Re: How many calories do you eat - read on before you YELL !! :D

February 12, 2007

Did your doctor tell you that you needed to lose weight? What is your

motivation from losing weight? It sounds to me like you are in great

shape and need to quit trying to lose weight. What is so " realistic "

about the weight that you want to get to?

I think you probably are not eating enough, but that your body is used

to it. It's all reversible though by slowly eating more. You might

find out that if you eat more, you enjoy even better workouts. You

will lift more, run further, etc. I know I have had much more energy

for working out since I started eating enough to fuel my activities.

> Even though my doctor told me to relax and everything was not only

> fine but GREAT (it was actually a very FREEING conversation), I

> still do have weight to lose (realistic weight, not " dream " weight)

> and I'm beginning to really wonder if the issue isn't my calorie

> intake scaring the heck out of my body, which thinks it is

> starving? Is that possible at 1600 calories? I've logged onto

> several online sites to estimate what calories you need, based on

> activity level, age, etc - they're WHACK - they come in at like 3000-

> 3800 calories a day!!! Get real.

>

> Any wisdom?

>

February 12, 2007

It sounds to me like you're not eating enough. You're not hungry?

I started the Couch to 5K running progam a few weeks ago. (I also do

Turbo Kickboxing twice a week and take a 90 minute yoga class on

Tuesdays.) I immediately put on 3 pounds that were definitely pounds,

not water. Nothing changed about the way I was eating. I figured

that if I kept up with the increased exercise and still was gaining

weight, I'd have to talk to my doctor about checking my blood sugar

and my thyroid. I knew that if I talked to my doctor about gaining

weight while increasing aerobic activity, then he'd probably ask what

I was eating. So, for 4 days last week, I kept a food log and added

up my calories at the end of the day. Those four days were no

different, food-wise, from any other 4 days.

I was surprised that I was consistently at 1850-1950 calories per

day. I checked a couple of BMR calculators and applied the -

Benedict formula to find out that my body needs approximately 2100

calories per day to maintain my current weight. My favorite fitness

book, " Fit Not Fat at 40 Plus " confirmed the calories I need to

maintain.

It sounds like your activity level is much higher than mine. I don't

know your height or weight, but I would think that you'd need more

calories than I do. If you're continually at a 500-1000 calorie per

day deficit, your body will eventually start conserving and you'll

stop losing weight. That's the reason I plateaued on Weight Watchers

and eventually quit.

Now, of course, the whole idea of calorie counting, deficits and

exercising for weight loss are all counter-intuitive eating. I was

pleased that eating intuitively has placed my calorie intake so close

to what it's supposed to be and that most of my food intake is

healthy, nutritious food.

>

> Okay, before I get clobbered for asking this, YES I do understand

> that IE'ing isn't about counting calories, but I'm asking anyway

> because I'm beginning to seriously believe I might not be taking in

> ENOUGH calories. For 10 months now I've been working out

> religiously 5 days a week, doing 30 minutes of cardio and 45

minutes

> of weight training at each session. And NOT losing weight! In all

> this time I've lost only about 15 pounds. Some answers before you

> ask: Yes, the doctor has ruled out anything like thyroid (I had a

> complete physical in December - doctor told me to throw out my

scale

> and continue on the path I was taking, he was happy with my weight

> even though my BMI is very high - per the doc, BMI doesn't apply to

> me as I have an abnormally high muscle mass for a woman - I do

> SERIOUS weight lifting). YES, I have tracked my calories and no

I'm

> not scarfing down cheeseburgers at every meal - I'm averaging

> between 1400 and 1600 calories a day. Every once in a while I'll

> think, " Okay, am I just deluding myself about what I'm eating? " so

> I'll log back onto Fitday and plug in what I'm eating in any given

> day and it routinely comes in around 1400-1600 calories.

>

> Even though my doctor told me to relax and everything was not only

> fine but GREAT (it was actually a very FREEING conversation), I

> still do have weight to lose (realistic weight, not " dream " weight)

> and I'm beginning to really wonder if the issue isn't my calorie

> intake scaring the heck out of my body, which thinks it is

> starving? Is that possible at 1600 calories? I've logged onto

> several online sites to estimate what calories you need, based on

> activity level, age, etc - they're WHACK - they come in at like

3000-

> 3800 calories a day!!! Get real.

>

> Any wisdom?

>

February 12, 2007

Your story sounds very familiar to me. I was also eating less than

1500 calories a day and running three days a week, spinning twice a

week, and lifting weights four days a week. I too have gained about

4 lbs since this time last year, in spite of adding an additional

workout day (I went from 4 to 5 days a week), working at higher

intensity levels (increasing running mileage, etc.) and eating less.

I do have a thyroid condition, so I am aware that fluctuations in my

thyroid levels will cause an increase in my weight. Having ruled

that out with my doctor, I then had my resting metabolic rate (RMR)

tested at my gym to make sure that it was not surpressed due to

undereating for so long. Fortunately, the number came up to be

pretty close to what it was supposed to be for my age, fitness level,

etc. I also wear a heart rate monitor when I work out so I can gauge

how hard I am working out and have an estimate of how many calories I

am expending IN CASE I need that info. These are two things you

could do to give you real data on what is happening with your

metabolism and info you could take to your doctor.

One other word of advice: always be skeptical when a doctor tells you

that your thyroid levels are normal. I was told this for almost a

year in spite of showing obvious symptoms of hypothyroidism

(unexplained weight gain, depression, hair loss, etc). I had a

meltdown in my doctor's office before she would refer me to an

endocrinologist to have an antibodies test that gave them a definite

yes answer about whether I had a condition.

Anyway, I am also frustrated at the persistence of this weight and

can't figure out why I'm heavier now than a year ago when I was

expending less effort in my workouts and eating more. Nevertheless,

I feel great, have lots of energy, and am happy with my food choices,

etc. I keep telling myself that my body goes through cycles, and

perhaps this is a higher weight cycle. If I think about this too

long - as I started to this morning while staring at myself in the

mirror - I grow frustrated and anxious and feel the urge to diet. So

I am trying to reframe - it's hard, and it's a process for me, but

I'm also just so weary of the diet struggle.