Am I getting enough calories?

[skwcm80]

I've started logging my meals in MFP in an attempt to hold myself accountable for what I'm putting in my body, and lose about 10 pounds or so.  I'm used to a lot of (not great) snacking and I need to get it under control.

I just started training for my next half, and I'm trying to keep myself to 1500 net calories. Does this sound like enough? Yesterday was my first day tracking my meals, and i felt hungry throughout the day. I am happy to share what I ate for any recommended changes. 

[emilyinchile]

It's hard to judge your hunger - as in whether it's part of the adjustment or a sign you need more calories - without knowing what you ate. That said, 1500 when you're doing regular runs also sounds low to me. Have you tracked any normal, snacking days to see how much you're eating currently before looking at what to change?

[Deleted]

Have you calculated your BMR?

[gt7301b]

As long as it is 1,500 net I think you are fine, this is what I usually aim for. I will add that I find it difficult to lose weight when I am training hard.

Share what you ate and see if you have any suggestions. I find that adding protein to my diet helps ease the hunger pains.

[emilyinchile]

Oh sorry, I missed that it was 1500 net, I thought you were only eating 1500 and then working off extra calories running on top of that. Ignore that part of my post

[skwcm80]

Jan 7, 2014 10:36:20 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

It's hard to judge your hunger - as in whether it's part of the adjustment or a sign you need more calories - without knowing what you ate. That said, 1500 when you're doing regular runs also sounds low to me. Have you tracked any normal, snacking days to see how much you're eating currently before looking at what to change?

Yesterday was my first day tracking my meals as part of a weight loss challenge on April 2012. Typing it out, it seems like a lot of food.

be gentle.

Breakfast 
8 oz of coffee w/1% milk and 1 tbs flavored creamer
1 turkey,cheese, and spinach egg muffin
1 whole wheat English muffin with 1 tbs of peanut butter

lunch
Spinach turkey burger on a whole wheat bun
1 cup of roasted sweet potatoes 

dinner

beef and tomato stew 
4oz of tilapia
3/4 cup of brown rice
1/4 cup of spinach (butter and some Parmesan cheese

snacks
1/4 cup of pineapple chunks
1/4 cup of crasins
5.3 oz vanilla Greek yogurt
1 cup of cereal(special k red berries) w/ 1/2 cup of 1% milk.

[skwcm80]

Jan 7, 2014 10:41:39 GMT -5 doglove said:

Have you calculated your BMR?

I've used calculators online and gotten wildly different results. Is there a calculator you would recommend?

[gt7301b]

I think your meals look pretty good, but your snacks could use a little work. Craisins are basically all sugar and pineapple chunks can have a lot of sugar too. I try and only eat one serving of fruit a day when I am trying to lose weight (veggies instead?). I'd also drop the special K for something more substantial like nuts or cheese. I've also found that adding chia seeds to my Greek yogurt helps me stay full longer.

[skwcm80]

Jan 7, 2014 11:00:41 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

I think your meals look pretty good, but your snacks could use a little work. Craisins are basically all sugar and pineapple chunks can have a lot of sugar too. I try and only eat one serving of fruit a day when I am trying to lose weight (veggies instead?). I'd also drop the special K for something more substantial like nuts or cheese. I've also found that adding chia seeds to my Greek yogurt helps me stay full longer.

I agree about the snacks needing some work. I noticed the amount of sugar as I was entering my snacks into MFP. I suppose that's the point right? As soon as we dig out from underneath this storm, I can go stock up on some more veggies. 

[labbie]

Jan 7, 2014 10:44:47 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

As long as it is 1,500 net I think you are fine, this is what I usually aim for. I will add that I find it difficult to lose weight when I am training hard.

Share what you ate and see if you have any suggestions. I find that adding protein to my diet helps ease the hunger pains.

Ditto this- I had to try a few things, but found that adding more protein and fat really helped me stay more satisfied. Cottage cheese is my new go-to. I love it mixed with fruit, or as a veggie dip.
Also a small amount of mixed nuts as an a.m. snack.

[sadlebred]

I agree with adding more protein and fat. What about apple slices with PB or something with avocado? Other than that, it looks pretty good.

[Susie]

I just started with MFP yesterday too. Accountability is key for me re: eating, but I am skeptical about their numbers. To lose 1 lb/week, at my activity levels (sedentary job / 4 hrs week working out) it says I should be netting 1200 calories/day. So yesterday I ate 1721, burned 366 on my bike, and was 155 over.

Eh.

I thought losing 1 lb/week seemed like a reasonable goal, but those calorie numbers don't feel super reasonable to me.

[labbie]

Jan 7, 2014 13:37:32 GMT -5 Susie said:

I just started with MFP yesterday too. Accountability is key for me re: eating, but I am skeptical about their numbers. To lose 1 lb/week, at my activity levels (sedentary job / 4 hrs week working out) it says I should be netting 1200 calories/day. So yesterday I ate 1721, burned 366 on my bike, and was 155 over.

Eh.

I thought losing 1 lb/week seemed like a reasonable goal, but those calorie numbers don't feel super reasonable to me.

I also think MFPcan be off on their calorie numbers.I use MFP and also have a sedentary job (and set MFP as such.) I have a Fitbit, and I consistently "earn" anywhere from 150-250 per day extra just based on my daily activity. I usually eat most of those calories back, in addition to whatever I burn from my workouts. I have been losing steadily, although very slowly (averaging 0.5/week on a good week).

[skwcm80]

Jan 7, 2014 13:37:32 GMT -5 Susie said:

I just started with MFP yesterday too. Accountability is key for me re: eating, but I am skeptical about their numbers. To lose 1 lb/week, at my activity levels (sedentary job / 4 hrs week working out) it says I should be netting 1200 calories/day. So yesterday I ate 1721, burned 366 on my bike, and was 155 over.

Eh.

I thought losing 1 lb/week seemed like a reasonable goal, but those calorie numbers don't feel super reasonable to me.

I needed to be accountable too. I was way too easy to pretend that a Snickers mini bar didn't have too many calories. Why else would they call it mini?

I agree about the calorie goals too. Sure I work in an office, but I couldn't survive on 1200 calories. That's why I bumped it up to 1500. It sounds like that is reasonable based on everyone's responses.

My sn is the same on MFP if you want an accountability buddy.


thanks for the feedback everyone!

[Susie]

So, maybe the numbers aren't so bad. This was bothering me, so I just calculated my BMR, and it's (1299 calories/day)(7 days/week) = 9093 calories/week

Add to that roughly 2000 calories/week for working out ~4 hours/week = 11093 calories/week

Divide that back out by 7 days/week, and I get 1584/day, as a total average number of calories to take in. Right around where MFP puts me.

The problem that I think I run into is that on days I workout, I do more than the fractional portion (1/7)(4 hours) so I'm hungry and eat more. But on days I don't, it's hard to cut back even lower than 1500-1600. I think my best solution is really to workout more days/week than my current ~4 days for an hour each.

[skwcm80]

Susie what website did you use to calculate your bmr?

[SallyJ]

I used the site scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ to calculate my BMR and recommended TDEE based on my energy levels. If I want to lose, I eat less than TDEE, but more than BMR. Usually a 10% cut is reasonable, especially if you have less than 15 lbs to lose. A higher cut is fine if you have a lot to lose.