Maintainer's calories in vs. calories out?

luckymommy · 08-23-2011, 01:13 AM

Hi friends,

I was wondering if you could share a little something about your routine. How many calories do you consume in a day? How many do you think you burn (or if you don't know, then how much cardio and/or strength training do you do)?

I'm wondering because recently, I've been finding it difficult to consume 1200 calories...sometimes I can do it and sometimes I can't. Lately, I've been consuming more like 1400 calories a day. I guess I'm wondering if I'll still drop pounds this way or not.

Thanks!

neurodoc · 08-23-2011, 07:40 PM

It depends on how many calories you burn in a day. The equation, as you undoubtedly know, is pretty straighforward: calories in - calories out must be a negative number (on a regular basis) to achieve weight loss, and an approximately 3500 calorie deficit is needed to lose 1 pound.

There are web sites that will help you figure out what your basic daily calorie needs are to maintain your current weight (e.g.: http://health.discovery.com/centers/...sal/basal.html). If you then subtract between 250-500 calories from that total (250 for slower weight loss; 500 for more rapid weight loss), and add in how many calories you burn from exercising, you will get a reasonable weight loss range to lose at.

I need to stay below 1300 calories/day AND burn 200-300 calories in exercise to lose weight consistently.

k8yk · 08-23-2011, 07:52 PM

I lost all my weight eating more than 1500 calories a day- sometimes more than 1800. I worked out for about an hour 5-6 days a week, intensely.

I can maintain this weight eating about 2000-2300 calories a day, maintaining the same level of exercise.

Because of your height, I think you should likely be eating a lot more than 1200 calories a day. But without knowing how much you workout, it's a bit hard to day. I lost weight faster eating 1800 calories a day than I did eating less. (tried many different things over the 2.5 year course of my weight loss)

luckymommy · 08-23-2011, 08:40 PM

Thanks neurodoc and k8yk! I guess I'm having a tough time figuring it all out since I'm only on my first month of maintenance. The reason I'm not that confident with the numbers game is because it seems like people overestimate how many net calories they burn. I usually do about 30 or 40 minutes of cardio at the gym and I also walk my dog (anywhere from 20 minutes to 60 minutes a day). I also keep fairly active throughout the day. I'm going to stick to less than 1400 calories if I can until I lose about 2 or 3 more lbs. and then I'll probably add some more calories to my routine....I'll start with 1500 and move on slowly. I'm hoping I can get to a point where I can actually eat 2,000 calories a day to maintain. That would be fantabulous!

Thanks again for your input.

bargoo · 08-23-2011, 08:51 PM

I doubt that you will be able to maintain 150-155 pounds at 2000 calories a day. You would need to be a super athlete. Just my opinion.

ncuneo · 08-23-2011, 09:37 PM

Quote:

I doubt that you will be able to maintain 150-155 pounds at 2000 calories a day. You would need to be a super athlete. Just my opinion.

I work out quite a bit, but am by no means a super athlete and I was maintaining 140-143 on around an average of 2000 cals probably a little more, so depending on how much you work out and your lifestyle I think it's totally possible to maintain 150ish. That said I never did the 1200 cal thing and always have lost weight and pretty high cals. I think it's just trial and error to find your sweet spot.

k8yk · 08-23-2011, 10:00 PM

Age is a big factor too. Personally, I think a lot of people underestimate the number of calories they burn. If you're healthy and don't have a screwy metabolism (often caused by undereating in the first place) you burn more than 1200 calories just by being alive.

luckymommy · 08-23-2011, 11:44 PM

I gotta admit that 2,000 would be dreamland for me!

Like ncuneo said, I'll have to try it and see. It just seems like 1400 calories is not that much to have in a day, but it's definitely doable. I know some people can only have 1200 to maintain so even at 1400, I feel somewhat lucky. Thanks for all the feedback.

Bright Angel · 08-25-2011, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k8yk

Age is a big factor too. Personally, I think a lot of people underestimate the number of calories they burn. If you're healthy and don't have a screwy metabolism (often caused by undereating in the first place) you burn more than 1200 calories just by being alive.

My 2 cents based on my experience and observation of others.
I personally believe that many people OVERESTIMATE the number of calories they burn.
At my height and weight and age,
the expert charts say I would burn about 1100 calories in a coma (BMR),
and I should burn somewhere around 1400 daily with sedentary activity.

However, I am not in a coma.
I do my normal activities, plus a bit of low-impact exercise,
and my personal truth is that my daily detailed eating records for the past 6+ years,
show that I have been maintaining my weight-loss -- with a slight creep upwards ---
by eating an AVERAGE of 1050 calories per day.
Some days less, some days more,
but that's been my yearly average for the past several years..

SORRY...... I wish I could eat more and maintain my weight, but I can't,
and it's okay, because I like being normal size
enough to keep doing what it takes to stay here.

christine123 · 08-25-2011, 02:03 PM

I am not currently a maintainer, and I'm new to 3FC, but when I have maintained in the past after losing over 50lbs, I was able to maintain 130lbs at under 1600 cals a day as an average. I exercised 45 min of cardio 4x a week. I was never able to eat more than that, on average, without gaining when I made goal. Of course some days I ate more, some days less. I had a lot of issues with binging shortly after my mom died and I regained all but 10lbs back because my binges were outweighing my OP days. Thankfully, the binges have been relatively under control since then.

joyfulloser · 08-25-2011, 02:19 PM

Hmmm...I'm probably eating on avg between 2200-2500 cals/day. For the past 2 months, I've only managed to get in running 5 miles once a week, and I swim when the weather is good and time is avail. I've had no problem maintaining my weight. But then again, I've always kept my calories high (back when I was losing I ate on avg 1600-2000 cals./day).

I think if your going to increase your calories, you should do it gradually. I think your body will adjust better without a spike in the scale. I suppose if I were still running 20+ miles/week, I could probably eat around 2800-3000 and maintain. But then again...I don't eat large portions of food in one setting. I pick throughout the day, eating about every 2 hours. I also take cinnamon w/chromium twice a day & digestive enzymes 3 times a day...this also helps increase my metabolism. I'm convinced.

Trial and error. Gradual increases and decreases are my advice. Much success! You look SMASHING in any event and fortunately because of your height, you can eat more than most...Nomnomnomnom...enjoy!

k8yk · 08-25-2011, 02:21 PM

Bright Angel, you are very small compared to average people (height and weight). I don't know your age, but I'm guessing you're also a bit older than I am. I certainly believe you (why wouldn't I?) But for those of us who are bigger (taller, and thus healthy at a heavier weight) and younger and more active- I stand by what I originally said. Most of us burn far more than 1200 calories a day.

It's going to be totally different for everyone based on all these different factors but these things are generally true:
The heavier we are, the more calories we burn.
The older we get, the less calories we burn.
The more active we are, the more calories we burn overall (not just calories burned during exercise)

I also think the more we have dieted throughout our lives, yo-yo dieted especially, the less calories we burn. Obviously there's no one number that would work for everyone.

mlk58 · 08-25-2011, 02:24 PM

I am very short and pretty old (almost 53) and I think I burn only maybe 1400 on a good day without exercise. So I exercise HARD at least five days a week. If I do that, I can eat maybe 1600-1700 calories per day on average and maintain or continue to lose verra verra slowly (like, a pound a month).

traveling michele · 08-25-2011, 02:29 PM

Joyfull loser-- which cinnamon with chromium do you use? I know you've mentioned it before and I want to check into it.

As for me, I eat around 1200 calories a day and I work out vigorously for 60-90 minutes each day. If I do that, I maintain or lose slightly. If I eat much more or exercise less, I gain pretty quickly. I am 44 and have a thyroid disorder.

luckymommy · 08-25-2011, 11:37 PM

traveling michele, I believe joyfulloser buys her chromium/cinnamon supplement at Wal Mart. I'm planning on getting some too, just as soon as I can get to one!

Thanks all so much for your posts. I just need to find my magic number which will be really nice to do since it will take a lot of the mystery out of maintenance for me.

Regarding getting older, I was under the impression that the reason that older people burn less calories at rest is because of decreased muscle mass. I think I read somewhere that people typically lose 5% muscle mass a year, but that sounds very high to me, so I'm not even sure if that's true. That said, this means that weight bearing exercises would prevent this from being an issue.