount of calories into your diet so that you don't lose weight. Continue until you've added 3 days per week of strength training and are eating enough so that you don't lose weight. After doing this for a while, THEN maybe start thinking about actually gaining weight. How does that sound? The biggest reason that I can see for gaining weight right away would be if there is a medical reason that you should do so. If not, then (again in my opinion) it sounds like you just need to work on maintaining weight and adding the strength training first. The process above may take a while, say, up to six months or even more. If you try to go too fast, you might get overwhelmed and revert back to old habits. Give yourself lots of time and don't pressure yourself about having a strict timeline. Get comfortable with small changes (which might not feel that small to you) before moving on to the next change.
Oh and by the way, the strength training will be your best bet for avoiding the "tummy" fat
Just looking at how many calories extra you would need to eat to maintain weight... Just as a guess, if you've been following your plan since September, we'll say that it's been 10 weeks? If you've lost 1 kilo, in theory that is about 7700 kcal (3500 kcal per pound). So if you divide that by the 10 weeks, you need about 770 kcal extra per week, which would work out to just over 100 kcal extra per day. How do you feel about adding that amount per day? If adding 200 kcal per day is just too much for you to handle, then maybe this would be a good place to start?
Goodmorning PLBFitness !
Sorry for my late response ,i had been a little busy lately
Quote:
I'm not sure what your nutritionist meant by your metabolism being fast due to the type of foods that you eat, so I'm sorry, but I can't really shed any light on that one. I wouldn't want to put words in her mouth or interperet things wrong. [/quote]
My nutritionist said that protein in each meal and generally healthy eating can have that result on the metabolism and frequent eating times also.
Quote:
In my opinion, it really seems like you're just going to need to take it one step at a time. Your first step might only be to increase your daily caloric intake enough so that you simply maintain your weight. Don't even think about making any other changes until you are feeling comfortable and confident with the results. The next step might be to add one day per week of strength training and to prevent a loss in weight, add the corresponding amount of calories into your diet so that you don't lose weight. Continue until you've added 3 days per week of strength training and are eating enough so that you don't lose weight. After doing this for a while, THEN maybe start thinking about actually gaining weight. How does that sound? The biggest reason that I can see for gaining weight right away would be if there is a medical reason that you should do so. If not, then (again in my opinion) it sounds like you just need to work on maintaining weight and adding the strength training first. The process above may take a while, say, up to six months or even more. If you try to go too fast, you might get overwhelmed and revert back to old habits. Give yourself lots of time and don't pressure yourself about having a strict timeline. Get comfortable with small changes (which might not feel that small to you) before moving on to the next change. [/quote]
I totally agree that i should give time to myself in order to improve these things . I found out that it makes me anxious the whole calculating calories thing , although i didn't do it in order to lose weigh but to see how many calories i consume . But i felt restricted after doing that ,i guess it is a matter of psychological factor ,rifht ? I worry too much about choosing the right amounts of macros every day and i am afraid that my body will change if i won't follow that schedule.. I also noticed that this anxiety increased after that meeting with my nutritionist ,eventhough it should have the opposite affect ! Also ,the summer i used to eat slightly less because i was not very hungry but now need more food ,is that normal ?
In a few words , my current thoughts about my body and food are the following : I like the way my body looks at 48 kg but i am eager to gain 2-3 more if that means that I will be healthier. I althoug admit that i dont feel totally comfortable with that and i am scared that i won't be very satisfied with my body if i gain weight.
Also ,i eat 5 times a day ,that's something i enjoy very much but i have to care a lot about the amount i consume in each meal ,the amounts of macros and the time i should eat every meal because i thing that otherwise my body will change.. I know this might sounds silly .. It is tiring at times but i gain sucess from myself in the end of the day if i have done so . I know i should listen to what my body wants more instead of my schedule but it's not easy..
I believe that if i know what the ''security'' level of every day calorie intake is ,i would stop being so worried about all these things . I consume about 1600 ,do you thing that 1800 would be ok ,also ?
I am also concerned that i have started having issues again ,too much worrying is a bad sign and i dont want to start losing my life again..
Quote:
Each of my posts is getting longer and longer, lol, sorry about the rambling![/quote]
Feel free to write as much as you want
Thank you very much my friend ,this thred gives me the chance to express things and your responces are very helpful and useful !
Sorry for my late response ,i had been a little busy lately
Quote:
I'm not sure what your nutritionist meant by your metabolism being fast due to the type of foods that you eat, so I'm sorry, but I can't really shed any light on that one. I wouldn't want to put words in her mouth or interperet things wrong. [/quote]
My nutritionist said that protein in each meal and generally healthy eating can have that result on the metabolism and frequent eating times also.
Quote:
In my opinion, it really seems like you're just going to need to take it one step at a time. Your first step might only be to increase your daily caloric intake enough so that you simply maintain your weight. Don't even think about making any other changes until you are feeling comfortable and confident with the results. The next step might be to add one day per week of strength training and to prevent a loss in weight, add the corresponding amount of calories into your diet so that you don't lose weight. Continue until you've added 3 days per week of strength training and are eating enough so that you don't lose weight. After doing this for a while, THEN maybe start thinking about actually gaining weight. How does that sound? The biggest reason that I can see for gaining weight right away would be if there is a medical reason that you should do so. If not, then (again in my opinion) it sounds like you just need to work on maintaining weight and adding the strength training first. The process above may take a while, say, up to six months or even more. If you try to go too fast, you might get overwhelmed and revert back to old habits. Give yourself lots of time and don't pressure yourself about having a strict timeline. Get comfortable with small changes (which might not feel that small to you) before moving on to the next change. [/quote]
I totally agree that i should give time to myself in order to improve these things . I found out that it makes me anxious the whole calculating calories thing , although i didn't do it in order to lose weigh but to see how many calories i consume . But i felt restricted after doing that ,i guess it is a matter of psychological factor ,rifht ? I worry too much about choosing the right amounts of macros every day and i am afraid that my body will change if i won't follow that schedule.. I also noticed that this anxiety increased after that meeting with my nutritionist ,eventhough it should have the opposite affect ! Also ,the summer i used to eat slightly less because i was not very hungry but now need more food ,is that normal ?
In a few words , my current thoughts about my body and food are the following : I like the way my body looks at 48 kg but i am eager to gain 2-3 more if that means that I will be healthier. I althoug admit that i dont feel totally comfortable with that and i am scared that i won't be very satisfied with my body if i gain weight.
Also ,i eat 5 times a day ,that's something i enjoy very much but i have to care a lot about the amount i consume in each meal ,the amounts of macros and the time i should eat every meal because i thing that otherwise my body will change.. I know this might sounds silly .. It is tiring at times but i gain sucess from myself in the end of the day if i have done so . I know i should listen to what my body wants more instead of my schedule but it's not easy..
I believe that if i know what the ''security'' level of every day calorie intake is ,i would stop being so worried about all these things . I consume about 1600 ,do you thing that 1800 would be ok ,also ?
I am also concerned that i have started having issues again ,too much worrying is a bad sign and i dont want to start losing my life again..
Quote:
Each of my posts is getting longer and longer, lol, sorry about the rambling![/quote]
Feel free to write as much as you want
Thank you very much my friend ,this thred gives me the chance to express things and your responces are very helpful and useful !
PLB
Moderator
Eating protein at each meal might help your body in burning that particular meal and not storing as many calories, but it won't change your overall metabolism. Not to say that it's not helping you, because usually it's beneficial to not store too much after every meal.
Counting calories is sometimes a good thing to do temporarily so that a person knows where they are at in terms of calories that they consume. It's not something that everyone needs to do all the time, so don't worry about that. Unless you have issues getting the results you want out of your diet, then you shouldn't need to count calories all the time. Paying attention to nutrition labels and calorie content is OK, as long as you're not experiencing a lot of anxiety from doing so.
If you are being told to gain weight, it's totally understandable that this would cause anxiety. I don't know of any science on the topic, although it may very well exist, but I don't think that appetite changes from season to season is all that uncommon - I've definitely experienced that before and had clients that have mentioned it also. As for not being comfortable with gaining weight, if you gain it slowly and focus on strength training, then you will probably be happier with the way your body looks, even 2-3 kgs heavier, than if you only do cardio and increase your caloric intake.
I think that 1800 calories per day would be an improvement over 1600 calories per day. If you are not adding more activity, then you should expect to gain a little bit of weight after a while. It really comes down to what you're comfortable with. If adding 200 calories per day is just too much to handle, then start with less. Even if you only add 50 extra calories per day for a while, then that's better than trying to do too much, then panicking and giving up completely, or worse, overcompensating and restricting yourself. Once you're comfortable, then make another small increase. Keep on doing this until you're at your goal caloric intake or until you're seeing your desired results.
I don't know exactly what to say here. My only advice is to try not to focus on too many things at once. Break this down to one thing at a time and don't worry about the next step until you're ready to actually take another step. If you start with adding some calories into your daily diet, then just start with that... don't even think about any other aspect of your ulitmate goal until you are completely comfortable with the number of calories that you eat each day and it is no longer causing you anxiety.