Newbie here!

You are all so knowledgeable and I’m ready to tap into that knowledge and ask your opinion/advice...

Without going into a huge back-round story, in a nutshell:

I’ve been working out off and for YEARS. In 2005 I got pretty serious about wanting to lose weight and I started to log my food intake into FitDay. I was eating about 1400-1700 calories any given weekday, though my weekends were another story – shame to say that it was more. It wasn't unusal for me to binge on Sundays

My exercise consisted of doing about 30 – 45 minutes on the elliptical 3x/week and weights 2x/week for about 30-45 minutes. When I first started this plan I lost 3lbs in one month. After 8-months of working out/eating like this, I did not make any additional progress.

In 2006 I decided to switch it up a little and start doing more weights and focus less on cardio. My days at the gym at this point were around 3x/week. I would log calories here and there but didn’t keep it up consistently since I had an idea of the calories I was taking in. Though I do see now that a big mistake I was making was assuming the cardio machines gave an accurate number on calories burned.

No body changes come mid 2006. I was discouraged to say the least.

May 2006, I was offered a promotion. It was long, stressful work. I buried myself in my work and gave up working out all together from day one. May – December 2006 I did not work out once. I felt so bad about it, but I blamed my poor attendance on my lack of time. Not to mention, I had no real motivation. I wasn’t seeing any changes in my body – other than being able to lift more weights. I gave up and deemed myself hopeless to lose. By the end of 2006 the job was taking its toll on my mental health. I gave it up and went back to my “regular” job late December 2006.

Start up 2007, I weighed 154lbs and decided enough is enough – I’m gonna get back into the gym and try something different. I decided this time around to focus more on what I didn’t like – cardio. I started doing cardio 5-6x/week for 1-hour. 1x/week I’ll do weights. I also kept my calories under 1300 and log them into FitDay – everyday.

By March 2007, I had lost 7lbs. Finally! Something works for me! I felt like I found my combination to weight loss! I’ve been on this cardio/low-calorie diet ever since.

Here I am in April, down 12-pounds. I’m really doing well and my doctor is very impressed with my determination!

So now to my question:

Do you think 1200-1300-calories a good intake when doing 1-hour of cardio a day? I am losing weight and I feel great. I don’t want to damage my metabolism and I’ve read on a few other sites that this amount of caloric intake with exercise is too low.

Your thoughts/advice – PLEASE!

Hi PrettyCity and !

I lost my weight doing an hour of cardio a day (seven days a week) and with calories as low as yours for the last six months of my weight loss. And I lifted weights five days a week. So I guess you can say that -- from my perspective! -- you're doing just fine.

There's folklore/gymlore out there about "damaging your metabolism" but I've never seen any science or studies backing up the notion. The real reason that it's a bad idea to drop below 1200 calories without medical supervision is simply that it's almost impossible to get adequate protein, other nutrients, and fiber when you drop your calories too low. But it's not like something terrible happens to your metabolism if your calories go below 1200 or some other magic number.

And since I've been maintaining my loss for almost six years now, I don't think I did myself much harm losing it my way!

So long as you feel well and your doctor is on board with your plan, I don't see any problem with what you're doing. If you find yourself getting too hungry or feeling weak in the gym, don't be afraid to experiment and add back 100 - 200 calories. You're a work in progress and can tweak as you go.

Isn't it great finding a plan that works?

Thank you, Meg! I was so hoping you'd reply. I've been admiring your sucess for sometime. I think of you as one of the experts around here. This board is so much better because of you and your willingness to help others find their way, while keeping us motivated and on track!

I feel SO much better now. This year has been a test of will, I ain't gonna lie. I'm eating much less than I use to and I work out much more. It's a bit scary sometimes because I wonder if I can keep this up.

When I think about doing this for the rest of my life, it scares me. But then again, so does not being here for my kids and getting older. I want to make the most of my time and for once in my life, I want to love my body.

I'm going to take it day by day and hopefully, I'll meet my goal!

THANKS, MEG!

Aw, thanks for all your kind words!

You're smart to focus on one day at a time rather than worrying about keeping it up forever. "Forever" is pretty daunting at first! But it really does get easier as the weeks and months go by because all your new routines and ways of eating become ingrained as habits -- they just become the background of your life instead of the focus. Soon you won't even remember living or eating any other way -- and you won't miss the old way of doing things one little bit! You'll reach your goal, your confidence level will soar, and nothing will tempt you to go back, I promise you.

We're so glad you joined in and we're all looking forward to getting to know you better.

Pretty, I'm no expert but I have read a lot about this "starvation mode". It seems that you have to be eating less than half of the calories you need in a day in order to have this kind of issue. For example, at my height and weight I need something like 1350 calories to maintain, so I'd have to be eating less than 675 calories a day to even be worried about the whole "starvation mode". And in the study I read (which was from several years ago), the participants lost weight down to very low, unhealthy, body fat percentages even though they were eating so little.

Personally, I go by how I feel. I try to make the most of my calories by packing in at least 65g of protein and at least five cups of vegetables a day. If I'm feeling out of sorts or dizzy I know I haven't eaten enough and I need to re-evaluate what my menus are. If you're motoring along fine, your body is obviously able to keep it up.

Good luck!

Kara

Thank you for your replies, Meg and TomandKara! I appreciate the feedback.

I have a question for you, TomandKara:

When you say you have to less than half the amount of calories it takes to maintain, is that including working out?

If I have to eat 1300 calories to maintain (which I do eat), and I work off 700 (that doesn't ever happen, but just for sake of understanding), does count as "starvation mode"?

I'm confused about what calorie deficit really means.

For 1-pound a week weight loss, does that mean I need to work off 500 calories off my 1300 intake (total calories at the end of the day 800)?

If the above statement is generally true, I'm confused about the statement I've read that the body needs around 1000-1100 calories to function properly.

I know what I've been doing has been working, I just want to understand the "How’s and Why’s" of it all.

I'm amazed how much goes into the equation of weight loss. No wonder we all have such a hard time trying to figure it out! It’s a science with many variables!

Let me take a stab at your questions.

Your daily calories can be 1) in a surplus, resulting in weight gain, 2) in a deficit, resulting in weight loss, or 3) in equilibrium, resulting in weight maintenance.

A calorie surplus is when the calories you eat are greater than your daily energy expenditure, so your body is forced to store fat. A calorie deficit is when the calories you eat are less than your energy expenditure, so your body is forced to dip into its stored fat reserves and you lose fat. And a calorie equilibrium is when the calories you eat in a day are balanced by your energy expenditure, so you neither gain nor lose weight.

Our energy expenditure (EE) in a day is made up of three components:

1. Resting energy expenditure (also known as RMR, resting metabolic rate)

2. Non-resting EE

3. Thermic (the digestion of food).

Resting EE accounts for about 50 – 60% of the calories we burn in a day, thermic accounts for about 5%, and non-resting EE makes up the remainder. Our non-resting EE is both intentional exercise and activities of every day life, like brushing our teeth, cleaning, walking around the house, cooking etc. We can't do much to change resting EE (except build muscle!) and thermic EE, but we can influence non-resting EE by adding in exercise.

OK, if all this makes sense , the way we lose weight is to take in fewer calories than we use as energy in a day and create that calorie deficit. Calories IN must be less than calories BURNED through all three components of energy expenditure in order to use stored fat. There are dozens of calculators on the Internet that estimate your resting EE and total energy needs in a day. They're just guesses, of course, but can be useful places to start. The best way to figure out your own personal calorie needs to is track in Fitday like you're doing and then compare it to your weekly weight loss. If you're losing one pound a week, you know you're creating about a 500 calorie deficit per day. If it's two pounds per week, you know your calorie deficit is about 1000 calories per day. Weight loss isn't always linear and doesn't always follow the rules, but you can get a good sense of what your calorie needs are this way.

The calories you're eating today (1300) don't determine what your energy expenditure is in a day. If you're losing one pound a week and eating 1300 calories (let's just say as an example), that means you're creating a 3500 calorie deficit in a week (3500 calories = one pound of fat), which works out to a 500 calorie per day deficit. So working backwards, we can see that your total energy needs in a day must be around 1800 calories (1800 calories needed - 1300 calories eaten = 500 calorie deficit). So 1800 calories would be your maintenance calories, where you would be in energy equilibrium.

If you're eating 1300 calories a day, then you're getting 1300 calories of nutrition regardless of the amount of exercise you're doing. I don't think "starvation mode" should be a concern at that level, but we're all unique. That's why it's always smart to track your calories and results and not be afraid to experiment!

Does any of this make sense or does it make it all more confusing?

Now THAT is an explanation I can’t argue! That's what I'm talking about, Meg! You are so awesome!

I’m learning everyday, really trying to take hold of the science behind my results. Thank you for the through explanation! It does make sense, but I'm gonna have to cut and paste your explanation into Word document to show my husband, because I don't think I could effectively articulate it back when we catch-up over dinner.

Right now I am eating anywhere from 1200-1300 calories on average. I try not to go below 1200-calories, though a few days I have, and I was totally freaked out when I logged-in at the end of my day!

So far, my biggest challenge by far has been eating out. It’s not picking out what to order but hard to accurately log-in the calories. I usually try to find some information the net and then log-in on the higher side. Good thing we only eat a few selected restaurants and that I always chose the same meal.

Since starting my plan back in January, I've been losing an average of 2lbs a week for the last 2-months. It took a few months for me to actually start seeing the scale move.

The last few weeks have been slow loss though. My doctor told me that he expects my weight loss to be more around 3lbs this month, as I have lost so much the last two.

I'm going to keep it up my normal routine for a few weeks before trying to tweak my calories/exercise. I’m trying to take it day by day to not overwhelm myself with numbers. It has become an obsession, I must admit. I did not expect the results I have been getting and I’m *really* scared that my plan will exhausts itself and I will stop losing weight – or worse, gain!

But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I’m just gonna enjoy the ride for now. See how much I can lose and how I can challenge myself weekly with my cardio.

Again, thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge, Meg!

I really appreciate the feedback!

The good news is that you don't have to. Once you get to your goal weight and transition to maintenance, you'll be able to increase your calories. That's where I'm at now, and after eating 1200 calories for so long, I have to say that eating 1600 calories feels positively decadent. It really feels like a lot of food. And, now that I'm eating more, I find that exercise, especially cardio, is a lot easier. I really feel energized when I finish my cardio.

If you're really struggling with staying under 1300 calories, I think you could still lose with 100-200 calories more in your diet. During the periods when I've struggled, I've found that even just adding 100 calories a day has made a big difference. As I transitioned into maintenance, I found that I continued to lose weight even with an extra 200 calories in my diet, so I may not really have needed to be at 1200 calories per day.

Another thing that has helped me is adding intervals to my workout. I find that with the intervals, my cardio workouts don't have to be a long. I was actually cut them back from an hour to 30 min. Doing cardio for an hour can be grueling; it's going to tire you out and also could be making you hungry. And I really think I lose weight at a steadier pace with the intervals in my workout. I had to stop doing them for a while due to a knee injury and it seemed like losing weight was a real struggle; when I was able to add the intervals back to my workout, it seemed like the weight came off much easier.

Thank you BlueToBlue for the advice!

I'm really appreciative of all the information you gals have to share!

The last few weeks, my problem hasn't been going over my 1200-1300 calories mark, it's been meeting it. I'm sure that's why my weight loss has stalled the last few weeks. I've also noticed that when I squat down and then stand back upright, I'm lightheaded. This concerns me and going back through my Fitday entries the last 2-weeks, I've noticed that not only have there been more than a few days that I've come under in my calories, there is an issue meeting my overall protein goals.

Last night I sat down with my husband and the computer and started making my menu for the upcoming weeks - focusing on adding higher protein/low fat calories to my diet plan.

It's not as easy I thought - to add more protein. The two new main additions to my diet for the next upcoming weeks are going to be protein powder w/ 8oz. of Lataid milk and soy beans.

To be honest (to myself), I knew my calories were lower on days than they should be. I thought that maybe a few days under here and there would benifit my weight loss since I had missed a few days at the gym due to business meetings. I should have known better. Live and learn - I'm moving forward!

Here's what a normal day of food would look like for me:

Breakfast (5:00am)
1-egg white, hard boiled w/ground pepper for flavor
4-med. strawberries
16oz. of water

Before gym snack (10:00am)
1-med raw apple (about 4oz. w/skin)
3oz of raw baby carrot sticks
16oz. of water

Gym (11:30am - 1:00pm)
1-hour of cardio. Sweating it up - heart rate keeping around 160-180ish (max). I do intervals. Slowing every 5 to 8-minutes to take a sip of water. Usually polish off at least another 16oz of water at the gym.

1:30 (Lunch)
3oz. baked organic chicken breast - no skin
3oz. steamed veggies
2oz. brown rice

2:30pm (snack)
Mots organic applesauce/no sugar added (single serving cup)

4:30 (snack before dinner)
A raw fruit or veggie - more water

5:30pm (dinner)
Small salad or green veggie
Organic chicken or lean organic ground turkey (3-4oz.)
Green Tea w/2-splenda (8-10oz)
Small carb serv - corn, brown rice, sweet potato, or oatmeal bread - 2-3oz)

7:00pm (Dessert)
1-bit of fat-free brownie 1x1inch and a cup of Lactaid milk or chamomile tea w/1-tbsp of organic honey.

9:00pm - Bedtime!

Usually by the time I get to bed, I've drank about 100oz of water for the day. I do not drink anything other than water and tea.

I'm going to add a protein/milk shake to my day btwn breakfast and hitting the gym. I am also andding soybeans to my snacks.

Whatcha think? Am I good? Any suggestions on lean protien/low fat that isn't meat? I can only eat so much meat in a day or else I start to feel very bloated and heavy. Not a good feeling....

I have lots of ideas for protein snacks that aren't meat:

• yogurt (20g per serving)
• cottage cheese (14g per serving)
• tofu (7g per serving). Try pressing the water out and sauteeing it or marinating it and then baking it. If you live near a Trader Joe's, they sell baked tofu that is fabulous and has 16g protein per serving.
• eggs or egg whites (6g per serving). Make yourself an egg-white omelet and add some reduce fat cheese for some more protein. Or I sometimes take a hard-boiled egg and mix the yolk with dijon mustard to make a sort of deviled egg.
• oatmeal (5g per serving) or oat bran (up to 7g per serving, depending on the brand)
• low carb wrap with one wedge laughing cow cheese (7.5g protein)
• low carb wrap with refried beans (12g protein). Add a laughing cow cheese wedge for an extra 2.5g protein.
• Does tuna count as meat for you? If not, a can of bumblebee sensations sun-dried tomato tuna has 18g of protein and makes a great snack.
• 1 tbsp SnacLite Power PB (6g protein). Stir it into your oatmeal or eat it on a slice of high fiber bread.
• Trader Joe's also sells egg-white salad that is fabulous and has 7g to 9g protein per serving, depending on which variety you buy (they have three, spicy ranchero, chive, and salmon and dill)
• Yogurt Vegetable Salad: 1/4 cup yogurt, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 2.5 oz diced cucumber, 1.5 oz halved cherry tomatoes (use sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red pepper if fresh cherry tomatoes aren't available), 1/4 cup chickpeas, 1 tbsp minced fresh basil or mint, sea salt and pepper to taste. 85 calories and 9g protein.

These will all help get your calories up as well (although some more than others).

If nuts aren't a trigger food for you, they are great to have on hand for days when you need to get your calories a little higher. A small quantity of nuts has a lot calories (seriously, 1/4 cup of nuts has from 140 to up to 200 calories). They also have protein and lots of really healthy fats. I eat lots of protein but getting enough healthy fats in my diet is a real problem; I'm having knee problems and I suspect that part of the issue is that I'm not eating enough healthy fats. It looks like you are eating a pretty low fat diet as well, so you could probably benefit from some healthy fats. Roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitos) are another good choice for getting your calories up for the day. Or a little flax seed or flax seed meal (you could stir a couple of tsps into your yogurt or oatmeal).

One easy fix for you is breakfast. You are probably eating too few calories. An easy fix is to not just eat 1 hardboiled egg white for breakfast.
1 large egg white has only 17 calories but approx 3.5 g protein. Eat 3 or 4 hardboiled egg whites and your protein will be about 14 g and only 80 calories. I would also say your fiber is too low. Think about adding in fiber cereal ie Fiber 1 the carbs are reasonable because you subtract the fiber from them. I would also not limit your veggies to 3 oz that is not enough servings per day. Most veggies have next to no calories but lots of nutrients

Another suggestion to add more protein to your diet - lentils. I have a wonderful recipe for a warm or cold lentil salad that I got from Alton Brown's show on Food TV. One cup of lentils has over 20 g of protein and they're very filling. I make lentil soup as a standard in winter (hot and filling) and chilled salads in the summer.

Here's the recipe for the one salad:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._35629,00.html

I'd also add a lot more veggies to your diet ... summer squashes like zuchinni and yellow squash, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans ... summer is such a GREAT season for yummy fresh veggies that can be grilled or lightly steamed. And a brush of olive oil or a sprinkle of lemon pepper ... mmmm!

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