Daily Calorie Need

Well, my problem is eating too much, not too little, but I'll reply anyway.

From what I've read, you're exactly right. Spreading the meals out through the day, 6 or so smaller meals, your body knows it's not going to starve and can use the nutrition and calories more effectively. It's just a more efficient way to fuel the body, slow and steady instead of a load of food, then nothing, then another load, etc.

Eventually our bodies learn to trust us again and we drop weight. When I graze my way through the day, I lose weight and don't get headaches. So I say go for it!

oh man, im in your exact same boat! and everyone from sports medicine docs to the friendly advice from this forum has told me that im not getting enough calories to fuel my training, but its just so hard for me to believe. i dont know- living in l.a. kind of messes with your perspective. i look around at all these women and they have not hesitated to tell me how they do it: its hollywood! a steady diet of cocaine and ice water and youre set!
-seriously, though, ive been told by a lot of the people out here that all that calorie intake stuff is just jibberish and that mostly, they just dont eat, so its hard for me to hear that eating more, although its obviously healthier, is the ticket to losing those extra pounds.
ive upped my intake to 1500 (from 850) and started training more seriously, so ill let you know how it works for me in a few weeks. hit me back after a while and let us know how youre doing too?

Even at 1500, your still way below what you probably need. In my case I should be able to go to 2900 and be able to lose weight.

does anyone have a trusted site that they use to determine what their daily need is ?

I cannot seem to drop anything. If I eat a lot or a little I still hover anround the same weight.

Two things:

Remember not to look at the scale too much. While working out, you'll build muscle while losing fat, and although you may feel better, you may not be losing weight (you might actually GAIN because muscle weighs more than fat). So use the scale at the most once a week. Daily changes won't matter, it's the long term that does. Also, go by how you feel. If you feel fitter, you probably are. That scale is a liar!! :-)

In not eating enough, your body goes into starvation mode, which means that you store all the fat you consume and your body feeds off your muscle instead of your fat stores. That's the worst thing you can do! Those girls in LA that feed on nothing but cocaine/water don't train for triathlons, you do!!!! Remember that! Your body needs that fuel to recover.

You should NEVER have a caloric deficit of more than 500 calories, that will trigger starvation mode, which is not good. So, if you use a calorie calculator and find out that you're burning approx 2500 calories a day, you need to eat at LEAST 2000 calories! Eating small meals often will remind your body that you have pleanty of food and that it's ok to burn your fat stores.

Just my 2 cents!

I've searched everywhere for a general rule on daily calorie requirements. and after an extensive search here it is:
Keep in mind this is a ball park number but seems to hold true no matter what program(book or software program) I use to calculate the calorie requirement.

Take you current weight and multiple it by 12. (ie.. 200*12=2400) It’s that simple.
This will give you the amount of calories you require to maintain your weight.
If you want to lose weight you need to eat less or exercise more.
This is over simplified but you get the picture.

From the Gatorade Sport Science Institute:

“Endurance athletes may benefit from improving the macronutrient content of their diets. Specifically, a diet rich in carbohydrates (7-10 grams per kilogram of bodyweight), moderate in protein (1.2-1.7 grams per kilogram of bodyweight), and low in fat is recommended.”

(Kilograms are pounds divided by 2.2)

http://www.gssiweb.com/reflib/refs/334/michellerockwell.cfm?pid=99&...

This is the best sports nutrition information on the web. Spend some time going through the information for endurance athletes on here:

http://www.gssiweb.com/sportssciencecenter/topic.cfm?id=99

So a 160 pound endurance athlete should eat at least 509 grams (2036 calories) of carbohydrates a day and 87 grams (350 calories) of protein. Fat should be kept to about 20% of daily calories.

A 200 pound endurance athlete should eat at least 636 grams (2544 calories) of carbohydrates a day and 109 grams (436 calories) of protein.




Edited by Gatsby 2004-11-05 10:53 AM

I have trouble believing a lot of information out there about how much I should be eating also. My Tanita scale indicates I should be eating over 4000 calories per day for my weight (240) and activity level (2 out of 4). I haven't monitored my calorie intake lately but a few years ago I lost about 50 pounds (gained it all back) and did it with exercise and calorie counting. I was working out at least 5 days a week -- 30min to 1hr on the stairmaster, and some running. I was able to maintain my calorie intake at 1900 calories/day, but not lower than that. Finding that number was a matter of strictly monitoring what I ate, and just notching it down and seeing how I felt. It was painful to not get enough calories -- I had more aches and pains and I was just plain irritable. I would also feel weak and light-headed. At that point, I knew it wasn't enough calories. So, I would ignore what the books say, monitor your calories so you know exactly what you're taking in, and step down to as low as you can without feeling so bad it isn't worth it. My 2 cents.

I think you've got the right idea. I've been their myself. Don't get freaked out the first couple of weeks because your body won't instantly say "Oh, I'm not starving anymore. Let's turn up the furnace!" It's been a couple of weeks since your post...how are you doing?

If you are really wanting to get a handle on this, find a personal trainer who can test your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). This will tell you exactly what your body burns, and will give you a great place to start from. Then determine your daily needs w/o exercise. Determine how much you want to lose a week (500/day = 1lb, 1000/day = 2lb, etc), and split the calorie deficit between increased activity & decreased intake.

I will tell you from my experience this year training for IM WI that I could not eat enough food to keep weight on. If you are doing any sort of Tri training, you need to feed the engine But make sure you monitor it...

Good Luck!

you definatly need to have at least 6 meals a day,
and with that not massive sized meals they need to be small meals consisting of carbs protein and vegis/salad and trying to minimise saturated fats (also happy meals are not part of this ;-) )

I had hit a plateau with my weight and couldnt get ride of those stubburn kgs so I trained harder and ate less. All I did was cause my body to catabolic and started burning up all that hard earned muscle(so ended up with less strenght).
Plus come the afternoon all I wanted to do was sleep as I had no energy.
I ended up seeking advice and am now having 7 meals a day plus a smoothie after weights training.
Now I've trimmed down on body fat gotten stronger and have heaps of energy.
Plus I'm eating more than I ever would think was possible.
If you start re-strickting calories, as mentioned in previous posts your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism will slow down, energy levels drop,bonk early and store fat.
With more frequnt smaller meals it encourages your metabolism to speed up so even when you are resting you have a faster metabolism and will still be burning fat/carbs ect..

And as mentioned by Jasmine.
'Remember not to look at the scale too much. While working out, you'll build muscle while losing fat, and although you may feel better, you may not be losing weight (you might actually GAIN because muscle weighs more than fat).

Some people freak out at gaining muscle and not losing weight because they focus on the scales.
But it is an advantage because you have gained that extra muscle and lost body fat your power to weight ratio will increase.
And that can't be a bad thing?!?

Anyway these are just my thoughts and comments

I have the opposite problem (have trouble keeping weight on) and people hate me for it....

first and foremost, badger, Jazzie have great advice and I echo their posts.

Gatsby's referenced articles are a great source as well.

I don't have much to add but only to echo.

As my coach told me, (as I was trying to do the opposite of you, gain weight and look like a brick sh!t house), "eat well and your weight will go where it will go"

I guess what that means for you is:

1. eat small meals often. This will (1) shrink your stomach and (2) increase your metabolism.

2. stay AWAY from alcohol (I always get flamed for this, but alcohol has 0% nutritional value . . . actually it's poison and gets store as fat like nobody's business)

3. stay away from refined sugars and junk food

The moral of the story is the more food you eat with little to no nutritional value (sugars and chips and junk food) the more it'll get "stored." The more food you eat with higher nutritional value (fruits and veggies and stuff) the more your body will use it and the less it'll get "stored."

If you suffer a "starving" sensation as you migrate to smaller, more meals often, it'll only last for a week or so as your stomach shrinks up.

DON'T FORGET TO EACH CARBS AND PROTEIN IMMEDIATELY after working out. You did all that hard work working out and you want to realize the benefit right? Then EAT or DRINK for recovery after each and EVERY workout.

Oh, did I mention that if you want to loose weight that you should STAY AWAY FROM ALCOHOL? Oh, I did mention that? ok, good...just wanted to be clear.

Thanks for asking. I have shifted to 6 small meals a day and I am slowly increasing the calories. I have not seen any direct results, but I think it might take a couple of weeks for things to change. I have also been in contact with a trainer and we are going to start working together.

Gus

working with a trainer is key...huge plus!

I'm such a huge convert now that I'm working with my coach after 6 years of "putting together training schedules" myself through books I read.

Hi Steve,

I have conflicting info on this, and wanted to know your indepth thoughts or facts on this. I suffer from the same as the above, but have been told by the person who did my RMR. I have a high metabolism however my fuel source is 48% sugar (carbs) and 52% fat. Love a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, relaxes the soul.

Your thoughts appreciated.

I would raise your calories simply because at some point your going to hit a wall and have no motivation or energy to train or race. As long as you watch what you eat and your consistent with your training your okay. I wouldn't be so specific as to watch your daily calories. I would look at your calories over several days. That might be a little easier to track and to make adjustments.

Mike

Here is a link to the Harris-Benedict Formula for calculating your daily calorie needs:

http://www.weight-loss-i.com/calorie-needs-harris-benedict.htm

To cut, you should be between a 500 - 1000 calorie per day deficit. Anymore than 1,000 and you will go into starvation mode. The best thing to do is to play around with your calorie intake and find out what works best for you. Everyone's physiological make up is different.

A few other notes. Be sure you get enough Protein and Essential Fatty Acids. Stay away from high GI carbs and saturated or trans fats.

Here is a good link to an article on alcohol calories:

http://www.thefactsaboutfitness.com/research/alcohol.htm

Does anyone know a good site for estimating calories for various foods. For example, I had a turkey sandwich today and the bread is labaled so I know how many calories I ate there, but I have no idea about the turkey.

I like www.fitday.com

www.calorieking.com