Weight-Loss Too few calories?

Weight-Loss
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TheNextBanhart

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So here's my situation...

I'm a 23 year old male. I'm about 6 feet tall and 195 lbs. I'm trying to get in the 160-170 lb range. I've been trying to eat better and recently estimated how many calories I eat in a day and I was kind of shocked at how low it was.

Here's what I typically eat in a day...

breakfast -- oatmeal (the old-fashioned kind, with water) with cinnamon and about a tablespoon or two of organic applesauce

am snack -- a banana

lunch -- salad (w/o dressing), 3 eggwhites, baby carrots, an apple

pm snack -- more oatmeal (i realize this is more than a "snack") or an an apple

dinner -- another salad, an apple

When I remember, I also take a multivitamin.

I found a calorie calculator online and found that this only amounts to about 800-1000 calories. I'm worried than I'm only doing more damage than good. Should I increase my intake? Am I balanced in terms of proteins and carbs?

I want to add more variety like chicken and sweet potatoes but I limited on the amount of time I have for preparation. I'm in grad school and teach all day and have class all night, which is why I usually opt for easy preparation.


I have been trying to get myself to go for a jog every morning but usually end up deciding that at 5:30 in the morning, more sleep is better. Once I do get in the habit of doing this nearly daily, how should this affect my diet?

Thanks!
 
Well, yeah, that's a pretty unbalanced diet and way too low in calories for someone of your height/weight.

There's hardly any protein in there - which is crucial when you're dieting in order to maintain lean muscle mass.

There's a plethora of carbs and fruit sugars, and not much in the way of green veggies or healthy fats.

You should probably be eating around 1700-1800 calories per day in order to lose weight safely and you should be aiming for at least 25% of that to come from healthy fats and at least 120g of protein per day.
 
Thanks for the quick reply!

I've been searching for healthy choices for proteins and fats. So far it seems that things like almonds, plain yogurt, tuna, chicken would be good things to add.

Any recommendations for omega-3 or omega-6 fats?

Thanks!
 
Fats should come from things like:

nuts and seeds (peanut butter, almonds, flax seeds, etc.)
avocados
fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, etc.)
healthy oils (olive, canola, peanut)

These are the things that you can use in smaller quantities to boost both your calories and your fat intake. They have the side benefit of adding protein to your diet as well (aside from the pure oils, of course).
 
Everyone is busy, just figure a workaround. If you're short on prep time take an hour and cook up some sources of protein like chicken, lean meats etc. enough for several days, and portion and bag.
 
I think you are wise to look at the diet first. Food is usually the bigger determinant of weight loss. You seem to be a very busy guy, but you need to eat enough to be healthy. How did you get as heavy as you are one this diet?
 
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