counting calories/how many??

[BeanPole]

Sometimes I think that I eat too much so I've been thinking about how to know whether I'm going overboard or not. I've decided to monitor my calories as well as carbs. The only problem is I'm not sure how many calories that I should be consuming on a daily basis. My estimate is between 1,200 and 1,500 daily. I'm 5'2 and 121lbs currently(Yes, I need to change my ticker. I broke over on the weekend and gained all that weight. ) Anyone know?

[spirittalker]

Re: counting calories/how many??

well first all you gained is likely water. It takes 3500 calories to make a pound so it's doubtful you ate THAT many calories to gain 9 pounds of fat. Is TOM close? That could also account for large amounts of gain. You should at least be eating your BMR. You can calculate that here.

[BeanPole]

Re: counting calories/how many??

Thanks for the link! I hope its water weight, but probably unlikely. TOM isn't due for a couple more weeks. My BMR is 1365. So, if I eat 1365 daily, I'll loose weight and not go into starvation mode. Right? I guess I have a plan now. Drink my water, watch my carbs, watch my calories, and do Slim in 6. I can't wait to start losing again!

[julirama723]

Re: counting calories/how many??

You shouldn't base it off your BMR, but your daily caloric needs using the Harris-Benedict formula. The H-B formula uses your BMR as a baseline, then factors in activity level/exercise. For example, my BMR is about 1600 calories, but since I exercise 6x week, my daily caloric need is 2760 calories. To lose weight, I need to eat 500-1000 calories less than that. But I've found that I'm doing better when I eat about 500 less rather than 1000 less.

[bivium6]

Re: counting calories/how many??

I hate trying to find the balance between BMR and how many calories I really need. If I don't eat enough I get really sleepy all the time, but I don't want to eat too much and lose really slow or not at all.

And then you have to take into the equation, fat burns different then carbs. So you can eat a bit more calories in a high fat WOL then in a high carb WOL and still lose. Not to mention during TOM and other hormone shifts in a women's body, some weeks nothing sounds good, other times everything does, so its hard to tell if you are really hungry. Do women need more food during TOM?

I try to eat between my BMR and H-B and listen very carefully to my body. So far I haven't come up with any better way...

[BeanPole]

Re: counting calories/how many??

Okay, if I did the math right then I should be able to eat between 1,181 and 1,680 cals per day and loose weight. I'll start at the lesser range and move up depending upon how I feel while/after working out. I think women just THINk that they need more food during TOM. I sure do! That is when I'm at my greatest risk of eating something that I shouldn't. I can do wonderful all month long and then along comes TOM and it takes everything I have to maintain control(and even then I slip up sometimes ). Thanks for all the help!

[Sheepie]

Re: counting calories/how many??

Am I missing something? I thought that we were supposed to be counting carbs, not calories. All this math and these intricate formulas to figure out calories just feel wrong to me. Of course, I haven't beel losing well lately, so maybe I should be counting calories after all! Or is it that when you get closer to goal, calories become more important? I've been trying to go by the old "eat when you're hungry and stop when you're satisfied" theory.

[DebOnAtkins]

Re: counting calories/how many??

Personally I don't count calories but look at the carbs. I am averaging about 1600 calories a day and ending up in the 20 - 22% range for carbs. I am losing weight too. I think everyone is different though. This is what is working for me.

[julirama723]

Re: counting calories/how many??

Some of us don't interpret our natural hunger cues correctly, or exercise very intensely/frequently, that we often don't eat ENOUGH. My problem was dropping too low in calories, not consuming too many.

[Mirya]

Re: counting calories/how many??

We primarily seem to only count carbs not calories.

[ValidRouge]

Re: counting calories/how many??

I think count carbs not calories UNLESS you are having a problem. Then you might want to look at calories. Far too often, it's a matter of not eating enough calories vs eating too many. Ketosis suppresses appetite.

I, personally, do much better low carb, high calorie. The only way to really do that is to eat higher fat. When I say Low carb, I'm not saying NO CARB. I just only eat veggie and egg (and coffee) carbs. I eat probably 35 to 40 net carbs per day, with 30-35 of those being vegetable carbs. So, LOADS of veggies. Keep the fat, not the protein, high.

Take it easy on the "special category" carbs. Don't use those instead of veggies! Too many people do that. Remember the special category foods are sour cream, olives, avocado, lemon juice, cream, artificial sweetner, coffee/tea and things like that.