Calories

lindak

Hi Guys, I have just been looking into my diet a bit. And I have read the stickies that gem put up some great info in helping us to calculate our recommended calorie intake and I have done the calculations and it says that I should be eating around 1800 calories per day ! Thats taking my excercise into account. I am not sure about this, as I am not dropping considering the amount of excercise I do. So I was wondering if anyone thinks that 1500 calories per day is enough ? I am thinking of trying to drop down to this I am 5'6 and weigh 10 stone. I am just over 1/2 over what I would like to be. So if I could get down to 91/2 stone I would be happy. Today I eat 1600 calories and dont feel hungry at all and that consisted of 3 meals and 2 snacks ! So if I dropped to 1500 I dont think I would feel hungry !

tribulus

If 1800 is definitely your maintenance level and you feel fine with that then I don't see a problem only going 300 below that. Just make sure the overall nutritional profile is good.

lindak

No over 2000 was my maintenance !

tribulus

Well you could go to 500 or so below too. Although it can get to a stage where it's not just the overall calories that's a factor but how often you're eating, what exactly you're eating and at what times etc. So have a look through the stickies to see if you need to work on any of those things too as obviously you can't just keep dropping the cals lower and lower beyond a certain level.

Black Swan

lindak wrote: »

I have done the calculations and it says that I should be eating around 1800 calories per day ! Thats taking my excercise into account.

As an alternative to dropping cals, what about increasing exercise? Or a balanced combination?

lindak

Gonna give it a try and see how I get on with 1500 - 1600 for the next week or so and see how I get on. But your dead right I cant keep dropping cals its not practical. The food I eat is good, I eat every 3-4 hours , I train hard and consistantly. I change it around every 4 weeks. So the only other option is that I am eating too much.

lindak

As an alternative to dropping cals, what about increasing exercise? Or a balanced combination?

I train 5 days per week, and I train hard ! So excercise is not the problem. I know its the cals !

Black Swan

lindak wrote: »

I train 5 days per week, and I train hard ! So excercise is not the problem. I know its the cals !

I train hard 6 days, but my problem is the opposite of yours. I need to add a stone, so says my GP. In addition to exercise and cals, aren't there some foods said to increase metabolism rate? Something to look into?

Hanley

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

I train hard 6 days, but my problem is the opposite of yours. I need to add a stone, so says my GP. In addition to exercise and cals, aren't there some foods said to increase metabolism rate? Something to look into?

You certainly don't want to be increasing your metabolism if you're looking to gain weight.

g'em

That calories post was one of the best and worst posts I ever put up

lindak wrote: »

Gonna give it a try and see how I get on with 1500 - 1600 for the next week or so and see how I get on. But your dead right I cant keep dropping cals its not practical. The food I eat is good, I eat every 3-4 hours , I train hard and consistantly. I change it around every 4 weeks. So the only other option is that I am eating too much.

Stop thinking about calories, just for a week. You train very hard, you're extremely conscious of your diet and your exercise and you need to give yourself some credit for that. So for a week or so just eat your 5 or 6 meals a day and eat until you're comfortable and satiated but neither overly or underly full. There's no point in trying to starve yourself if you're doing as much physical activity as you do as, it would just be counter-productive. 1600 - 1700 cals per day sounds ok for weight loss, but the problem is that it limits your intake of good fats severely (when you calorie count people tend to eat a diet very sparing in fats as they're so calorie rich when in reality good fats help you lose weight).

Instead of calorie counting make a conscious effort to keep your vegetable intake super-high, get plenty of protein in and eat lots of good fats. Keep the carbs down and obviously no processed foods.

Most importantly of all though enjoy your food - eating is a pleasurable experience so make the most it

lindak

Thanks gem , And no it was a great post and you put a lot of time into it ! I appreciate that !

I am eating healthy at the moment and trying to get good amounts of good fats and protein into my diet. I never feel hungry and sometimes I am just eating for the sake of it ! I would never starve myself. I couldnt I like my food too much ! For example I think I dont actually need to have the evening snack I am just eating it just because !! I know I need the snack @ 4 because I need energy for training ! But after my dinner I dont need to have those nuts or peanut butter or apple because I am full from my dinner. So I am going to cut out snacking after my dinner unless I am hungry which never happens because I am eating healthy and eating a good bit of protein.
Your right though maybe I am focusing to much on how many calories I am eating. As you can tell I am obsessing again , im sure your used to me at this stage !

g'em

Don't worry about it, sure aren't we all a little bit obsessed here

One thing you could benefit from is a BCAA supplement. I know you're already using whey to top up protein and that's brilliant, but when you're dieting BCAAs are a really good way to spare muscle on a calorie deficit.

I know exactly what you mean about not being hungry after dinner (although when I'm in serious diet mode I look forward to my PB & cottage cheese pre-bed snack all day ) so taking a BCAA supplement right before bed would help to keep you anabolic over night (and not start breaking down muscle for energy).

BCAAs are branched chain amino acids and there's three of them - leucine, isoleucine and valine. When you diet it's these three amino acids that are pulled out of your body for energy-making more than any other, so by using them as supplements it can help to prevent you from breaking down your own muscle.

lindak

Where would I get these BCAA's ? Holland and barret ?

g'em

lindak wrote: »

Where would I get these BCAA's ? Holland and barret ?

Yup, you can get them there. There's a lot of different brands out there with a variety of different concentrations of ratios of amino acids in them but to be honest, so one's really sure what the 'best' ratio is.

Get them cheap and see how you get on with them, they certainly won't make a miraculous difference and they won't help you lose weight, but they play a protective role that will help keep ... ugh, I hate using the word .... 'tone'!!

lindak

Thanks gem !