Think I need to eat more?

Tea-a-Maria

Hi all, I'm lookng for some advice on my diet. I'm a 24 year old female, 5'5" and I weigh 127lb. I track my calories on MyFitness Pal and aim for 1600 a day. It usually comes in at between 1300 and 1600 depending on what I eat. Here's a typical day below:

8am: Porridge made with low fat milk with chia seeds, blueberries and Greek yoghurt. Tea

11am: Tea

1pm: Homemade veg soup with a small wrap with ham, cream cheese and lettuce. Tea

4/5pm: Tea. If I'm heading to the gym I'll usually have a banana around this time too.

7/8: Spag Bol/Chilli made with carrots, celery and lean mince. Dinner is the biggest variable of my day but usually consists of lean mince or chicken with a good bit of veg and some pasta/rice. I'm very careful to weigh my carbs and give myself 50g uncooked as standard.

I don't like to snack and prefer having big meals. I feel more hungry after a snack as it almost breaks the seal of hunger!

I eat well most of the time, am disciplined during the week but a bit more relaxed at weekends. Takeaways are my biggest issue, I could have them once a week. My hours in work can be long and sometimes it's just easier to order in.

Anyway! The big new variable in my eating now is that I'm in the habit of going to the gym. I go 3 times a week for about 1.5 hours. 35 mins of that is cardio (I've nearly completed the couch to 5k) including warm up and cool down. The rest is resistance. 3 sets of 15 on various machines for chest and legs and then about 10 mins on arms and 15 minutes on core.

From looking up calorie lab, I'm estimating that the cardio burns about 200cals. I have no idea how to measure the resistance, although I gather it doesn't burn as much as cardio (please correct me if I'm wrong on that)

I have noticed (this week in particular) that I have been quite tired. I'm not sure if it's from overdoing it in the gym or just not eating enough. I caved one day and bought an Indian as I was starving all day in work, even though what I'd eaten would normally keep me full.

So, my question is, should I be eating more? And if so, how much? I'm fairly happy with my weight at this stage (goal weight is a flat 9stone), I'm more concerned now about what's in the mirror than on the scales.

I'm so used to tracking what I eat for so long that I'm afraid to eat more! I have visions that I'll eat more and end up "cultivating mass" instead: http://coolshirtsandstuff.tumblr.com/image/126299100936

Any and all advice welcome. Sorry for the huge post!

Carlos Orange

Sticking your details into a BMR calculator gives 1400. That is an estimate of the number of calories you would need if you stayed in bed all day. Obviously you are doing a lot more than that. A calculator that includes activity says 2000 to 2200 but quantifying activity is probably fairly difficult.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

ameliams

I don't know how many calories you actually do need but you could just increase your calories without actually eating more, like use full fat milk instead of low fat.

So your calories go up and presumedly you won't be as tired and that way you also don't change what you're already doing as you're comfortable with that.

That being said I can't critique what you're actually eating, I don't know enough about nutrition but just a suggestion.