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Weight loss and calorie intake question

S

slackerinabox

Lifer
Week into hopefully my new way of life and I have a question:

1. I've cut red meat, refined carbs, fried foods, soda, etc. from my diet and am cooking all of my food myself, so there are no surprises

2. I'm only eating when hungry

3. Work out 3 times a week, only about 30 min on the treadmill (don't want to over do it, moderate pace).


So, since I'm restricted myself of some of the junk I've been addicted to, I have a very weird problem - I'm having very few calories even though I'm not trying to starve myself. I'm trying to be healthy and NOT extreme but here's an example of my eating habits:

Breakfast - Light soy milk, kashi cereal
Lunch - Cheese quasadilla prepared with pam cooking spray and a spinach salad (no dressing)
Dinner - Grilled shrimp, spinach salad

No desire to snack, I'm really not all that hungry.

That's roughly 1,200 calories (give or take). Since I'm 235 pounds now and my goal is 180 pounds, fitness calculators suggest that my base caloric intake should be aroudn 1,800 to 2,000 or so, for a sane weightloss of 2 pounds per week.

Factoring working out, I had a net caloric intake of 800 calories. Yesterday was even less, around 600.

Should I worry and try to up my caloric intake even though I'm not really hungry?
 
Not calorie related but you should be grazing throughout the day instead of eating three meals per day. By only eating three meals a day, your body learns to store fat for energy for the hours that you are fasting. Now grazing doesn't mean eating six full meals a day. Eat a decent breakfast, a couple of hours later have a protein shake, lunch, protein shake, dinner, protein shake, and you're done. Of course just eating right isn't going to help you lose weight, you need to incorporate a decent training regimen as well. The 30 minutes of treadmill for three days is a start but you should start lifting weights as well.
 
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Not calorie related but you should be grazing throughout the day instead of eating three meals per day. By only eating three meals a day, your body learns to store fat for energy for the hours that you are fasting.
Click to expand...

Dumb question (I admit to being dumb, especially with nutrition), can you recommend some food to graze on? For example, me and cashews - I could start with a handfull and end up eating the bottle. Sooo, with grazing, do you recommend something healthy, easy to prepare, and that's either OK to eat without hesitation or flavorless to the point of avoiding excess?
 
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Not calorie related but you should be grazing throughout the day instead of eating three meals per day. By only eating three meals a day, your body learns to store fat for energy for the hours that you are fasting.
Click to expand...

Dumb question (I admit to being dumb, especially with nutrition), can you recommend some food to graze on? For example, me and cashews - I could start with a handfull and end up eating the bottle. Sooo, with grazing, do you recommend something healthy, easy to prepare, and that's either OK to eat without hesitation or flavorless to the point of avoiding excess?
Click to expand...

Edited my post somewhat. Protein shakes are great for meal replacement (Snacks) as they are filling and provide your body with the necessary protein and minerals your body needs.

Originally posted by: LoKe
Tuna. =]
Click to expand...

Tuna is great. Extremely high in protein and health. IIRC, Tuna has an ample supply of Omega 3's as well.
 
For weight loss you really should be aiming at a net deficit of around 500 calories off your BMR. For a guy that's 235 pounds you are looking at a BMR of around 2100-2500 depending on a couple different factors. You should be eating anywhere from 1600-2000 calories to aim for a pound a week (4-5 pounds a month) drop in weight.

That's a healthy, reasonable, and easily maintained weight loss plan.

A net caloric intake of 600-800 is way way way too low. You are putting yourself into starvation mode.
 
I dont see anybody in samollia complaining about their weight...and they sure shit ain't paying for weight-loss diet plans & pills.
 
Originally posted by: Regs
I dont see anybody in samollia complaining about their weight...and they sure shit ain't paying for weight-loss diet plans & pills.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess we have a lot to learn from 3rd world countries. Maybe we should start attacking Safeway trucks before they can get the food to the masses.
 
Protein shakes for someone trying to lose weight? Never heard that one before. The only people I've seen use them are weight lifters trying to gain weight. The OP is barely doing any exercise as well, so he has to be especially careful.
 
Now, your diet isn't exactly carb free. But you should read up on Ketosis and make sure you understand it. One of the effects of Ketosis, is that your body can starve without being hungry. It stifles your bodies "hunger pains".

I'm not saying you are in ketosis, I'm just saying be very careful when dealing with eating too little. Watch your muscles very careful, if you have any reason to believe you are burning too much muscle, change your meal plan immediately. If you end up burning more muscle than fat, you could set yourself back even further than you are if you are just overweight.

Since you are working out, key into signs of weakness or being too tired. Your workout will always wear you down, but if you are having trouble recovering for the next workout, that could be a problematic sign. Just make sure you are getting sufficient sleep so you don't have problems ruling that out down the line.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
not diet related, but why do you use pam cooking spray for quesadillas?
Click to expand...

Hah. Valid point - I'm cheap and my pans aren't the highest of quality, so the telfon coating's pretty abysmal. I wish I had a griddle of sorts, but I gotta use PAM to make sure it doesn't get scorched or stick.

My point was that I don't usually use much added fat in cooking.
 
Good things to graze on, would be what you consider rabbit food maybe. Carrots, and celery are good to graze on. An apple, or an orange, along with the aforementioned vegetables.
 
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Originally posted by: ElFenix
not diet related, but why do you use pam cooking spray for quesadillas?
Click to expand...

Hah. Valid point - I'm cheap and my pans aren't the highest of quality, so the telfon coating's pretty abysmal. I wish I had a griddle of sorts, but I gotta use PAM to make sure it doesn't get scorched or stick.

My point was that I don't usually use much added fat in cooking.
Click to expand...

eh, i was forced to make quesadillas in a stainless steel pan the other day (roommate has burned oil into the nonstick pan creating a sticky mess that i'm not sure how to clean). tortillas don't stick and if you put the knob on, say, medium, they don't burn. the cheese is burnt on like a bitch, but pam wouldn't stop that anway.
 
I can't count the number of people I've had tell me that losing weight is just so simple...all you have to do is eat much less than you burn and increase your daily activity and it'll come right off. In my several years of trying to lose weight and failing I've come to the conclusion that the body is a very smart machine. You can't cut your calories way down or else you'll go into starvation mode and actually gain more weight. The best I've seen myself is moderately decreasing your calorie intake and moderately increasing your daily activity. After a week, decrease your calorie intake a little further and increase your daily activity a little further. Don't fall below about 500 calories from your BMR as others have said. The weight will take time to come off. This is the hardest part for me because in my logic, I should be able to drop a bunch of calories and workout like crazy and lose a bunch of weight quickly, but it doesn't work like that and if it does, it's not safe and the weight will come back later.
 
Protein shakes are NOT filling for me at all.

They only tie me over for about an hour and I end up more hungry than I would have been if I didn't have a shake.
 
Originally posted by: kevnich2
I can't count the number of people I've had tell me that losing weight is just so simple...all you have to do is eat much less than you burn and increase your daily activity and it'll come right off. In my several years of trying to lose weight and failing I've come to the conclusion that the body is a very smart machine. You can't cut your calories way down or else you'll go into starvation mode and actually gain more weight. The best I've seen myself is moderately decreasing your calorie intake and moderately increasing your daily activity. After a week, decrease your calorie intake a little further and increase your daily activity a little further. Don't fall below about 500 calories from your BMR as others have said. The weight will take time to come off. This is the hardest part for me because in my logic, I should be able to drop a bunch of calories and workout like crazy and lose a bunch of weight quickly, but it doesn't work like that and if it does, it's not safe and the weight will come back later.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

Rather than going by BMR (estimates can be way off) I prefer having people track what they eat for a week without changes and work from there though. If they didn't lose or gain weight that week, that's there maintenance calories and they can begin dropping by 10-20%.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Originally posted by: ElFenix
not diet related, but why do you use pam cooking spray for quesadillas?
Click to expand...

Hah. Valid point - I'm cheap and my pans aren't the highest of quality, so the telfon coating's pretty abysmal. I wish I had a griddle of sorts, but I gotta use PAM to make sure it doesn't get scorched or stick.

My point was that I don't usually use much added fat in cooking.
Click to expand...

eh, i was forced to make quesadillas in a stainless steel pan the other day (roommate has burned oil into the nonstick pan creating a sticky mess that i'm not sure how to clean). tortillas don't stick and if you put the knob on, say, medium, they don't burn. the cheese is burnt on like a bitch, but pam wouldn't stop that anway.
Click to expand...

I'm humbled by your quesadilla making wisdom 😉

I like using pam, I find the cheese doesn't stick as much. To each his own, I guess.
 
Just throw some healthy snacks in between your normal eating routine and you should be fine. Fruit, vegetables, tuna, raw oats, nuts, plain yogurt, whole wheat toast.

As others have said weight lifting will help too. You'll burn muscle as well as fat with a straight cardio workout routine. No need to go crazy, just maintain what you have while you take the fat off.
 
Originally posted by: ggnl
Just throw some healthy snacks in between your normal eating routine and you should be fine. Fruit, vegetables, tuna, raw oats, nuts, plain yogurt, whole wheat toast.

As others have said weight lifting will help too. You'll burn muscle as well as fat with a straight cardio workout routine. No need to go crazy, just maintain what you have while you take the fat off.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, this addition of little snacks seems to be a good idea. Off to the fruit stand!

Is adding peanut butter to the fruit going to be over kill? Though i could see myself gorging on peanut butter.. Hmmm.
 
Get the natural peanut butter to avoid the bad fats.

Eat a larger breakfast with some fat and protein in it (eggs are great).

Carrot sticks and V8 are very good snacks that you can't really overeat. They'll keep your metabolism running.

Moderate lifting with compound exercises is a great way to maintain muscle mass while losing weight.

You have to really let your body know that it has plenty enough food to burn fat, and you have to let your body know that it needs the muscle instead of the fat.
 
As some have said, your calorie intake is way too low and you are getting yourself in starvation mode. You know all of those fad diets that people go on, lost 20-40 pounds, then gain it all back within weeks after going off the diet? It sounds like you are currently on that path. Not only do you kill your metabolism by constantly being in starvation mode, but you store much more fat and burn muscle. Sure you'll lose pounds quickly, but as soon as there's a reprieve in your diet, your body will work to store as much fat as it can since it wants to avoid being starved again, and you will also have a lower metabolism to deal with it.

Simply having muscles burns calories, so really one of the best ways to lose weight is to build muscles along with doing cardio. Rather then 3 meals, make 5 small ones. Your meals are currently small, just add 2 more smaller ones during the day and you'll be in good shape, as you replenish your body throughout the day and your body will be less likely to store fat.
 
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
Not calorie related but you should be grazing throughout the day instead of eating three meals per day. By only eating three meals a day, your body learns to store fat for energy for the hours that you are fasting.
Click to expand...

Dumb question (I admit to being dumb, especially with nutrition), can you recommend some food to graze on? For example, me and cashews - I could start with a handfull and end up eating the bottle. Sooo, with grazing, do you recommend something healthy, easy to prepare, and that's either OK to eat without hesitation or flavorless to the point of avoiding excess?
Click to expand...

baked snack crackers... they're good and full of fiber.
 
Originally posted by: Cattlegod
Protein shakes are NOT filling for me at all.

They only tie me over for about an hour and I end up more hungry than I would have been if I didn't have a shake.
Click to expand...

Make smoothies, Fruit + Milk + Protein + Ice. Not only will you get some serious protein, you'll also knock out your daily recommended fruit intake without even trying.

Originally posted by: alphatarget1
Is eating a lot of fruit really a good idea? It actually contains a lot of sugar.
Click to expand...

The sugar in fruit is not necessarily good for you, but there is plenty else you stand to gain. And you will feel like you are treating yourself. A lot of fruit contains plenty of water and fiber too. Which is a good deal different than say, a chocolate bar. Honestly, unless you are gorging yourself on fruits, I would really frown on someone cutting them out for the sake of their diet. If you make your diet too bland it is practically doomed to failure.
 
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