I need some expertise on cal counting here!!
 

I had a Question for ya. I am doing pretty well and know all about healthy eating and all that. I have plenty of motivation/will power etc. I am not struggling with still wanting "bad foods" too often. My problem right now is what amount of cals to choose. I was losing on an average of 1700 daily with about 30% fat about 1.5 pounds a week last month. I walked an average of 87 minutes a day. Briskly. I lost 6 pounds. The month before I was even worse with my "bad days" eating and only walked an average of 67 minutes a day BUT I lost 9.5 pounds that month! So basically I had more bad days and walked alot less yet lost more. :dizzy:

This is my dilemma, I am not interested in taking weight off too quickly. But 2 pounds a week to 2.5 is safe IMO. (Like I lost in Oct.)I would rather lose 2-2.5 than just 1.5 though. So this month I switched it back a bit. I decided that a 60 minute average a day is fine. But the problem is sometimes I am completely satisfied on 1200 cals a day! Especially the days I do beans and brown rice. I make sure to get plenty of fruit, dairy and vegis in as well.

I am at 208 now though and I hear so much conflicting info like if I cut too low now, what if I pleateau and can not go any lower and have no where to lower my cals etc. (I understand that and agree with that)

Then I hear, listen to your body etc. And I do. Sometimes I am just not as hungry as other times. It is like if I am at 1200 cals or 1300 and I am NOT hungry then why should I try to force myself to eat more? I do have some days where I am just hungrier than others. If I am hungry, I eat. I usually have one out to eat day a week which is always a higher cal day so that helps to balance stuff out. Like last week was Katy's b~day on tuesday so we had cake and pizza and crazy bread etc. I planned for it. But the next few days I made sure to keep the cals low and at the end of the week my average was like 1550 a day. That is not bad, IMO. I lost two pounds last week.

So this week I am wondering if maybe I should do the same? I kept my cals relatively low for a few days and (my week starts on sunday) by thursday I was already down 2 pounds! Now I have no problem with going ahead and having a few more low cal days this week and hitting 3. Believe me I could probably do that indefinately! At least most of the time, cause most of the time the food I am eating is so filling that is plenty for me.

But I am worried about plateauing. So I figured I am going to have a few higher days for a few days so I can get to a higher average for the week. I will maintain the 208 then sunday I can start all over again. :dizzy: Sun - wed were low cal days for me the average would of been

Sunday 1349
Monday 1408
Tuesday 1177
Wed. 1240 (=5174 div. by 4 = 1293.5)

Thurs. 1634(6808/1361)
Fri 1984 possibly(8792/1465)
Sat 1738 possibly

I was fine all 4 of those days and was not hungry. I was satisfied. Yesterday came along and I did indulge in coffee and creamer which does eat up extra cals and I told myself that I needed to have some higher cal days toward the end of the week to get to at least 1550 average for the week. The good thing was yesterday I was more hungry. I finished dinner and was actually still hungry(would of ended at 1550 that day) I was still hungry so I told myself, go ahead and eat more. So i went ahead and had .50 a cup of brown rice. So I ended up at 1634 for the day.

Which bring me back to the scenario about listening to my body. If I am not hungry and know I have been eating regularily and healthy stuff etc then that is it, stop. If I am still needing more then to do it.

Now today, I wound up eating out so I will end up at about 1984 today which will help my total and tomorrow we are celebrating my birthday. I told myself I could splurge and have whatever I wanted but what I want is banana cream pie and beef tamales. Even planning out my day it looks like it will be about 1738 cals(a high fat day for sure though) so even if I add that on 8792 +1738 = 10530 div. by 7 = 1504 average for the week

Okay so this is my question, is a 1500 average daily for the week a bad thing? Do I really need to eat more? EVen with me telling myself I could eat more tomorrwo I know I will not want to! Like I said I could probably be fine every day on about 1200-1300 excepot maybe one day a week. I also seen some of the longer members here at 3fc saying sometimes people are still consuming way too many cals etc.

So this is what I am saying, in regards to cal counting, please be honest with me. Is 1500-1550 a week fine? Is 1200-1300 a week fine for me? My major concern here is obviously being healthy, secondary is losing but I do not want to lose 3 a week at the rsik of pleateauing at 180 or something. But if it is doable I would actually really LOVE to only eat that 1200-1300 a day most days cause I feel happy, my tummy doesn't feel stuffed and I just feel great about myself.

I would really love to here from you other ladies, and for those of you that have lost and gotten down to or near goal weights that were cal counting would be great to. Thanx in advance!

What if you just inched your cals down by a few and added some intensity to your exercise? Add a few minutes of jog-ish type steps a couple of times during your walk.

Do you use a calorie counter that estimates your nutrients too? If you drop lower, you may need a mulitivit.

Zig zagging or calorie cycling is a good way to to keep the metabolism up.
Research shows that while on a strict diet the metabolism can slow down by up to 20%.
Not that this would be a good thing-but that's it. There is no scenario you can create for yourself that will make you never be able to lose weight again. Everyone plateaus at some point, and even the people who plan it out the way you are describing. We all have to just keep it up, push through it, and wait for our bodies to catch up.
I actually had a doctor tell me once to eat the amount of calories a day to maintain the weight I WANTED to be at. The standard diet my most recent doctor gave me was a printout of a 1200 calorie a day diet-the same one he gives to all his patients with weight concerns. If it were permanently damaging, why would physicians be okay with that?
If you are genuinely not hungry-I say listen to your body. On the days that you are more hungry, eat more.
Not very many of us got to be fat chicks by eating when we were truly physically hungry. Unless there is a medical problem involved, we make ourselves overweight by not stopping when we were satiated, or running to the fridge or the drive thru when we were bored, anxious, depressed, etc.
I think the point of all of this is to get healthy and to eat healthy for a lifetime. That, to me, by definition means not only making better food choices, but also re-learning how to listen to that internal system that tells me when I actually need to eat. No matter what the calorie calculators say we should have. Not to discredit researching, planning, accountability, etc. But in the end, I don't want to have to bust out a pen, paper, and a calculator at every meal for the rest of my life anyway, ya know?

If you are losing weight, then I don't think you are consuming too many calories. And I think having a few low days and a few high days so that everything balances out to an average you are comfortable with is fine. It isn't the method I used, but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. Based on the anecdotal evidence I see here in this forum, it seems like there are lots of people that use this method of calorie counting and lose weight successfully. Given the rate at which you are losing weight and the fact that you aren't hungry, it sounds like you are averaging about the right number of calories. You don't want your average to go below 1200 calories per day, but beyond that it's just a matter of finding the right number of calories that will let you lose weight at a reasonable pace without being hungry all the time. It sounds like you've found that number.

The fiber is what's making you feel full. I stick to a 1200 to 1300 calorie day and some days I'm just fine at 800. Those just happen to be my brown rice and beans days. Go figure.

:-)

I am a real fan of cycling or zigzagging my calories. It keeps me from getting bored, I have seen the best results and it lets me practice my math skills :) The only downside I see to not eating if you're not hungry is that you MAY be sabatoging yourself by slowing down your metabolism...or for me, that fuels my longlost eating disordered behavior ("Hmmmm....if I lost 1 lb eating 800 calories a day, how much can I lose at 500 a day...") but again, that's me and my screwed-up psyche :)

SusanB:
Yeah inching it down sounds best. I think I should try to stick to the 1550-1600 range and see how it goes. Sometimes it is just so hard to know what to do. As fasr as the walking goes every once in a while I do jog for about a minute and I did notice the top part of my belly started trimming down just under my boobs so that was awesome! I hear working up a sweat 1 hour a week is great so we want to start trying to run for 20 minutes 3 days a week but I'll have to work up to that. And good news! My dh, we just celebrated my b~day last nite and he got me resistance weights and a ball and a mat and some little weights! Yeah!

Yes I use fitday every day.

I already take one every day now, centrum.

rebeleagle1965:

I know what you mean, you are probably right. I guess that is why it is good to shake things up a bit. Keep your body guessing!
That may make sense too. If I hit in I am 5'4, weigh 135 and want to be 130 this is what I get...

That is still ALOT of food! But like I said it is really not about how much CAN I eat and still lose, it is about not really wanting to eat that much most of the time! :lol:

I really am not a big fan of doctors. Most docs, not all, are in it for the money. And how many times do we hear of a doc giving someone who is 300 pounds a 1200 cal diet and expecting them to lose? All too often. Give them a 1800-2000 cal diet and some exercise and they will lose and have a much better chance of staying on it. You also have to remember that this is a buisiness and they just go by industry guidelines. Alot of them have never been overweight or struggle with eating. I also have alot of other concerns with docs like the fact that alot of them are willing to write a prescription for almost anything at the drop of a hat! You being sick unfortunately = money for them, your dependency on them, you being hospitalized = the same thing, more money in their pocket.Now I am not arguing that 1200 is not safe, I believe it is as long as you are getting your nutrients etc. I just don't want to go too low too soon. *sigh* After all my years of overeating and normal portions not being enough this is kind of funny actually to have this problem.

Exactly. The more whole foods I eat, the less hungry I am. i can have a 12--1300 day and be compkletely satisfied on good food, where as a bad day of eating out along with processed foods I am still hungry at 1800! Thanx God I have turned that around to mostly wholesome foods.
I agree. It is so nice to be able to eat and then say, you know what? I can't finish this! I feel fine! :D I feel like I am so much more in tune with my body now.

I agree. I have gotten so fanatical about fitday and everything else that goes along with healthy eating it is like an obsession! At least a healthy one though.

I have to run and eat dinner with the family but will be back to respond to everyone else afterwards!

BlueToBlue:

What method are you using?

Yeah I know not to go below 1200 often.

I think so too but these last 3 days I have had to have a ton of cals to have the higher cal days and franky last nite I went to bed so full I felt like I had gained 10 pounds! I know that is not possible unless I consume my maintenance cals PLUS 3500 or if I retain water etc. But you know what I mean. We have been celebrating my b~day this weekend so yesterday and today were treat days and I did go up quite a bit on the cals. Tomorrow I am going to do a spree of low cal days etc. But still, I am happy I can take a day or a couple days and eat stuff that I normally would not eat alot of etc. But you know what? I am actually looking forward to getting back on plan tomorrow. I did thoroughly enjot the tamales and fresh tortillas though. (normally I stick to wheat) Heck even the beef tamales wouldn't be bad to have once in a while. But the white tortillas are a trigger food for me and I have eaten quite a bit yesterday and today and I am not surprised. It is easy to have high cal days doing that!

Next week, hmmm...I think what I should try and do is having more healthy cals by adding a tbs of extra virgin olive oild to a salad. That would probably make alot of sense. ANother thing I love is nuts. I do half cashews and half walnuts. Yummy delicious cals that can add up quickly.

AnAbsoluteDiva:

You see that is exactly what I am talking about! I know fiber is really filling but jeez! haha We have started doing alot more beans and brown rice. (I usually add tom. sauce and onion and bell pepper and garlic and make it spanish rice) SO usually two days a week we'll have that with a little bit of chicken and some veggies or maybe throw a corn tortilla around it(not fried) and two days a week we have started making our own healthy turkey chili beans! It is so filling!

OnePerDecade:

Well i have been zigzagging all along, some 2000 days, some 1500 days. It was just a bit alarming when it became 1200 and 1300 days.

That is exactly what I am worried about. I do remember Glory saying that she lost on 1400-1600 cals a day and she started at 195 or so. SO that is why I figure 1550 average is not so bad. Another thing I get annoyed with especially with reading so much(websites) is there are so many different opinions and I know I have to find what is right for me but you hear, low carbs, no carbs, low fat, regular fat, more protein, etc. Now I do not mind low fat or low carbs or more protein etc to infinity. But I have noticed that I seem to lose best on more fat. Yes I try to make sure it is healthy fats as weel. With the carbs I was losing fine on 50% carbs/20% protein/30% fats and with the carbs I do ezekiel bread, beans , brown rice, veggies, lots of fruit so I am getting mostly good carbs, here and there I throw in some bad carbs every now and then, etc. But what concerns me to is the meat. You hear people say more protein, and that is fine with me but then you hear if you have too much protein it can damage your kidneys! Then I tried to look it up and I could of swore it said something like 10% and/or 50 grams. That is crazy! So then me doing 20% would be high.

Does anyone have the 411 on protein consumption?

Then that takes me back to thinking less is probably better. If I do a 1200 cal day I will not get alot of protein anyways.

Like for instance, my 1634 cal day thursday was 30% fat/ 49% carbs/ 21% protein(now sometimes lately I have been having 30% protein days and 40% carb days so I switch sometimes) but even at a 1634 call day and only 20% protein that is still 80 grams of protein! And allegedly that is too much.

You take a day like tuesday, 1177 cals, it was 44% fat/36%carbs/20% protein, the grams were 55 which is closer to what they say s a good thing but I barely hit under the 1200 mark to do so. My carbs were also lower which I like, 118. It just seems like the only way not to have too many carbs or proteins is to have a lower calorie day. Yeah the fat grams are a little bit higher but I am watching those too. A 1200 cal day believe me you are not going to be overdoing too much of anything. :lol:

I understand that. It is dangerous thinking so be careful sweetie! And like I said this isn't about me wanting to lose 5 pounds a week or anything. Any more then like 2-2.5 is water and / or muscle so that won't help at all. My primary goal is to get healthier and to be healthy. My vanity comes second. Maybe I will try to see if I can stick to averaging 1500 - 1550 a day. idk The last two days I have eaten quite a bit and I know past the point where I was full. Just added up my total cals for the week, with my splurging the last two days and all the other days I am now at an average of 1612 a day. Sounds good on paper. But you know what? I am stuffed! I hate that feeling. I know today especially has been more of the wrong kinds of foods etc as I planned with b~day and all but I really don't want to do this to myself. EAt Really low for a few days and feel fine, then the other days have some foods that are worser for me to eat and splurge just to try to get to a certain average. That can't be good for me either. Maybe I should just really try to stick to eating the planned meals and snacks and if I am less or more hungry then adjust from there. Have my one out to eat day a week and If I am hungrier that day then fine. Cause what I did at the tail end of this week just doesn't feel right to me. Why should I stuff myself for two days to hit an average daily limit for the week unless I am truly hungry.

Well I just wanted to thank all of you ladies for your time and advice. Anyone else want to chime in feel free too! I actually can't wait to get back to normal tomorrow.