Recommended Calorie Intake vs. Actual Calorie Intake.

What I want to know: If my recommended calorie intake is 2150, would I lose more weight by eating 1300 calories a day or by making it as close to 2150 as I can without going over?

I joined CC in March, and I was 265 back then. I lost track of it for a while, didn't really stick with it, and then came back to it after I found a new job. When I started working, I was 252 within a few weeks. Then, about a week ago I joined a gym and started really paying attention to what I ate, and now I am down to 246. Now I can't seem to get past that, but I just need some advice on this.

My daily recommended calorie intake is 2150 calories, however I can easily and comfortably do well with only 1300 calories on any given day. This is simply because I eliminated dairy products, sugars, red meat, and white bread. Sure I'll occasionally eat a bagel with cream cheese if I don't feel like cooking in the morning, but even that isn't really all that loaded with calories. And instead of white bread, I switched to whole wheat whole grain bread and flatout sandwich wraps. Whole wheat whole grain bread is so thick and rich that one slice is actually enough for a sandwich. It also tastes better than white, so it was easy to make the switch. Flatout wraps also taste good, so that too makes it easy to do away with processed white bread.

Anyway, aside from the breads, everything I eat is fresh and I don't eat anything that's frozen, except for bags and bags of mixed vegetables, green beans, and broccoli. I mostly just eat turkey or chicken sandwiches and wraps with lettuce and tomatoes, or I will cook some vegetables in maybe a tablespoon of olive oil diluted with water and Mrs. Dash Seasoning.

When I go to the gym, I do 60 minutes of cardio on the eliptical. Then I do about 30 minutes worth of resistance exercises on the weight training machines. Four upper body machines and four lower body machines. I am supposed to do ten reps on all the machines in a row, then I have to repeat two more times. I get a pretty good workout from it, and I always leave with a powerful sweat.

The bottom line is that I am only averaging 1300 calories a day, 850 below the recommendation by this website. I don't ever feel hungry because I'm filling my body with nutritious and good food that it can actually use, and I eat pretty regularly. If I ever feel hungry, I just eat a banana or an apple and I feel fine afterwards.  I don't even feel tired or worn out, either.  In fact, I actually have more energy than before I started this routine.  I feel stronger, smarter, and sharper as well.  Typically, I'll go to the gym a few hours before work so that I can burn more calories at my job.  I feel very alive because of this new routine.

Forgive me for being so long winded. I tend to write and talk that way, and I can't help it. Plus, I wanted to make sure whoever answers this question knows all the facts.

I think it's certainly possible that you're no longer loosing weight because you aren't eating enough calories. 

Given your profile picture, I'm assuming that you're male.  Unless you are horribly sick, men should never eat under 1500 calories a day.  Therefore, I'd recommend finding healthy ways to eat more calories (maybe some nuts, etc.)

Check you calorie intake.  You are probably consuming too few calories and your body is going on the defense, going into what is know as, "I am starving so I will conserve" mode.  Add more calories and be content to lose at a bit slower pace.

1300 calories is too few for someone your size, not under a directly medically supervised program, especially with the amount of exercise you are doing.  You could be doing your body damage.

Congrats on being so disciplined! Now show a little patience.  

I agree with Jamie.  You should always be eating at the very least 1500 calories a day, and that's if you stay in bed all day and do nothing.  You should eat you recommended calorie intake and more if you exercise.  Did you run your stats through the burn meter?  Follow the guidelines and you will have success.  You need to find new sources of calories.  Your stomach may feel satisified, but your body is not.  Believe me when I say this because I speak from experience.  Eat what your body needs and you will lose weight.  Good luck to you.

Haha, I probably should have mentioned I was male, huh?  I pretty much talked about everything else.

What I did was I set my burn meter to "light activity" so that it would probably be accurate, if not a little bit below the amount of calories I actually burn in a given day.  I figured it would be better to underestimate than overestimate my daily calories burned. 

Anyway, as for taking in more calories, what would be the best?  More fresh fruits and vegetables?  I guess it would be better to get my calories from something healthy (like roasted chicken) than empty calories like donuts or doritos?

You say you lose more weight eating 1300 calories then eating 2100, yet you also say you're currently eating 1300 and not losing weight.

Like everyone said, you're not eating enough.  You've put your body in starvation mode.  An adult male needs a min of 1500 calories a day just to survive - and that's in a coma.  You obviously do a lot more activity then someone in a coma, and need to eat more.

You may have lost at first on 1300, because your body was used to burning at a higher lvl.  Then, once it realized that's all the food it was getting, it slowed your metabolism WAY down and voila....plateau city!  I know, cuz I've so been there.

You may think you're getting enough because your body has gotten used to a smaller amount of food, but you're setting yourself up for trouble in the long run.  Go back to the reccommended amount, and maybe try changing up your activity a bit.  If you do similar workouts every day your body gets used to that too.  Try swimming or running instead of the cardio you do at the gym.

healthy fats is the way to go.... nuts, avocado's and sunflower seeds.... they will give you the extra cal you need and the increase in good fats may kick your metbolism back into gear!!!

Congrats... and good luck!!!

ok.. u say ur eating 1300 a day.. i bet ur burning all of that off too.. u need to up ur cals .. def. since ur working out the way ur doing.. ur going to (if u havent already) make ur body think that ur starving... I know at 246 u burn at least like 400 cals on the elipical.. so thats like 900 cals left from ur foods.. plus u do the weights at the gym so ur leaving ur body with nothing... if that makes any sense?????? i eat 1400-1700 but thats because i dont exercise at the moment.. just focusing on my food intake right now.. since ur working out u need to up u cals

Yeah, I was averaging around 1300 a day for maybe two days and I was steadily losing weight.  Then on the third day, nothing seemed to change about my weight so it seems like my body believes it is starving.  The counter on the eliptical machine typically says I burn around 850 calories after an hour, leaving me with more like 450 more calories from food.

Honestly, though, I should probably continue to eat healthy, but I also probably need to eat about 1,000 calories more than I am right now.  I set my activity level to "light activity" because I work a part time job that does require a lot of running around and interaction with people, but isn't really physically demanding (except for when it gets busy.  I work at a deli at wal mart).  I thought I would rather underestimate my daily calories burned than overestimate.  So I set it to light activity and the ticker estimates I burn around 3200 calories a day.  I don't ever log in my daily activities because I figure the ticker probably already estimates those factors anyway.  If not, then I probably burn more like 4000 calories in a day.

So maybe all this time, I haven't been losing any weight because I haven't been eating enough.  But I really don't know.  I only really started going to the gym pretty recently, and I dropped my calorie intake only a few days ago.  So I
guess consuming less than 1500 calories a day is going to set me into starvation mode.  I really just want to find a happy medium here.  This is all somewhat complicated.

Original Post by posthumanfetus:

Yeah, I was averaging around 1300 a day for maybe two days and I was steadily losing weight.  Then on the third day, nothing seemed to change about my weight so it seems like my body believes it is starving. 

You probably lost water weight.  Your body uses water for the digestive process, so when you cut calories, your body got rid of extra water it didn't need. In fact, water weight will cause your weight to fluctuate constantly. That's why it's best to weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day.

You might gain a bit of water weight back when you up your calories again, but don't worry. Fat loss is what your are looking for, and that takes time. Sudden gains and losses aren't usually fat.  Keep a weekly weight log, if you average about a 1lb a week loss, you know you are on the right track.

A few thoughts:

First of all, as others have said, with your workouts you need more calories.  A lot more calories.  You can do serious damage to your body by eating that little and burning that many calories.  Trust me, I've been there.  When I was in college I lost about 45 pounds in 2.5 months.  It was great except that I wasn't doing it in a healthy way at all.  For me it cause violent mood swings.  I'm not one to pick fights, but I was extremely irritable, and would fly off the handle at the drop of a dime....  I didn't learn until much later that there was a correlation between my moods and my diet/exercise.

Secondly, with that workout you're probably gaining significant muscle mass, which weighs far more than fat.  As a result, weight is a really unfair measure of your overall health.

Third, don't weigh yourself every day.  There's no reason for it other than driving yourself nuts because you might gain a pound here or there from water weight, or other normal things that happen in your body..

I don't know...everytime I go to Wal~Mart the deli is hopping.  Actually my store is almost always busy.  I can't remember a time when there weren't lines at all the registers even with floor associates called up.  You can probably burn some calories at that job!  I think your answer is to up your calories with some really good quality protein and some good fiber.  That's my suggestion.

I totally understand your frustration.  Everyone is different and the numbers on here, your workout machines, and any other calorie counting tool are estimates.  You have to figure out what amount works for you specifically.  And then, of course, once you figure that out, you'll drop 10 pounds, your body will change, and you have to figure it out all over again lol.

Good luck and keep it up!!

PS. Light to moderate activity seems right for your job, but you still want to log your gym sessions or any other workouts you do on top of that.

Original Post by caverlady:

I don't know...everytime I go to Wal~Mart the deli is hopping. Actually my store is almost always busy. I can't remember a time when there weren't lines at all the registers even with floor associates called up. You can probably burn some calories at that job! I think your answer is to up your calories with some really good quality protein and some good fiber. That's my suggestion.

Actually, it depends on the day.  Usually Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and especially Sundays are pretty hectic at the deli.  There are a few instances when we get to stand around and just hang out for maybe fifteen minutes or so, but I'm usually rushing at any given part of the day. 

As for upping my calorie intake, I figure it's probably going to help more if I take healthy things.  Like if I saw that I still needed several hundred more calories, I could always drink some milk and eat some peanuts or peanut butter.  I don't really like eating so much, but if it means I will lose more weight, I just might have to make that sacrifice... of eating more.

It seems weird that I have to eat more if I want to lose weight, but I do believe it.

Ok, this is going to seem like a dumb question, but all of you seem pretty knowledgable about this site. I've only been doing it for about a week. How do you get your picture to your screen name? I've looked at the sites Q & A and nowhere does it tell you how. I like putting a face to the people that are posting an dI'd lek to get mine there too.

Do me a favor. Visit CaloriesPerHour.com and figure out how many calories you're REALLY burning on a give day. Cut them too much, you're progress stops. Try having one day a week where you actually eat MORE than what your burning to help get your metabolism back to its normal state.

Resistance training is great to help strengthen muscles, you want to build muscle. The problem is that if you cut your calories like that then it's pretty useless. One third of the weight you're losing is coming from your muscle! That is metabolically active tissue that burns calories at rest. You lose that and you're entire calorie burn goes down. Trying to lose fat while maintaing muscle is a delicate process, but muscle is vital to getting the body you really want (Hot), rather than just being a skinny guy. (Not too hot). You don't need to be in a rush to lose weight, you know what they say. It's not a sprint, It's a marathon. You might like seeing the fast paced results but in the long run it's going to damage you're process. Keep up the healthy eating but eat in proportion to what you body needs, after all things like fat and protein are monumental in losing weight.

You'll find the website helpful, it will give you a great idea on how many grams of protein fat and carbs you should be consuming to help you lose weight and you can figure out how much you burn in 24 hours.

Good luck!

Dude... ok I not only agree with the sudden loss of water weight comment, but also agree witht he person who said that you need to focus more on your BODY MASS INDEX and not your WEIGHT!!! There is a difference... and when you build muscle, not only are you going to metabolize food differently, but your weight may not change due to the fact that muscle is heavier than fat. Some gyms have scales that show you a body mas index when you step on the scale comparing your height to your weight... this is a cheap, broad glance at your actual overall body composition. The problem is, not everyone is built the same - some people have naturally more muscle, or greater bone density... my suggestion would be to go get an actual BMI test done by a professional (with taping) and go from there. Because true health is not about "how much do I weigh" its about "how much of my weight is fat" and if you're a 5'7'' male who weighs 180 and you're only eating 1300 cals a day, you are - according to health professionals - practicing a dangerously unhealthy lifestyle... and the fact that you weigh a bit more than that, means you will need even more calorie intake to sustain your daily routine. The trick is to find a health balance - in food, and in exercise. Your body NEEDS the good kind of fat!! So dont cut out every stereotypical "bad thing" - of course refined sugars and trans fats are not good, but its not bad to have real butter on occasion or even some ice cream. You may also consider altering your workout to consist of both aerobic and anaerobic exercise.

Please take a look at this web site, and let me know what you think. Here is a quote from the article:

"Very low calorie diets (less than 1300 calories per day) should be avoided because they generally do not provide all the nutrients needed for good health."

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet .html

And bottom line, God made you beautiful no matter what size you are! Don't become so wrapped around the axel wanting to lose weight that you lose your health. :)

I agree with everyone who says that you're eating too little...
I eat about 1500 cals a day as a female and still manage to lose weight…and I weigh 180 now. I will probably reduce my cals to around 1300 by the time I get down to 160 which is my goal.
If you are doing as much cardio and weights as you say, then you have probably gained a significant amount of muscle mass, and muscle weighs twice as much as fat! My weight has not changed in the past 2 months really (granted I am not as disciplined as you are!), but I lost 5% body fat during that time!
Have you thought about getting a body fat test as well to track your progress? If you’re going to the gym, the trainers there will usually do one for you for free. Also, make sure you’re getting enough water as well, when you work out that much, your body needs more hydration!
Good luck with everything :)

kpranger - you're thinking of body fat %, NOT BMI.  BMI is just a relationship between your height and weight, and doesn't take any muscle mass into consideration.  There are many calculators online that will tell you your bmi, and they are correct.  What you're describing is body fat %.