expected calorie intakes

[EasyEJL]

OK so sometimes I am sure I am "underestimating" my cals, but generally I bet I am not getting enough...can't believe I'm actually saying that.

yeah, its funny. even for a woman who isn't trying to build muscles, there is still a baseline amount of muscle that is good for your height, bone structure, etc. if you aren't getting enough calories + enough protein to maintain that (probably 120-150 is enough) then you are more likely to burn the protein in your muscles, and less likely to burn fat. which over time lowers your base metabolic rate as muscle burns more cals at rest than fat does, which then lowers your daily needs, and you have to eat even less to loose anything.

What a drag it all is. In the past year, i've lost just over 50lbs, and some of the weight at times was muscle. I reached spots where out of frustration I did weeks where cals were below 1500. I've fixed doing that, and have gained a fair bit of muscle finally, and am definitely significantly more muscular than when I started. I'm also steadily loosing as much weight or more at 2200-2400 cal a day vs that sub 1500 a day.

[EasyEJL]

funny you should say that. I just got myself 4 of those SB turkey wraps on a whim Monday because they were on clearance at 99 cents.

I am such an idiot I got them and dont even know if they're any good heh. Maybe it was my lucky day. So that is how the SB plan works, interesting.

I buy them all the time, they are way handy to bring to work. I do the math, even if I were to buy 2 of em and spend $5, thats less than I would spend on subway or other fast foodery, and its all complex carbs, whole grain, low fat, etc, and each one has from 20-25g of protein in it. Most fast food makes a majority of cals from fat.

[terracotta]

Hmm where are you at that its expensive? honestly those prices dont sound too bad. the chicken maybe, cause I believe I can get that for around $1.80/lb, so around $4/kg

the cost is a problem with the south beach diet too, at $2.50 - 3 each thats $15-18/day in food. really not that bad. with coupons sometimes cheaper.

Alberta Canada.

I guess I'll just deal with the hunger, as it isn't that bad, really.

I try to keep my diet filled with healthy foods, but not necessarily the most filling. I really should go back to having oats several times a day, that seemed to fill me up a quite a bit.

[EasyEJL]

the oats are nice from fill factor, particularly if you are buying plain oats, not the pre-packed singles with tons o added sugar. I just lean towards believing that carbs and insulin response tend to lead to more of the weight / fat management issues than protein or healthy fats do, so I tend to break my diet down that way. not crazy and no carbs, but even at 3000 cal a day it was rare that I hit much over 150g of carbs.

But at least you can probably get moose. Heck your female co-mod in this section gets to eat kangaroo, how cool is that! Leanest red meat available on the planet.

[bassgirl]

the oats are nice from fill factor, particularly if you are buying plain oats, not the pre-packed singles with tons o added sugar. I just lean towards believing that carbs and insulin response tend to lead to more of the weight / fat management issues than protein or healthy fats do, so I tend to break my diet down that way. not crazy and no carbs, but even at 3000 cal a day it was rare that I hit much over 150g of carbs.

But at least you can probably get moose. Heck your female co-mod in this section gets to eat kangaroo, how cool is that! Leanest red meat available on the planet.

I use the prepacks of oatmeal that are low sugar or sugar free. Low sugar is still a positive step. They make a great snack at work.

One thing I left out of my "hunger control" list below is Oatmeal! I started my whole weight loss thing off just by having tea and oatmeal every breakfast. I did this for months, and had a small snack before lunch so i wouldn't be as hungry at mealtime. Never counted anything or even knew about protein, green tea, or any of that stuff. It controlled my appetite in an amazing way and I lost 35lbs in a year just doing that with no exercise!

Alas that wont work now, I dont have as much to lose as I did before. Phooey

[EasyEJL]

yeah, where I am now (194) it sometimes seems harder to loose a pound than when I started (at 245), but not really. I can now manage to be a lot more physically active, and i've learned a lot more about how my body processes foods, so I have better tools to do it with. Not sure yet where my goal really is, i'll know when I get there tho.

[asianbabe]

Great discussion..

Bass girl, as I said before the calories and ratios are just a guideline. You may do very well with less protein and more carbs, but that is for you to experiment with. I personally take about 1.5-2g/lb LBM worth of protein, but that is because I also do a truckload of cardio and I need it.

As terra said, whey is relatively cheap (not over here though!) for you so that might be an easy way to get in some protein if you are not hungry. It does look like you are under-eating, or you need to spark up your metabolism again. If you have been on low calories for an extended period of time, you might want to jack them up a bit or change some of your macros.

I eat a lot of chicken and kangaroo, (yes Easy, kanga is one of my faves!) . At around $10 a kilo, an entire meal with 6oz of meat, veggies and carbs like rice/pasta or a fruit will cost you about $3? , but I would consider that pretty damn cheap.

[bassgirl]

ok I hope that I am getting the message here is what I fixed for dinner.

lean pork chop - about 3/4 inch by 2x4 inches with my spicy garlic pan-seared topping. used 1 Tbsp of garlic olive oil, a TBS of chopped garlic, chili sauce, and about 1 tsp chilli powder. cals? virtually no fat came off it. chili sauce = the oriental stir fry type, not hot dog chili sauce

1/2 c cottage cheese , 13g prot 80 cals

a serving of baked blue corn chips and salsa. (120 cals plus 10 cals)

and a yogurt for dessert. (7g prot, 180 cals)which I will probably have in an hour or two.

[EasyEJL]

better!

[bassgirl]

now that I scoffed my biggest meal of the day - there i go again with the dinner thing... - time to pick up my son and go to the Y.

I had to put some extra nice scented body lotion on because I've taken ephedra today and I stink to high heaven when I workout with that stuff in me . heh.

[thesinner]

Clearly, you've never played icehockey

[bassgirl]

Clearly, you've never played icehockey

LOl actually as a kid I was in an intramural coed ice hockey league. It was an outdoor , afterschool thing in Maine. That was way before "womens" hockey was in the news.

OK its lunch time (just finsihed) and I've already taken in about 900 cals. That to me seems high for this time of day, but I guess its OK?

[EasyEJL]

thats just about right to hit 1800 by 7-8pm

[bassgirl]

A little while back someone asked about what I like to eat, or want to include. Hmm.. everything haha. Well if I had to pick some favorites, lets see, here's a few:

pinto beans
black beans
flour or corn tortillas
cheese
salsa
sour cream (see a trend here? haha)
guacamole
yogurts (pretty much any dairy)
hummous
salad dressings like caesar and italian
pork - just about all cuts
beef
chicken wings
potatoes
mayo
100 calorie packs including protein bars
garlic!

and I DO like it hot! Bring on the habaneros!
I am not a big bread eater, nor am I a big dessert eater.

[EasyEJL]

if you leave out or minimize the potatos, and make careful choices on the specifics of the others, you are all set. Ground turkey in taco seasonings makes for an excellent burrito with black beans, fat free kraft cheddar and low fat sour cream

[thesinner]

LOl actually as a kid I was in an intramural coed ice hockey league. It was an outdoor , afterschool thing in Maine. That was way before "womens" hockey was in the news.

OK its lunch time (just finsihed) and I've already taken in about 900 cals. That to me seems high for this time of day, but I guess its OK?

Calorie counting is an annoying thing. Try not to dwell too hard on it (because it gets really tricky).

But, essentially, you need calories to keep your metabolism going and burn more calories. This is usually where the "Campfire" analogy comes into play.

I put half a twig on the fire and it does nothing; the fire will eventually just die down. Put an armfull of sticks or a log on the fire, and it will continue to burn brilliantly. Put too many sticks/logs on the fire and you smother it; the fire dies down again.

[bassgirl]

after lunch I had one of those McCanns oatmeal packets. YUMM!! 100 cals. And a Reeses bar that was 260 cals.


so by dinner I counted 1260 but to be safe I said 1300.

And I'm having a Weight watchers fiesta chicken for dinner 260 cals 13g protein with a bottle of Special K protein water (30, 3g).

I added my own tablespoon of chopped garlic and chili sauce neg. cals, maybe 10.

[bassgirl]

today I had 250 cals for breakfast, and for lunch a south beach wrap pack (240, 14g) and an 8 oz protein shake made with skim milk (300, 22g)

puts me at about 800 at noon. room enough for a afternoon snack before dinner if I feel hungry enough later. Amazing the difference a day makes huh?

[EasyEJL]

and you should feel more energetic too, which makes it easier to be more physically active, which burns more calories

[celc5]

Great thread. LOTS to discuss:

#1 Am I the only one that is NEVER satisfied with low GI carbs? Seriously, for me they seem to have the opposite of the filling effect that everyone else describes.

#2 I have a female friend who is 5'6" 140 lbs and 20-21% bf. She eats about 125g pro/250g carb/30g fat per day. I guess that's around 1770 cals for maintenance for her. She REFUSES to increase protein intake for cost reasons as you ladies mentioned and she just doesn't have the will to eat more meat or drink more shakes.