CALORIE COUNTING...QUESTIONS :)

[yjkaries]

Do any of you, who are dieting, just count calories but predominently eat what you want? And if so, what is your maximum calorie intake per day.

If you avoid certain things...what are they?

What has been your average weight loss in a week?

How long have you been doing this?


I ask because I do low-carb as many know but thinking about perhaps just counting plain old calories and eating some carbs...but not all carbs...like I won't touch sugar or pasta....and wonder if I will still lose weight. I have lost 8 lbs since starting Phen and want to hopefully continue this pace.

THANKS!

[ January 15, 2004, 06:45 AM: Message edited by: yjkaries ]

[Heaven Sent]

Hello, I dont have any sort of diet plan. I dont follow a low carb or anything. I do try to stay away from starch and bread, but other then that I count calories - at most 1200 a day for me and fat grams no more then 30 grams.
I work out 5 days a week and drink 96 oz of water each day.

Not too hard, I write down what I eat and drink...keep a journal of what I do.

Jen

[Ginny Piccolo]

Yjkarries, I just read your post about calories. I started doing calories just this week! I have never counted calories before. I have either done Atkins or got on something that just gave you a food type plan to follow. For instance so much protein each meal so much fruit, so much veggies bread or grains etc. SO this is all new to me. However I have really tried to eat things that wont make me hungrier. I am takaing some of that info from the South Beach Diet book. For instance and my main thing is eating the cooked oatmeal insted of the instant kind. I have been eating fruit, veggies, protein and cottage cheese, salads, (nuts, and snack crackers for a little something extra). I blew it bad yesterday but won't weigh until Friday. We'll see then. But until yesterd I was limiting myself to 1200 calories. It is fun and a challenge for sure ginny P.

[Ginny Piccolo]

PS I forgot : I also drink 99 oz of water a day and keep a journal so I can see what I eat. Right now I walk, and beginning an excercise tape 2 or 3 times a week.

[Heaven Sent]

Hey Ginny. Glad to see you are getting the water down. I have started slacking I was drinking 96 oz a day. For the past couple days I only did 48 oz.
Are you counting fat calories too? That helps me a lot to see how much fat I take in.

I have this awesome excel graph that I downloaded from microsoft. I put in the calories and the fat grams and it keeps track of everything else for me...totals my daily calories and fat %. Tells me how many fat calories I eat and such. Its great.

Keep up the good work.

Jen

[tamtam]

i use fitday dot com to keep track of everyting, it takes a little time for like the first week but after that its a breeze and it so worth it for me personally, my cals are at 1200 and my fat is usually not over 25 and my carbs are around 100, fitday will tell you everything that youre taking in plus itll graph what your taking in versus what youre burning off, its a great tool. Good luck with your weight loss!!!

[Heaven Sent]

I forgot about that!! Thanks for reminding me tam.

[Stayingstrong]

When I first started I counted calories I kept them between 1200-1500 calories. I avoid soda, candy, sugar and white bread. But I did find this article which helped me with the calorie counting thing:
Your Metabolism & Low Calorie Dieting

by Monica Neave

The low calorie diet (under 1200 calories per day) is still one of the most popular ways to lose weight. Whether it’s an online plan, the latest fad diet, or a plan designed on software, most of these diets drastically cut calories to produce quick results. These plans often help you achieve your goal weight and do it quickly but at what expense? It’s common knowledge that cutting back on calories is necessary in order to shed pounds but an extremely low calorie diet is your metabolism’s worst enemy. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to survive (basal metabolic rate) plus a little more to support your activity level (active metabolic rate). When you severely restrict calories your body resorts to using lean muscle mass for fuel because it’s not getting enough from your diet. And contrary to popular belief, no amount of exercise or protein will help you maintain muscle if you’re starving yourself.

Some people don’t seem to have a problem with this but they don’t realize the impact that muscle loss has on weight maintenance and weight gain. Once you lose the weight and a good amount of lean muscle mass you become a thinner but fatter person. Your body composition will show that even though you’re at your desired weight you have more fat than muscle which means that your body needs even less calories to survive. If you plan on maintaining a low calorie intake for the rest of your life this may not be a problem but most people can’t do that. They go back to their normal eating habits and soon enough they gain the weight back in the form of fat. The task of losing the weight again then becomes even more difficult because there is a lot more fat and a lot less muscle to help burn off that fat.


Another problem with low calorie dieting is that it triggers your body’s starvation mode. Your body perceives a famine so it conserves energy by slowing down your metabolism. In addition to this, low calorie dieting teaches your body to be more efficient at fat storage in case of future famine. So once you go back to your old eating habits, which most people invariably do, the weight gained will most likely get stored as fat. So how much can you cut back without triggering a fasting state, turning on fat storage, burning off valuable muscle, and depressing your metabolism? A 500-calorie a day deficit is the best way to safely and effectively lose weight long term but first you have to determine your ideal calorie intake by using a bmr/amr calculator. This will tell you how many calories your body needs to survive (bmr) and how many calories your body needs to support your activity level (amr). Once you have your number subtract 500 calories a day from your amr (not your bmr) and you have your ideal calorie intake.

Most women need at least 1300 calories just to survive so don’t be surprised if your ideal calorie intake (amr - 500) is a lot higher than to what you are accustomed. Women who exercise often have even higher numbers. An amr of 2400 is not uncommon for someone who strength trains 4-5 times a week and does cardio 4-5 times a week. A 500-calorie deficit for someone like this would equal to 1900 calories per day and although it sounds like an outrageous number of calories for weightloss it’s necessary. Just think of it this way, if you don’t eat enough you don’t lose weight, plain and simple. The advantage to calculating your ideal calorie intake this way is that you will no longer need to starve yourself in order to lose weight and your body will function better and work with you instead of against you.

If you're really looking to burn off that fat the best strategy is to begin strength training and add some fat burning muscle. 1 lb of muscle burns 50 calories and muscle in general helps you burn more calories all day (even while you sleep) while fat is metabolically dead weight.

This article opened my eyes to see that you do not have to starve yourself or resist your favorite foods to get to your weightloss goals "moderation" is the key word enjoy food in moderation and you will never feel deprived. I also have this article to help figure out how many calories a day you need:


Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is a measure of how fast your "motor" is running. It's the number of calories you burn to keep your heart beating, to keep you breathing, to keep your muscles alive, etc. It's the number of calories your body needs while at rest. (Print this page for future reference)

Here's a good way to estimate *Basal Metabolism Rate*.

Women: 661 + (4.38 x weight in pounds) + (4.33 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age) = BMR
Men: 67 + (6.24 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.9 x age) = BMR

To estimate the total number of calories your body needs per day, multiply your BMR by the appropriate number below.

0.9 if you are inactive and have crash dieted frequently during the past two years.
1.2 if you are inactive
1.3 if you are moderately active (exercise 3 days per week or equivalent)
1.7 if you are very active
1.9 if you are extremely active.
Keep in mind that this is only a way to estimate how fast you burn calories. The slower your metabolism, the more weight you can retain. If you burn your daily calorie intake, you stand to hold your current weight. Burning more than your daily intake, causes weight loss. There are many factors that vary your metabolism. Always consult with a physician when starting a weight loss or gain program.

[Ginny Piccolo]

Thanks so much for all your imput. I went to the fit site Tam mentioned and also I will print the info from you Tammy. It is such a blessing to have you guys to talk with about these issues. I hope I can retain this info in time and not feel like I have to carry a notebook with me everywhere.