Calories?

[millalyte86]

Anyone else "afraid" of calories? lol I know it sounds silly, but I am 5'7 and weigh about 150-155 lbs and am 22 y/o. I'm not too worried about losing WEIGHT. I am more focused on FAT. I am having trouble gettin all my calories in. I have been shooting for at least 1500 cals a day, but am scarred to ever plan my diet with that many in it. Mainly because I am afraid I'll snack and end up eating WAY too many. Does anyone else have this problem? I just feel like I either eat too little or over-eat. I never am really where I should be. When I over-eat it IS on clean foods though. Which, I guess, is better then eating a lot of crap lol. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Lauren

 

[Afreet]

So, I used to freak out about calories, carbs, fat, whatever. If it could be measured, I measured it and freaked out about it. It took a LONG time for me to let go of it and really learn about nutrition, and make a real effort to eat to support my workouts, and let go of all those numbers.

Do you also exercise? 'Cause 1500 sounds low for you, and then if you're exercising on top of that, you're defeating yourself: by undernourishing yourself, you could be slowing down your metabolism. Then, when you DO eat enough/more than usual, it all gets stored as fat...your body is trying to build up stores to avoid starving when you eat under 1500.

I don't really know enough about your particular situation to offer much in the way of advice. But I sympathize, totally.

 

[Fit_mommy]

ITA with the post above. You are most definately not eating enough. Go here to find out how many cals you need to maintain your weight depending upon your activity level. http://www.annecollins.com/calories/calorie-needs-women.htm

Once you've figured that out then figure you should never cut your cals by more then 500 below that.

I know it can be a hard "pill" to swallow but seriously, our bodies need the feul for our work outs and if it doesn't get it, it will do whatever it has to in order to make sure it's not starving!

 

[RapidBreath]

try focusing on

What you do want in your body, good fats, protein and plenty of healthy vegetables. And eat as often as your body wants to. If you want to count the calories, go ahead. I do. I start by looking in the fridge the night before to see what is available. I make a short list of foods that are pre-cooked/easy. Then based on getting enough protein at each meal I count back wards (if you will) say you want 1500 calories. Just to give you an idea how I go through the thought process (do forgive me if this seems like a "duh of course" kind of thing.)

You have pre cooked chicken, you have maybe a protein powder and yogurt, frozen fruit to go in that, pb, what else???mmm...uhhh... hard boiled egg, cream cheese, so I just add it up. Non-starchy vegetables are a free bee for me. I try to get at least three through out a day. Not counting the frozen fruit in my smoothy. It all works out.

 

[cakebaker]

ITA with the post above. You are most definately not eating enough. Go here to find out how many cals you need to maintain your weight depending upon your activity level. http://www.annecollins.com/calories/calorie-needs-women.htm

Once you've figured that out then figure you should never cut your cals by more then 500 below that.

I know it can be a hard "pill" to swallow but seriously, our bodies need the feul for our work outs and if it doesn't get it, it will do whatever it has to in order to make sure it's not starving!

That Anne Collins calorie calculator is very accurate - it got my calorie needs right on. I'm a believer in keeping track of what you eat somehow, whether it be by calories or points to keep your weight in check. My weight has remained steady for 4 years now using calorie tracking & exercise.

 

[JUSTCRAZY]

I just went to this site and it says I need 2200 calories and i'm with you it just seems scary. I guess we need reprogram are brains that eating is not bad.

 

[millalyte86]

So, I used to freak out about calories, carbs, fat, whatever. If it could be measured, I measured it and freaked out about it. It took a LONG time for me to let go of it and really learn about nutrition, and make a real effort to eat to support my workouts, and let go of all those numbers.

Do you also exercise? 'Cause 1500 sounds low for you, and then if you're exercising on top of that, you're defeating yourself: by undernourishing yourself, you could be slowing down your metabolism. Then, when you DO eat enough/more than usual, it all gets stored as fat...your body is trying to build up stores to avoid starving when you eat under 1500.

I don't really know enough about your particular situation to offer much in the way of advice. But I sympathize, totally.

Yes, I exercise 5-6 days a week. for about an hour a day and I'm a hair stylist and a server/ bartender so I am on my feet most of the day. I'm gonna go to that ann collins website and see how many calories I should be eating. Thanks for the suggestion. I do need to focus more on the nutrients then calories.

 

[millalyte86]

ITA with the post above. You are most definately not eating enough. Go here to find out how many cals you need to maintain your weight depending upon your activity level. http://www.annecollins.com/calories/calorie-needs-women.htm

Once you've figured that out then figure you should never cut your cals by more then 500 below that.

I know it can be a hard "pill" to swallow but seriously, our bodies need the feul for our work outs and if it doesn't get it, it will do whatever it has to in order to make sure it's not starving!

Thanks for the website suggestion! I just did it and it said to maintain my current weight (153ish lbs.) I need 2098 calories a day! AND I said I only did light exercise which is prob an understatement since I exercise hard for an hour a day 6 days a week and am on my feet most of the day! Thats alot!

I really wanna lose fat and NOT muscle. I'm actually workin on building some muscle. Does anyone know how I should consume my calories? Like best type of food for this goal and how many I should cut?

 

[Fit_mommy]

Thanks for the website suggestion! I just did it and it said to maintain my current weight (153ish lbs.) I need 2098 calories a day! AND I said I only did light exercise which is prob an understatement since I exercise hard for an hour a day 6 days a week and am on my feet most of the day! Thats alot!

I really wanna lose fat and NOT muscle. I'm actually workin on building some muscle. Does anyone know how I should consume my calories? Like best type of food for this goal and how many I should cut?

Hello again. You can't BUILD muscle on a calorie deficit. If you want to build you need to eat your maintenence cals or possibly more-I'm not positive on that one. You may also want to reduce the amount of cardio you do. You will gain weight as you build but after that you can go into cutting phase where you would eat at a calorie deficit in an effort to cut the fat while maintaining the muscle. You should also up your cardio again although you may not need a lot. I had fabulous results with fat loss only doing 2-3 days of cardio per week versus the 5-6 days I used to do. Protein intake is key for BOTH stages IMO.

HTH!

 

[millalyte86]

Hello again. You can't BUILD muscle on a calorie deficit. If you want to build you need to eat your maintenence cals or possibly more-I'm not positive on that one. You may also want to reduce the amount of cardio you do. You will gain weight as you build but after that you can go into cutting phase where you would eat at a calorie deficit in an effort to cut the fat while maintaining the muscle. You should also up your cardio again although you may not need a lot. I had fabulous results with fat loss only doing 2-3 days of cardio per week versus the 5-6 days I used to do. Protein intake is key for BOTH stages IMO.

HTH!

Thanks Wendy! I wish I could do both (gain muscle and lose fat) at the same time..

 

[Fit_mommy]

Thanks Wendy! I wish I could do both (gain muscle and lose fat) at the same time..

That WOULD be awesome wouldn't it?

You can gain strength and lose fat at the same time though and that's cool! It makes ya FEEL like you gained muscle even though you didn't.

 

[TeTe]

Yep, calories can be a bitch.