Alright, so I have been working out in the upwards of 4-5 hours a day every day (high intensity) for the past couple weeks.

At my class they tell us "More is better"...what they mean by that in my program is eating more of the shakes and more of the boxed entrees is really better for you, especially if it keeps you eating that food instead of going to junk food. One of the guys that's been in the program for a long time (and looks GREAT) said he eats 3 of the entrees every day instead of 2 and he's been losing like 4 lbs every weeks. His physical activity is about half mine.

My question is...what do you guys think? You think if I give my body some more good calories that I will lose more weight? It definitly gives me more energy to get throughout the day and I stay fuller.

I guess I don't want to stall myself here, but I'm really wanting to exercise a LOT (which is great!).....any advice would be appreciated.

it depends more little meals instead of 3 big ones is said to be better for you. just listen to your body and think before you eat "is this hunger or craving" because i get cravings for the weirdest things sometimes (like dry toast or carrots with jam) it dosent really matter as long as you create some sorta defict over time you should carry on losing.

Thanks for your advice but I really don't eat meals I guess. I eat when I'm hungry, which ends up being about 5 times a day and that's including snacks. On my diet I get to eat as many fruits and veggies as I want, and then I have to drink 3 shakes and eat 2 entrees which average (160 calories)...the shakes are 110 calories.

What I"m afraid of is that I have too much of a deficit and that I may be burning muscle because I'm burning so much in a day (probably most, if not all the calories I intake). I don't want to get that drained feeling....and I could very well feel drained without feeling hungry.

am I making sense? I feel like such a dork.

You asked should you be eating more calories. How many calories ARE you consuming? It would be much easier to help you if we knew. You need to know just how many calories you are eating this so you can track it and see which way you should adjust as time goes on. From what I can tell, it sounds to me that you are not eating enough calories. 4 - 5 hours of exercise is A LOT.

You also say that you feel drained though not hungry. Does eating more help you to get rid of the drained feeling? I would think that it would. Are you drinking enough water?

We also can't compare ourselves to men. They are a whole different ballgame when it comes to weightloss. They are made up of more muscle then women, so they burn calories at a better rate then women.

So you are saying that from your meals you are eating under 700 calories? And you are exercising 4-5 hours per day? Should you be eating more, yes. You should know how many calories you are consuming once you add in the extras. VLCDs aren't meant to be used in conjunction with lots of exercise. If you are doing long hours of intense exercise, then you need to eat in conjunction with that.

It sounds to me like you absolutely need to be eating more calories - even a LOT more calories - going under 1200 is a recipe for stalling even if you're not exercising, you're putting your body in a completely unmaintainable position right now and you WILL burn muscle. I would aim for at least net 1000 calories AFTER you subtract your exercise, especially as you have a long way to go, you NEED to give yourself something to work with.

I don't think your question can be completely answered without knowing the amount of calories you are actually consuming. Can you figure that out and post here?

I can't imagine doing high intensity workouts for 4-5 hours a day on what I consume and that is 1500-1800 calories a day. I am getting about an hour a day of some sort of cardio and losing at a steady rate. I can't imagine doing what you are doing on half of what I consume. Of course I am no spring chicken anymore.

I just would really be careful.

Ah, okay, lets see here. I'm not actually on what's considered a VLCD...the VLCD are for the 500 cal and 800 cal diets in my program.

A breakdown of what I consume in a day:

2 entrees (usually 3) = 400 (dends on which entree)
3 shakes = 330 calories
at LEAST 3 severings of vegetables OR MORE (approx. 300 calories)
At LEAST 2 servings of fruit OR MORE (approximately 200 calories)

Mind you...GENERALLY I eat about 8 veggies and 4 fruits in a day...so lemme calculate..hmm

1930 calories on my high days...I don't ALWAYS go that high.

I drink at LEAST 70 oz. of water a day
It is true that I feel less drained with the more I eat.

Does that help?

Hey, BabyBrownEyes,

The point of being on a program is to follow what the program says. If you do something other than that, then you cannot expect to have the results that the program says you will have.

At your size, you should be eating more. If you're not following your program's guidelines on that, then you should be--it sounds like your program tells you to eat more. Do that!

If you don't want to follow the program you're on, then switch, but don't try to second guess and deviate from it. That just leads to trouble, especially with the kind of program you're doing!

With the exercise level you describe, you will definitely be breaking down more muscle than you want, especially if you are not eating enough.

I guess that in case you didn't get my message, I'll say it one more time: Follow your program!

Jay

1900 calories in and of itself is usually a good number. But when you take into account that you are doing up to 5 hours of exercise, well that's a whole other matter. I would either cut back on the exercise, which is really a lot to sustain or add in a couple of protein laden snacks throughout the day. Fruits and veggies are great (bless their little souls) but protein should definitely provide you with some much needed energy.

Also if you're on some kind of program is there someone with whom you could speak with to see if you can tweak it a bit and make it more suitable for your needs?

I personally think you are overestimating your calories.

When I eat 3 servings of veggies, it is usually under 100 calories. 2 cups of broccoli, as an example, is 62 calories.

Fruits are generally under 100 calories each unless you are eating a large fruit. Unless you are actually counting calories, weighing your portions, etc, I think your high days are closer to 1600 calories.

I agree with the others, talk to someone who is part of your program about your individual requirements.

Can you tell us more about your program?

Is 4 - 5 hours of exercise a day part of your program or something that you've added on?

Rather than adding more food, I'd think about cutting back on exercise first. You're way past the point of diminishing returns with all that exercise and it's probably doing much more harm than good at those levels.

When it comes to exercise, more is not always better. It's better to exercise 'smart' than just add volume.

Thanks for all your concern guys....even though I don't really think anyone needs to be concerned.

We are told to do as much exercise as we can...we are supposed to meet a minimum, but there is no max to what we are allowed.

as far as following my diet...I am! I eat everything I'm supposed to. I don't pay up the rear for this diet just to not follow it. Losing the weight in a healthy way is what I want to do this time around and I feel as though I am. I'm not sore at all...the only time I really think to give it a rest is when I get sore. Thankfully my knee has not been giving me trouble as I had surgery on it a couple years back. I'm gaining a lot of flexibility with it since I started working out a lot.

Maybe I should talk to the nurse at the office and see what she thinks. I really want to continue working out like I am...it feels good and I like being this active.

Thanks for the info on veggie servings and their caloric value. Guess my leader was a little off when she said 100 calories per cup of veggies and fruits. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

sorry to get you guys concerned...I'm not trying to kill my bod...REALLY!!

Hey Sheila,

If you post here asking for help, you'll always get replies. Some of them will be helpful, and some will not. Since you are following a specific program, the best place to ask questions about your program will be your program leaders or other folks who are on your program.

You haven't said what the name of this program is, and that might help. If it is an "extreme" program (such as very low carbohydrates, doctor-monitored, etc.) then you definitely need to check with your program leaders and/or your doctor.

I'm also curious about what you do for exercise for those 4-5 hours a day.

Jay

Good to hear you're not TRYING to kill your body! Still, from an outside perspective, as helpful as your program may be in many ways, the question was if you are eating enough calories, and it really doesn't seem like you are. I think it's great that you don't want to lower your exercise level, but if you don't want to kill your body, then listen to the people There's no reason you can't stay on your program and do this! This site has calories for different fruits and veggies, just try substituting some that are higher cal for the lower cal ones. Also, are soy or tofu considered fruits and veggies on your plan? Because they are really rich in protein that will help you keep from burning muscle. Good luck!