Really confused about calories intake. Help!

A

aini.ary

New member
Hi there!

First, some intro. I'm 24 years old, female, current weight is around 152lbs, height 5'6 1/2. My aim is to lose about 20-25 pounds.

I've been working out in the gym for the past four weeks (5 times a week), doing 40-60 minutes treadmill and weigh lifting. One session usually lasts 1 1/2 hr to 2 hrs.

I've been watching my calories input and output since I started this weight loss journey. And I've been pretty determined to not just diet but change my eating habit completely.

So that is why I'm pretty worried about getting my calorie intake all wrong. If I go too low, I might not be able to stick to it and it becomes just another diet plan. As I understand it from countless advices and from personal experiences, dieting may get the weight down, but when you stop, the pounds just pile back up.

Anyway, I have been trying to consume under 1000cal per day but it's too HARD! When I do manage to go by 900+ cal per day, I'd be really happy but somehow, I'm beginning to think that I'm not doing it right.

I mean, I'm afraid that my body would go into starvation mode and hold onto the fat, and attack the muscles for protein (read that somewhere). Plus with me working out, I'm pretty sure that my body needs some fuel and I want to feed myself right.

I suck at math, I really do :confused:. I have no idea how to calculate my body's average daily calorie need, and how much should be reduced in order to lose weight and stay healthy.

Any help would be tremendously appreciated! Thanks a million people!
 
Bmr

Hi there,

It is good to hear that you have taken the step to lose weight.
You are very right in saying that you are starving your body as you are exactly doing that. You not just underfeeding yourself, but your are sacrificing your lean body mass!!!
My concern is that you want to lose weight to quickly and it also seems that you are trying to restrict your calories to much. To work out your calorie needs, it is called your BMR- basi metabolic rate. Just remember that when you work this out, that it will give you your calorie needs for the body at rest.
Your activity level is not calculated into this method. Here is the formula to work out your bmr: 655+(9.6*weight)+(1.8*height)-(4.7*age) You will need to convert weight to kgs, and height to meters, as i dont have the formula for pounds and feet, as i know it is a different formula. I am from South Africa.

You now need to multiply your activity level with your Bmi as follow:
Sedentary x 1.2
Light active x 1.375
Mod active x 1.55
Very active x 1.725
Extra active x 1.9

Hope that this will help you, and once you get your answer on the above formulas, subtract 500 from that and that should give you the amount of calories that you should consume daily. Get your calories from wholesome food and don't restrict your carbohydrates to much and also don't overdo on the cardio. For now do 4 x a week of cardio earl in the morning on a empty stomach, use your fat burning zone between 65% and 75%.

Log down your workouts and see how your body responds. take your daily required calorie needs and brake that up into small meals about 6 times a day, and don't worry, it sounds like a lot, but it is not at all.

Good luck and take care!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
Under 1000 calories is too little for anyone. You must eat more - especially if you're working out as much as you are.

Ok, so while the above information is good info, it's also a really complicated method and makes this simple thing harder than it needs to be - especially since you said you are bad at math. :) Here's the easy way.

For a person who is moderately active (which I would say you are), you would figure your maintenance calories (i.e. the amount of calories you need to eat to stay the same weight) by multiplying your current weight by 15.

So for you to stay the same weight: 152 * 15 = 2280

To lose weight, you want to eat about 30% less than that. So multiply your maintenance calories by 70%.

So for you to lose weight: 2280 * 70% = 1596

You could easily lose weight eating between 1500 and 1600 calories a day.

Don't worry about the calories you burn from exercise. Eat the 1600 calories, which will put you in a deficit and then what you lose from exercise is a bonus.

I will add the additional bit of advice that 2 hours of exercise a day is excessive. You don't need to do that much. If you are working out effectively 30 mins of weights 3x a week and 30 mins of cardio 3x a week should be sufficient. You don't have to kill yourself. :)
 
I have to agree with Kara. 1000 calories is way too low. I couldnt live on that - and if I had tried I would have abandoned my project years ago...

The formula that I go by is pretty similar to Kara's - being that most people lose weight on between 8 times weight in pounds and 12 times weight in pounds. The concept is that you eat at 12 times weight for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. If you lose weight you stick to it. If not try 11 times... etc.

Naturally you have to cut calories as you lose weight...

I do a reasonable amount of exercise (as I like to provide a decent calorie bank to cover my appetite) but can say that even as I got to goal weight I was using a happy range which was basically between 11 times and 13 times weight in pounds...

I honestly dont think that I could cope with eating less than that as I do have quite a large appetite. I do make sure that I eat a lot of healthy food - no diet aids or anything like that. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables and make sure that I have adequate protein, fibre, calcium.

I actually eat less fats than most people here because I have gallstones and have an aversion to pain - but do have things like salmon every week and take omega-3 fish oils plus a very good multivitamin.

If you log your food and exercise into and keep the profile info (e.g. weight) up to date - it should do the maths and show you your calorie balance so that you can keep on top of things...
 
That's way too few calories, you are likely losing lean muscle mass. If you lose muscle mass your metabolism will slow way down making it much harder to burn body fat.

What you need to do is calculate your Basal Metabolic rate and add 10% of that number to account for the thermal effect of digestion. This is the bare minimum of how many calories you should be consuming. If you eat that amount, and combine exercise you will burn body fat in a safe and healthy manner.

I have a calculator if you want to try it out. just check out my profile homepage link and take out the /blog on the end to get to the calculator.
 
Eat more!

Chances are, if eating under 1000 calories is that difficult for you, it's probably not the way to go. In this case, it's DEFINITELY not the way to go.

If you continue eating under 1000 calories while working out for long periods of time, you probably WILL lose weight. At first, it will be water weight and then some fat and then *the worst* muscle mass - because your body's not getting all of the nutrients it needs to support itself.

You'll probably also end up feeling really irritable and fatigued which may account for why it's been so difficult for you. Like it's been said in the above posts, it's a good idea to determine how many calories you need in order to maintain your current weight and then create a deficit by either calculating extra calories burned while exercising OR consuming 500 or so less calories than what your body needs to maintain your current weight. Good luck!
 
fatguy23 said:
man...i love salmon. best.fish.ever.
Click to expand...

I kept daily weight / food / exercise records throughout my 28 month project and have an amazing track record of weight loss on days that I have my salmon meal. It is my secret weapon and I still have it (even though I am at goal) on the night before my slimming club weighings and any major challenge weighing... It is just so healthy and works so well for my weight.

The fact that it is so yummy too is a major bonus.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top