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2003/09/24, 10:48 AM
Good morning,
I am new to this site and very excited to have you all help reach my fitness goals. I have been working out for about 3 months now. I was on the atkins diet, but with working out was always tired and read that carb fuel your body....blah blah. We all know what we need to do, but just not certain how to figure some of this stuff out. I know my BF% and my BMI. I do not know RMR and wasn't certain what my daily calorie intake should be.
Okay, currently at 234 down from 255. I am 5'4" and looking to lose a lot of weight within the next year or so. I've lost several inches, but the scale has not budged in several weeks.....which is very depressing. I started the Ft training this week and really excited to see some results, but I am not a member of a gym and all my exercises are completed at home. Okay so my question is this, based upon this information can someone tell me how many calories to consume per day.....I have been working on 16-1800, with a 40P/30F/30C breakdown. I work out almost daily. Cardio in the AM, for about 30-45 mins and weight strenghting in the evening, according to my plan provided by this site.
I am doing okay? lower/raise my calorie intake? should I just be patient and wait and see what comes from this program?
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A woman of courage enters a room, and everyone is put at ease. There is something appealing in the way she walks and in the way she holds herself. * Maya Angelou
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2003/09/24, 01:11 PM
First off congratulations on your success, and welcome to FT. YOu have a great attitude. I am not going to knock the Atkins diet, it does work for folks, as all diets do for different individuals. I am not a fan of it for our purposes though.
Looking at your calorie intake and macro breakdown, I think your calorie intake is too low! This may sound weird to you to take in more to lose, but it actually cranks your metabolism the more frequent eating. I believe at the calorie level you are at your metabolism is probably at a crawl. I would SLOWLY incrase your calories to about 2400 minimum, that is about 10 calories per lb. Eat 5-6 meals per day, with macros of 50/20/30 P/C/F, this is a good ratio for fat burning. Feature lean proteins, good clean carbs, and healthy fats such as EFA's. (essential fatty acids). Flax oil and fish oils and olive oil are great examples of this.
Good luck to you and hope this helps.
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Great people never want it easier, they just want to be better!
Ron
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2003/09/24, 01:53 PM
Thanx bb 1 fit. I just never realized that I would have to consume so much food in order to lose weight. However, I feel that with only 20 carbs per day that I will be back on Atkins. Also, I am already eating 5-6 small meals per day.
Usual diet, let me know what you think
BF - kashi puffed, 1c with soy milk 4oz
snk - apple (med) with 2tb RF PB
lunch - a 4-5 oz protein and small salad
snk - zone bar or healthy type bars for extra protein
dinner - 4-5 oz protein, with 1 c steamed veggies and 1/4 brown basmati rice or 1/2 c cooked beans
snk - 1/2c berries with 1 c ff yogurt
my proteins are usually chicken breast or lean beef (flank steak or loin type steak), all grilled or broiled, I stay away from fried foods if I can help it.
I am usually up at 4:30 and in bed around 10 - 11. So this usually gets me through the day.
I really appreciate your help on this and look forward to putting your ideas into action.
Thanx
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A woman of courage enters a room, and everyone is put at ease. There is something appealing in the way she walks and in the way she holds herself. * Maya Angelou
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2003/09/24, 02:48 PM
The 20 carbs is a %of your total which would work out to be 480, not just 20g. Wqhat you are eating looks good, you just need to eat a little more of it. I was stuck for a long time not losing weight. After I found this site and followed the advice and upped my calories to 2300 at first and then down to 2000 I started losing again. It was scary at first to eat more, but it works. Especially if you are working out and adding more muscle for your body to support. Have you used the FT nutrition calculator to see what it gives you? Someone posted here once an easy way to figure your base by multiplying your weight by 11 for weight lose, 13 for maintenance and 15 for gaining. That give you a number to work from. Of course then you need to figure in your lifestyle and amount of activity, but that would put you around 2500 which isn't too far from what bb1fit said.
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2003/09/24, 02:49 PM
The diet ratios I gave you are 20% carbs, not 20 carbs. Sorry for any confusion.
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Great people never want it easier, they just want to be better!
Ron
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2003/09/24, 02:53 PM
A good rule of thumb is 10-15 calories per lb. of bw for women, 15-20 for a man. This is not scientific, but at the least a good place to start. The higher end of each range for the more active, the lower for the for less. Then if dieting, I like to take 10% off the top, and this is a good beginning.
Azredhead, you must have been posting while I was. Good post and explanation.
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Great people never want it easier, they just want to be better!
Ron
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2003/09/24, 03:11 PM
Duh!!!....I knew that, really I did!!! :) :) Thanx to both of you.
Azredhead, I use fitday.com to tally my foods for the day including my activities. So far it has worked really well for me. But, I will check out the nutritional program on this site as well. New here, still winding my way around.
Quick question though, I heard that it is better to have carbs early in the day to keep you "fueled" all day and limit it in the evening hours. Considering that I am doing some type of workout both morning and night, would this "hold" true for me?
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A woman of courage enters a room, and everyone is put at ease. There is something appealing in the way she walks and in the way she holds herself. * Maya Angelou
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2003/09/24, 10:02 PM
I've been dieting and walking 3 miles, 3 times a week for about 3 weeks...just recently I started a workout video on abs, arms and buns...by tamilee webb, Ive been following her diet plan and when I joined here today..9/24/03..I started using the nutritional tracker , but followed tamilee's diet plan...but when I put all my meals in for the day and it was calculated, it said I'm short in calories, fat carbs proteins etc.....I'm at 218 lbs now and I feel if I go up to what this site is recommending as my daily goal of 2904 for calories, 436g carbs, 35g fat, 218g protein, that I'm going to gain weight that I've lost...It sounds crazy to me...should I really be eating that much food?....HELP!!! Im soooo confused.
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2003/09/24, 10:18 PM
I've been dieting and walking 3 miles, 3 times a week for about 3 weeks...just recently I started a workout video on abs, arms and buns...by tamilee webb, Ive been following her diet plan and when I joined here today..9/24/03..I started using the nutritional tracker , but followed tamilee's diet plan...but when I put all my meals in for the day and it was calculated, it said I'm short in calories, fat carbs proteins etc.....I'm at 218 lbs now and I feel if I go up to what this site is recommending as my daily goal of 2904 for calories, 436g carbs, 35g fat, 218g protein, that I'm going to gain weight that I've lost...It sounds crazy to me...should I really be eating that much food?....HELP!!! Im soooo confused.
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2003/09/25, 09:53 AM
I think, but no expert by any means, is that you would increase your daily intake to get your metobolism back in "working" order, once the weights starts to come off, then you can lower your intake, by a hundred or so calories per day. But I don't think (hoping) you need to stay at that intake for a long period of time.
Also, just a word of thought, based upon the calculation from Az, my intake would be around 2900 per day, but was told to increase to 2400, which is much easier for me to consume. Still a lot, but better than 2900....the hardest part is getting those calories from good foods rather than empty foods, ie candy, doughnuts, ice cream, etc. That is certainly going to be tough.
Az, maybe you can help me here. I have been thinking about how to increase my calories but from good foods. Dairy products are always a source because of protein, which I now to increase as well. I've done a comparison on milks and cottage cheese.
whole milk - 149.92 cal/8.15 fat/11.37 carb/8.03 pr
2% milk - 121.2 cal/4.68 fat/11.71 carb/8.13 pr
1% milk - 102.15 cal/2.5 fat/11.66 carb/8.03 pr
skim milk - 85.53 cal/<1 fat/11.88 carb/8.35 pr
I usually buy 1% or 2% milk, but would it be better to have the whole milk, the protein and carbs are about the same, but fats are different. not able to stomach skim milk...not forcing myself on that one yet.
Cottage cheese
whole - 217.03cl/9.47f/5.63cb/26.23pr
lowfat - 163.62cl/2.31f/6.51cb/28pr
dry(fatfree) - 177.65cl/<1f/3.8cb/36.27pr
I can't stand the ff cottage cheese, but appears to be the best source for prot, but I prefer the full fat cottage cheese.
What do you guys think. I need to increase my protein but reduce my fat!
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A woman of courage enters a room, and everyone is put at ease. There is something appealing in the way she walks and in the way she holds herself. * Maya Angelou
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2003/09/25, 11:19 PM
436 gr. of carbs is too much if you are trying to lose. You will gain weight with those numbers. I would suggest more of a range of 2350 calories for you, with a ration again for fat loss of 50/20/30, p/c/f. This is a pretty standard and well proven macro amount for loss. Try this calorie amount for 2 weeks or so. This should be long enough to see what is happening. If you are losing and are happy, then stick with it till the losses stop, then this will become your maintenance calories, and another adjustment will need to be made. If on the other hand you are gaining, then you know to make a decrease, but you have to have a starting place, and I believe this would do well for you. Good luck to you.
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Quoting from dragonfly6871:
I've been dieting and walking 3 miles, 3 times a week for about 3 weeks...just recently I started a workout video on abs, arms and buns...by tamilee webb, Ive been following her diet plan and when I joined here today..9/24/03..I started using the nutritional tracker , but followed tamilee's diet plan...but when I put all my meals in for the day and it was calculated, it said I'm short in calories, fat carbs proteins etc.....I'm at 218 lbs now and I feel if I go up to what this site is recommending as my daily goal of 2904 for calories, 436g carbs, 35g fat, 218g protein, that I'm going to gain weight that I've lost...It sounds crazy to me...should I really be eating that much food?....HELP!!! Im soooo confused.
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Great people never want it easier, they just want to be better!
Ron
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2003/09/26, 02:01 PM
Thank you bb1fit, soooo much for you reply to me...I've been keeping with the diet program I was doing as I couldnt bring myself to go to that calorie intake. Yesterday I found the website www.weightlossresourses.co.uk/liststart.htm It has a us food data base also, its easy to use and you can add food that you are eating to the data base(that isnt found on theirs...as long as you have the packaging info)Which is great because now other people who may be eating something like low sodium fat free chicken broth will be able to see it on there now too......ok....I entered my food in and this was the outcome...I had consumed 1247 calories, 114.89 g of carbs, 29.3 fat, (14.2 fiber, and 5.6 fruit and veg)<whatever that means....it had figured for me prior to me doing this that in order for me to get to 140 lbs by june of 2004...I would need to stay below 1463 calories a day.....any way...I was happy that I had stayed below as I had a very satisfying day yesterday with what I had eaten I wasnt hungry and I had eaten 5 to 6 meals . what do you think of this...does this sound ok to you? I know you are busy but if you could let me know your opinion I would greatly appreciate it....or anyone else that may want to give me their advise..thank you all so much!!!! ........I can finally say that I am feeling like a winner over this battle, I am feirce about getting myself strong and have a whole new outlook, I have left the old feelings of doom behind for good and my future is looking so bright..good luck to all of us!
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2003/09/30, 02:38 PM
Hey stef, sorry it took so long to respond. I've been out of town last few days. As to your question about increasing your intake, it's hard to say without knowing what you are eating, but here are my thoughts. If you are eating 5 meals try adding a 6th one in there. If you are already eating 6, try increasing the amounts of what you are eating. For example, if you are eating 4 oz of chicken breast, make it 5 oz. If you are eating 1/2 cup of cottage cheese (or anything really) up it to 3/4 or 1cup. If you are having 3 eggwhites, make it 4. I've found this is the easiest way to up my intake when needed. Hope that helps. Personally I try the FatFree versions of most things. I found the FF cottage cheese at Safeway isn't dry at all. I had that this morning with 1/2c of pineapple and 1T of walnuts.
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~Victoria~
...There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.--Beverly Sills
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2006/01/26, 08:43 AM
bump
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2006/01/26, 09:17 AM
Thanks for bumping this amy! It is a great thread and has me rethinking my "diet" again:)
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2006/03/24, 03:40 PM
It calculated my calorie intake to be 5600 calories... haha that seems so wrong. Did I do something wrong?
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