Alright, I've been avoiding asking this, but it's time to bite the bullet, so to speak.
If one is trying to lose weight, about how many calories per day should we be consuming? (I know that's going to be dependent on each person, but I'd at least like to know how to calculate it, if possible)
Do you guys count calories? I've been trying to avoid it, but since I've hit the final stretch in my weight loss, I would imagine it begins to matter more. What do you guys think?
What I like to do is first calculate your BMR, which is how many calories you burn in a day even if you sat on the couch all day and did nothing. I did a quick google search and found this calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
So for me my BMR is 1560. So to lose weight I need to eat 15%-20% less than this, so that would mean I'd eat 1326 (15%) or 1248 (20%).
HOWEVER! I'm always one who believes in eating calories back that I burn. So if I eat 1326, but then burn 400 calories, then I'd eat back those 400 calories (so 1326 + 400 = 1726) otherwise I'm at risk of my body retaining all the fats from the food I ate because it's running off of 926 calories (1326 - 400 = 926).
I'm a fan of counting calories on and off, I tend to count them if I'm having a hard time losing weight but once I get on a roll I ease off on it a bit. If you're on the last stretch it's a good idea, perhaps using the 20% off your BMR rule might help, just make sure you eat back those calories you burn or you will start to run low on energy and stall.
I'm no expert, so I hope this advise helps, it's how I've always understood it!
Last edited by Riestrella; 07-06-2015 at 07:00 PM.
Week 2's Sheet is up and running! Enter your exercise goal for this week now! Please note, you can enter Week 2's weight at any point between Monday 6th July - Sunday 12th July. If you didn't enter Week 1's weight you were NOT moved to week 2. If you still want to participate, enter your weight for week 1, then let me know that you've done so and I will move you to week 2!!
Last edited by Riestrella; 07-06-2015 at 07:46 PM.
Ries- That's super helpful! Mine's at 1449.05, and to take 20% would put me at 1,155.24. I think I'll bump it to 1200 (as I keep reading it's not necessarily safe to go below that). I know that if you don't eat enough, it can negatively affect your metabolism. Do you know anything about that? I feel like everything I read is gibberish! More or less, I just want to avoid messing up my metabolism, plain and simple.
Okay, finally at a desktop. I did not meet my running goal last week, ran 8.73 miles out of the 10 I had planned for. I was enjoying my holiday weekend a bit too much :P My weight, however, has been oddly low! Not going to complain!
We are officially moving in the next couple of weeks, so I think I will continue to update my weight in here but won't set an exercise goal. I will track when I do manage to exercise. But holy **** my mind cannot fathom when I will fit in exercise between packing and finding an apartment and all that. I am totally overwhelmed right now! Just hoping I can stay mostly in check. I know that not going overboard with eating will help me mentally, but I also know there will be lots of celebrating, goodbyes, and parties in the next few weeks and I just need to savor my time with family and friends.
Hope everyone else has had a great holiday!
Ries - I edited my Week 1 weight to 176 but its not showing up on the new week. I guess that's something you have to change manually?
NNS- Good luck with the move; I'm about to have one myself! Trying to find time to exercise amidst the madness has got to be difficult; though good for you for keeping perspective. It's most important to savor the time left.
Weighed in this morning at 133.8, so officially back to where I was. WOOO all kinds of excitement! Hoping to see some sort of drop this week, even if it's only half of a pound.
Without investing in one of those fitbit/jawbone things, is there a way to determine approximately how many calories you burn during exercise? I know it varies with the intensity you put in, but is there at least some way to gauge a rough number?
I don't where I'd be without you guys. Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Dance class was killer last night. Only a few weeks off really pushes you back. My competition will be...interesting at best.
charbreaker - I use a similar method to Ries, except instead of eating back exercise calories I do a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) method. This is an estimate of how many calories you burn each day with all activity included (walking to/from wherever, house work, activity during your job, deliberate exercise, etc.). Through various online calculators (just search "TDEE calculator") and trial and error, I maintain on around 1900 calories/day when I'm exercising regularly. Right now I'm aiming for 1600 a day, which is about a 15% reduction. I do NOT calculate and eat back exercise calories, because they're already part of my 1600 a day. I prefer this method because I don't have to worry about calculating how many calories I burn with exercise, which can be difficult, and my calorie allotment is always consistent. If I do something above and beyond, say a 10 mile/3000 ft elevation gain hike, I would eat above 1600.
Since you don't have much to lose, I'd recommend you look at taking only 10% deficit. I know it can be frustrating to move slow, but the 20% deficit is generally for those who have a lot to lose and can safely lose at a quicker rate.
If you're looking to do the eat calories back method and don't want to invest in a heart rate monitor (which only works for steady state cardio anyway), you can try the online calculators floating around. They tend to overestimate, so most people only eat back 50%-75% of that number.
NNS - I had the same issue when I packed up and moved. I fortunately maintained my weight but between the stress of that and work, I just didn't pay attention to my food choices and skipped exercise for a few weeks. And I felt it in dance class last night...ouch. Are you still moving to Denver? If so, this challenge has quite a Front Range contingent!
Weight loss has been terrible recently. We ate Mexican food 3 days in a row over July 4th weekend. Meaning loads of carbs and stupidity on my part for not stopping eating chips and salsa constantly. On July 5th we went to a film, I was in the middle so I was holding the popcorn for the BF and his Dad, I ended up mindlessly eating it. Yesterday was better, I ate oatmeal for breakfast, a falafal pita wrap for lunch and then a chicken curry for dinner. I did end up drinking a little soda and probably not enough water. All in all - I've been a pig!! Which explains the 166.6 lbs I'm seeing on the scale this morning. I didn't make my 4x a week goal for week 1, which I'm bummed about, but I'm determined to make it this week.
As for life stuff, it's been a great weekend! I had a lot of fun with the boyfriend and his family. Independence was a laugh, mainly because I was a defiant Brit crashing an American holiday. I had to sing the English national anthem loudly at one point . On my way back from my run, my boyfriends Mum said "you need to wear white, the black you're wearing is absorbing the heat." On the one hand I KNOW she's right, but on the other all my workout clothes have the breathable/dry easy fabric. Plus, I'm a girl who loves her dark clothes, so a part of me wanted to say "get lost, I'll wear what I want!"
I saw Inside Out yesterday, has anyone seen it? It was so good! I really enjoyed it. Pixar back to form with original ideas again, it was so refreshing to see.
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char - I always liked the image that your metabolism is a fire. The wood is fuel (food), the fire is your metabolism and the oxygen is exercise. There has to be a perfect balance of fuel and oxygen for the fire to burn bright, which is why I believe when people workout loads and don't eat enough they stall. Or when people eat too much and don't exercise enough, that causes the metabolism to slow down. Your body is a machine and it will do amazing things to keep you going throughout the day. Weight loss is about trying to find what works best for you, sometimes it does take a bit of trial and error. When I stalled a couple of years ago someone told me to eat more, I thought they were crazy, but it totally worked.
As for calories burned during exercise, it's really hard to measure, but I like using My Fitness Pal just to estimate. Some people like to know exactly what they're burning/eating - whereas for me I like to use estimates. Atmos is right, going back on what I said, you probably are better off starting slow at a 10% figure. For me, I'm overweight, so I can afford to drop 15%-20%, but looking at your stats (sorry, should have done that before) you are already a healthy weight. For those in the green but looking to get lean I would say that you need to focus more on WHAT you eat than how much. Also, since you are at a healthy weight, you might want to start focusing on measurements rather than weight. If you're exercising and losing fat but gaining muscle, your weight will get higher despite you looking toned.
NNS - Whenever I make a big move in life, I try my best to fit in exercise, but it never works! Before I moved here I had loads to do, people to see, parties to attend, it was a lot of fun but I tried not to pressure myself to workout. Because we're on a journey, it's hard to just hit pause and enjoy ourselves, there'll always be a little voice saying "think about what you're doing!" Life can get busy, it's ok when that happens. If you're feeling so much pressure from the move then focus on the move first. Good luck! I've changed your week 1 weight in week 2's spreadsheet.
atmos - When is your competition? Well done on going, it's always rough after a few weeks off!
Last edited by Riestrella; 07-07-2015 at 12:29 PM.
Had an alright day. I had a good enough breakfast of eggs and a green smoothie but work stressed me out so I left the office and got two slices of greasy pepperoni pizza. But I think I somewhat made up for it by going to cardio class and having a light dinner of grilled chicken breast and zucchini. Currently eating yogurt for dessert. I even logged my calories into MFP today.
charbreaker - What kind of exercise are you doing? If you are on a machine, you can periodically check the heart rate monitor. Or get a wearable heart rate monitor. You can plug the data into the computer and figure it out that way. You could also just use the estimates on MyFitnessPal.
atmos - Yes, Denver! I'm actually thinking of signing up for the Boulder Bolder next year after seeing Ries's photos. It just looks so fun!
Ries - Glad you had a great 4th even if you are a Brit :P Long weekends really are killer for keeping on track with food. You can hit your goal this week, I'm sure!
Already have so many going away plans for dinners out and such. Staying on track by skipping breakfast (fairly typical of me) and eating a light lunch at work. I think I'm going to need to get out for a run soon or this stress is going to get the best of me.
I have two apartments picked out, both are near a really nice biking/walking trail and a big park with a 2.5 mile walking path around the perimeter. Can't wait to have so many activities at my fingertips! Now I just need the apartment place to call me back so I can put in an application and get it locked down.
NNS - I'm glad the move worked out as you wanted! I hope you will like it out here. I've always avoided the Bolder Boulder due to traffic and congestion. Perhaps I'll have to check it out one of these years. I'm glad you've found an apartment and hopefully can get it locked in. The market around here is really rough. I had to start looking about 2 months in advance of my move and a lot of places didn't even bother to contact me back. I hope you'll enjoy your city neighborhood/suburb that you picked out!
Was not in the mood to workout today. Just one of those days where I just..didn't want to! But I didn't want today to be a rest day either.
Just finished Hips, Buns, & Thighs from Hip Hop Abs. Last time I did it was a month ago (or so) and it was decently challenging. I did it again today, thinking it would be somewhat easier, and it was! But my legs are still wobbly and I know I'm going to be feeling this tomorrow.
NNS, atmos, Ries - Thanks for all the tips and information! I've got a little better of an understanding of how all this works and don't feel the same frustration now that it makes more sense. Working on doing 10% (as opposed to 15 or 20). It's been harder to decide where to add calories (another 150 or so) back into my diet. Though that problem was solved when I found a recipe for gluten free zucchini brownies.
Here's hoping this week is a good weigh in for all of us! If not, there's always next week.
Does anyone have any favorite go-to convenience meals? I'm at that point where the cabinets are almost bare and I'd like to have things I know I can grab at the store that are reasonably healthy.
Thinking maybe salad and pre-cooked chicken strips as one option that my bf and I would both like. A few more ideas would be nice
I really hope I get a chance to go for a run this weekend. I am so stressed! I spoke too soon about finding apartments. This is going to be a long, long road.
Hello! I'm new to this forum! I have basically been google searching looking for a REALLY active weight loss community, because I'm chatty and I need the daily, sometimes a couple times daily, encouragement/motivation to keep on keeping!!
I've had quite the weight loss / weight gain journey and I'm ready to really REALLY dive in and get this thing going. I am going to be doing some dieting for a bit, just to get going, but then I'm changing over to a lifestyle change, to stay healthy! I'm really REALLY hoping to make some friends and hopefully people who I can relate to and stay in contact with throughout this journey.
Have I found the right place?
Almost had a fail day yesterday, but just before I was about to have a shower I thought "NO! GET OUT THERE AND RUN!" so I ran 2 miles . Not only did I push myself, it was my fastest run in a long time! Woohoo! The scale rewarded me this morning, down to 165.8 lbs, glad to see myself get out of the 166 lb mark. Period is on the way too, which is no doubt why I've been a food eating monster the last week, so I hope by working out and being mindful of my food intake I can shake the weight.
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Dani - I've been there! Except a couple of slices of pizza for you was a whole pepperoni pizza for me! I'm sure your healthier rest of the day didn't affect you too badly.
NNS - I'm a big advocate for breakfast, naughty girl! I just don't function right as a human without it! I'm worried for when we want to leave CO...we want to freelance so I'm not sure how likely we'll be able to secure an apartment in another state without a job lined up. I've looked into sub-letting though. Seems to be a good option while looking for apartments in the area. Anyway, I'm ranting, it'll all be over soon! House hunting is the worse.
Not a clue on the convenience meals, but going into Whole Foods they seem to have a pretty sweet collection of ready made meals to dish out into a tub. Safeway's options look a bit more fat-riffic.
atmos - Good luck tomorrow!
charb - We all have those days, but what's important is you worked out!! Glad you've got a better understanding now, just choose a plan that works with your personality/preferences. Everyone will tell you THEIR way is the best way - but that's for them and not you.
DMB - Welcome! For the most part we are indeed a chatty bunch. Most people post at least once a day. There's a great bunch of people here to get to know and become friends with .
Last edited by Riestrella; 07-10-2015 at 12:11 PM.
My competition will be...interesting at best.
. On my way back from my run, my boyfriends Mum said "you need to wear white, the black you're wearing is absorbing the heat." On the one hand I KNOW she's right, but on the other all my workout clothes have the breathable/dry easy fabric. Plus, I'm a girl who loves her dark clothes, so a part of me wanted to say "get lost, I'll wear what I want!" 
. Not only did I push myself, it was my fastest run in a long time! Woohoo! The scale rewarded me this morning, down to 165.8 lbs, glad to see myself get out of the 166 lb mark. Period is on the way too, which is no doubt why I've been a food eating monster the last week, so I hope by working out and being mindful of my food intake I can shake the weight. 