not sure, but i think ive been making a mistake :(

hi, this may seem silly but im alittle confused, i have been reading a few posts and someone was mentioning that if you exercise that you need to eat that food back so your calories dont go too low or something along those lines,

 i eat 1400 to 1500 cal a day, usually burn 600 -800 through exercise 5-6 times a week and my job can burn 1500 to 2000 calories (well thats what the site says but im not taking that as gospel)

now here is my 'stupid' question, does this mean because i dont actually eat that back that my calorie count is like 200 or something, i have been in a plateu for a few months where it will be the same, or i loose then gain and it is driving me insane :(

am i in starvation mode?, i dont want to up my calories of fear from gaining and i am not hungry.

if someone could help me out that would be great, thanks heaps

oh 1000 people online and no one can help, 'sniff' :(

what are your stats?  Age, gender, height, current weight?  Do you work out everyday?  how often for how long, what do you do for a workout?

i am 24, female, 164 cm 75 kg, work out nearly everyday usually 45 min cycle classes 4 days a week, 2 x45 min weight sessions (upper and lower, seperate days), and then usually throw in a run for half an hour and interval train 1 - 2 days a week for half and hour. i also work as a chef and am on my feet 10 - 16 hours 5 days a week.

The general rule of thumb is that a woman should eat 1200 calories a day PLUS whatever she burns during exercise to maintain the same deficit as before exercise.

My BMR is 1800, if I eat 1200 calories, I automatically have a deficit of 600 calories every day.

If I go to the gym and burn 400 extra calories my net calories will be 1200 - 400 = 800.  Too low.

So I need to eat back the 400 calories a burned. 

1200 + 400 = 1600 to eat.

Now, my total calories burned for the day is going to be my BMR plus exercise.

1800 + 400 = 2200 total burned

2200 - 1600 = 600 calorie deficit

As you can see by the math, you are maintaining the exact same deficit as before exercise.  This allows your body to cope with the stress of dieting and also give your organs enough fuel to run.

There are only 2 people I can think of on this entire site who disagree with this logic, and I wouldn't listen to them.

You definitely are NOT sedentary and the idea of plugging sedentary into the tools and then adding the activity calories in is just not going to work for you.

You have an RMR of 1500-1515 calories -- what you burn just by being in bed and breathing -- your activity level kicks you all the way up to 2700 calories to maintain the weight you are right now.

Please try to set your calorie limit at a 1800-2100 calories (but try to make them "good" calories) and try to stick within that range -- you should lose at least a pound each week.

If you are not hungry you could be in starvation mode -- I'm positive that only a doctor can actually diagnose that -- you may also just be eating calorie dense food.  Try to spread out your eating -- if you were to eat 1800, look at 400 for each meal and three 200 cal snacks.

You won't hit your target every day, you might go over, but you will need to go over a lot to add weight with your current activity level

so should i shift my calories to like 2000 or something, how do i do this without gaining weight, should i stagger 100 - 200 every week to find out?

 

i ve been like this for months, if im in starvation mode how do i get out of it without upsetting things, will i gain then lose, the thought of the scale going up scares me cos i work so hard, also i do eat alot of veggies salad and whole grains so i dont feel hungry how can i incorperate more without feeling sick (higher fat food ohhh that sounds dangerous :)

more than 2 that disagree..... why bother working out then?

 

tractorize:  tell everyone about what you normally eat... that might shed some light.  and really, either up your food or cut down on ur work outs.... most people here find something around 750 deficit to be the most productive.  also make sure that you are getting enough protein.  lower fat options: 2% cheese, eggs, lean meats, tofu, beans.... 

fat should be about 30% of your cals. 

You work out to strengthen your body and improve your health.

There is a difference between creating a deficit with eating less and with exercise.

If you JUST create a deficit with exercise, meaning if I ate my BMR 1800 calories, and burned 600 at the gym, this would leave me with 1200 net calories, I WOULD NOT EAT BACK MY CALORIES IN THIS CASE.

If I ate 1200 calories and burn 600, my deficit would be 1200 a day, which is too high.

I seriously don't understand why some people don't get this, it makes perfect sense.

i dont get why people dont bother to read the rest of a post.

I read your post, I have no problem with that part of it.  I don't see how that is relevant to what I responded with. 

I actually gave her a formula to work with, most people don't find it helpful to read "you should eat more or stop working out so much".  A little vauge?

You basicly said you disagree with me... so.. what is it that you disagree with if you believe she should be eating more?

If you think you're right, tell me why, maybe I'll learn something I didn't know. Otherwise, I have no choice but to believe you're just being rude for the fun of it.

nocturne - i think i am having trouble with with my bmr, im guess that i didnt grasp the deficit thing i thought the food was right and didnt take into account the exercise, i guess that was a bonus

drea 99 - i usually start the day with 60 gm oats and 1cup skim milk, lunch will involve chicken and veg or fish and salad, dinner is also veg with either chicken or beef, or a casserole etc, snacks are usually fruit, yoghurt, nuts, if i eat at work it is usually whatever goes , just check portion and no fried food and no pasta at nite, hope that helps, i usually get a good 60g + protien

edit : spelling, have my nephew with me :)

vague perhaps.  but ur defensiveness is a bit unneeded.  formulas dont work for everyone.  and i honestly dont believe in the whole 1200 cal thing.... for many people it is higher and for a few it is lower.  if weightloss could be summed up in a singular formula... we would all be thin.

it would be much more helpful to hear what she is eating and go from there, rather than give a generic.  also be aware that at least for some CC gives greatly inflated burn numbers for work outs, another reason not to take a generic catch all response. 

Understandable since you have a job that burns so many calories.

I have no idea what 164cm and 75 kgs is translated to feet and pounds, so it might take me a little while to find a tool on the internet to help me with that.

I definately believe that being on your feet for 10-16 hours a day burns a lot of calories.  From the sounds of it, you might be needing more than 2000 calories a day, but we'll figure it out.

5'4 inches, about 164 lbs.

 

what is your job?  for the most part, i really dont think that most people should be entering ever activity, esp ones that we are used to.   

164 cm = 5'5.5" (164/2.5)

75kg = 165 (75x2.2)

Shapeup.org RMR = 1509 (no activity)

caloriesperhour.com RMR = 1515 (no activity)

When you add in activity (and she is VERY active) she is burning close to 2700 cals a day -- she's not eating enough right now

If you read her second post you will see that she is a chef on her feet most of the day, she works out a lot (Tractorizer, sorry for talking about you in third person -- I sent you a PM)

Edit: added final paragraph

Actually 1200 isn't different for everyone, no one should eat below that.  It takes a woman under 4'6" and under 80lbs to maintain on 1200 calories.  Should she be losing weight? No.  So does it really matter that she maintains on 1200 calories?  It's a poor example.

It is a simple formula really.  The only people it doesn't apply to are people who have thyroid or other conditions that prevent them from losing weight normally.  Also people on medications that prevent weight loss or increase weight gain, it will be different for them.

The only difference I see is that someone who is very obese definately needs more than 1200 calories a day to prevent having too high of a deficit.

But down to each organ for a woman to run, it's accurate to what we need.

Feel free to advocate that normal women of normal height, in normal health condition somehow need less than what the medical journals say.

I'm defensive, because it's posts like yours that encourage young women (and men) to continue to justify eating less than their bodies need to function in order to lose weight.

Thanx Coach_k.  I'm at work, so I don't have a lot of time to look up stuff between each post, I get interrupted a lot.

I input her data using the Expenditure Tool and I got 1800 a day on Sedentary.  I tend to trust CC's numbers since they work for me and most people I've talked to.

I added 12 hours standing cooking to my activity log, and when I go to my main account page, it subtracts the hours I would have burnt just living and got around 2500.

So let's say on an average working day, you burn 2500-2700 calories without working out.

Now you say you burn 600-800 calories exercising.

You're closer to 3300 calories on average when you work and exercise.

I think you should eat 2000 calories on the days you don't work out.  And eat 2500-2700 on the days you exercise.

Basicly got the same info as Coach_k. =)

thanks nocturne, now i should gradually increase the cals yeah, i was just scared of over eating as that is what got my weight up in the first place, and as drea99 pointed out i am used to my job (have been doing it for 6 years now) how is this going to effect caloireintake cos i wouldnt be burning as much, right?!

i would like to thank everyone that has posted for their help