Need advise on amount of calories to eat

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Need advise on amount of calories to eat
8
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 1:10pm

Hi, I am a 37 full time working mom to two boys. I have just gotten back into exercise and watching what I eat as I put on nearly 40 lbs. I am tracking my calorie count through calorieking.com and it determines I need to eat roughly 1450 cal a day for my age, height, weight etc. I have been exercising twice a day (30 min. in the morning and 35-40 in the afternoon) that adds to my calorie count of almost 500+ cal a day. I have been doing this for nearly 4 weeks and have only lost 5 lbs -- with my exercise I find I am eating close to 1700 calories --

In order to see weight loss, should I be cutting my calories back to the original 1450 cal, or actually increase and use up the full amount that I am allotted per day (which is close to 2000 cal). This whole thing is confussing for me. All I know is that I want to show more of a weight loss in the 4 weeks I have been busting my butt.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Amy

Amy
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2003
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 3:45pm
I wish I could be some help but I'm in a similar boat. I'm not doing too bad IMO but the scale isn't agreeing with that. What I'm looking at is what I am eating. Still going to try to decrease my calorie intake but hope to do that by limiting more of the refined carbs and my fat intake.


iVillage Member
Registered: 01-11-2007
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 4:03pm

since you are exercising, you might be replacing fat with muscle. I'm not real happy with what my scale says either, but I need to remember that it's better than I was doing before I was watching what I was eating (so I'm healthier - I've always been good about exercise, but I actually ran 4 miles last night in 40 min without taking a break to walk!) and my clothes fit better so I must be changing somewhere.

Just keep working. It'll show up soon - one way or the other.

Avatar for lovmy2kids
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 2:22am

Very frustrating isn't it?

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 7:29am
Hi there ahjk- welcome to the 30's board :-)

_____________________________________________________

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 7:31am

Hi Amy, and welcome to the board- first off CONGRATULATIONS on your weight loss so far!! The fact that you've lost 5lbs in 4 weeks is terrific, and a sign that you are doing things the right way.


My suggestion is to keep at what you're doing- and to also take Darcy's idea of letting your clothes tell the story!


Looking forward to having you here. Well done :-)


_____________________________________________________

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 4:10pm

Welcome to the board Amy!! First of all congrats on the weight loss so far. Don't let yourself be discouraged! There are a few things to remember:


1) Take measurements as well as weight. The ladies here are definitely right on this one. As you workout you build muscle and tone up. So you might not lose pounds, but you may be losing inches. Here is a picture that shows the difference between muscle and fat:



2) A healthy, maintainable rate of weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds per week. So 5 pounds in 4 weeks is actually right on target. In order to lose one pound of weight, you have to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories. Which means that every single day of the week you have to take in 500 calories less than what you burn. And that is to lose 1 pound per week. To lose 2 pounds per week, you have to double those numbers. Quite often a more rapid loss of weight is due to mostly water loss.


3) Check your sodium intake - sometimes if you keep your sodium intake higher than you should, you will retain water which will add weight.


iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 4:39pm

Hi there & welcome!


To add to what everyone else has said, 5 pounds in 4 weeks is excellent! You may be thinking back to a time when you were younger and could drop a lot of weight in a

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 7:27pm

Hi Ladies...

Thank you all for the great answers to my question -- it has helped a lot. Yes you are right about the clothes fitting -- I put on a pair of jeans tonight that I couldn't get zipped 3 weeks ago and my work pants I used to have to wear control top panty hose just to feel comfortable, but today, I went without hose and they were loose -- yes, it feels good and I know I back on the right track. Been too long for that -- I used to be obsessive over diet and exercise and then fell off the wagon. I actually prefer to be obsessive, that way I know I am doing all the right things.

Anyway, I will stop in from time to time to give you all an update. Thanks again for the great answers -- it does help!

Amy

Amy