Calories

This is probably something I should post on a different website, but I can'tfind any other good resources. Last summer I lost about 40-50 lbs and over the holidays I gained a little of it back. I'm noticing that it's harder to lose weight now, even though I'm in better shape. I think this is because the first time I lost weight, I gave no thought to calories, protein, or calcium, and just ate as little as possible. My diet still isn't great, mostly consisting of frozen meals, but now I try to make sure that I get enough protien and calcium during the day in addition to fruits and veggies. But I am constantly counting calories because of trying to lose weight. And I keep worrying about how to maintain my weight after I get back down to where I was. I find myself struggling to find time to exercise more than I normally would, and also trying to eat less. I'm a 19 yr old girl, 5'10", and right now about 155 lbs. I want to be at about 140 lbs. I know my diet needs to be healthier, but other than that, what should I be doing in order to quickly lose back this weight? And how do I maintain it once I'm done? Thanks for the help!

After rereading the post I wrote before (it was kinda ramble-y) I thought I should be more specific. I know my diet is not very good, but I am slowly trying to improve it one thing at a time. After being raised on a fatty diet, I've found it's hard to quit cold turkey, and the times I've tried I only ended up eventually eating lots of the things I was trying to quit, so I try to eat more strictly during the week and indulge myself a little on the weekends. I'm definitely in better shape than I ever have been, but I still want to lose this weight that I've gained back, if only so I can feel better about the way I look.

I know it would be easier to lose weight if my diet was completely healthy, but I think it could take a while to get there, and I did lose all that weight before, on pretty much the same diet I'm using now (and I exercise more now). But when I lost weight the first time, I was losing like a pound every day. I might have been unintentionally starving myself then, but I'm also on a medicine now with a side-effect of weight gain, which could be making my weight loss goal harder.

What I said before, about trying to find time to workout, was stupid. I know I have time to work out. I usually do strength workouts in the mornings on mon, wed, fri, and I'm trying to do SAQ workouts on tues/thurs. I want to keep these up, definitely. And most of the time I get to spar or do bag work at night after work, which is also good. What I worry about with "extra workouts" (like doing 300 ab exercise reps or 1000 jumpropes or whatever else I might try to add on) is that I wouldn't be inclined to keep them up after I'd reached my weight loss goal. The only way I can think of to maintain weight is to add more calories, so if I added on calories AND stopped adding on extra workouts, wouldn't I just gain back the weight?

And another couple of things: is there any way at all to ensure that I would lose weight from one area of my body only? And counting calories. I hate counting calories. Is counting calories a nessecary evil? Counting calories is a big part of what keeps me frustrated/nervous about losing/maintaining weight. I want to be able to go out to eat with friends every once in a while, on the spur of the moment, without having to worry about calories. How will I be able to lose/maintain weight without always counting calories? I'm mostly thinking long-term here. Will I always have to count calories in order to keep from gaining weight? And how, exactly, do you maintain your weight once you've reached your goal?

So anyway, that's about it. Sorry the post is so long, and also sorry if I sound too shallow/whiny. I'm really not trying to whine, just to figure out how to lose/maintain weight without giving up all the foods I like entirely. Are there any people in this forum with similar concerns/experiences? Thanks for all the help, btw. I've found this is a really helpful place for workout/fitness related question. Sorry again about the long post.

Bdk1786 said:

Make sure to drink a lot of water. A gallon a day at least.

Ridiculous. That's 128 ounces of water per day. Totally ridiculous. How much water you need to drink depends on the water content of your food and I'm 99.9% sure that Erin doesn't need to drink anywhere near that amount. Please back up your claim with peer reviewed references.

If you insist on counting calories, try to stay above 1300, anything below that is starting to put the body in starvation.

This is a myth.

Erin, calorie counting is just one strategy to help lose weight. If it's causing you stress then you should probably find a different one.

For example, improving food quality often leads to a reduction in calories without having to count. There's also portion control.

In order to maintain weight you need to be in caloric balance. So, it all depends on how many calories you add back into your diet and how many less calories you burn by doing less exercise. The less physical activity you do the less calories you can afford to eat.

Now I'm sure slizzardman will come and tell me that everything I just said is totally false because of molecular carbohydrate micellular fat pH in the electron transport chain cannot adequately disperse of hydrogen ions for ATP synthesis and proteolysis of wizzilgoggles in the endothelium. :wink:

@ Erin,

I think RatioFitness has hit the nail on the head with his response; its energy deficit/balance (depending on your goal) which is the single most important factor. There will be a number of ways to approach this. The best one for you should be the one you can stick to long term

I will note that I believe there are some advantages to gaining some experience tracking energy intake at least for a while. 1) It can give you some feedback on what works for you, much like keeping a training journal and 2) it can give you some insights into food which you will be able to use forever after, even when you’re not tracking calories specifically. However, if it really is too annoying, don’t worry too much.

One last thing, while counting calories, there’s no reason you can’t go out on the “spur of the moment†and enjoy a meal with friends – one meal unaccounted for does not automatically ruin all your work. The important thing is just to enjoy the meal but not let it turn into an over indulgence just because you didn’t stick to your plan 100%. That kind of all or nothing thinking isn’t helpful!

(I really should acknowledge too that these ideas are largely stolen from people such as Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon – if you are keen to learn more I would highly recommend looking Googling them)

is there any way at all to ensure that I would lose weight from one area of my body only?

In general, no; not without a knife and surgery. You can probably google and find notes on some of the Charles Poliquin Body Composition seminar. It tends to use a bit of supplements and herbs though (so keep in mind of that with cost).

I did the frozen meal thing when I was a young'n. The excess sodium in canned and frozen meals probably doesn't help with water retention.

Learn how to do an "Eyeball Zone diet." Basically learning how to size up and guesstimate within a reasonable margin of error in the Zone block format which also gives an estimate of caloric intake.

That medication doesn't sound like it's gonna help though.

If you're short on time, looking into doing BW circuits sort of like HIT/circuit conditioning.

Modified tabata works well for this. 4 or 5 exercises 20on/10off then rotate. 3-5 rounds. 6-10 minutes total time.

Thanks guys! I'm feeling less stressed now. I'm gonna try that HIIT thing.

Bdk1786 said:

How is drinking a gallon a day ridiculous? That's easy to do. ~3.8L. If you have a sigg bottle that is 1l, that's only 4 bottles for one day which is too easy to do. You want peer reviewed articles on something as simple as drinking water? That's ridiculous if you ask me. Dropping below that many calories for women, around 1200 I think it is, will make the body conserve calories and fat and lower the metabolism. Hence not burning calories as quickly. This is all off the top of my head and I'm sure other will chime in.

It is ridiculous in that it is extremely stupid. Ask any biology professor. I sure have. The first human body class I took in college spent weeks debunking modern myths. The 8 glasses a day myth came from a study in the early 1900's which suggested that people need around 6 - 8 glasses a day of water. What people ignored in the study was that, like RatioFitness said, is that water content in food makes up a very large portion of that. Most people need no more than 4 glasses of water a day. It is ridiculous to think that the human body would be so inefficient after billions of years of evolution that it would need a gallon of water. If anything (my opinion here) drinking that much will probably just increase weight as a result of water retention. I'll try to find a recent study from a few years back that showed negative side effects to that much water. Usually, you can judge your piss colour and frequency to judge your water intake.

The excess sodium thing is also a myth. You would need a lot of sodium (more than a few frozen meals provide) to go overboard. There's a reason certain things like sodium and potassium and sugar are so abundant in foods. Excess sodium has little to do with "5+ lbs of weight". Without going too much into it, about 30 - 50% of your daily energy intake is used towards things in cells called sodium-potassium pumps that basically are used by cells to get nutrients. Unless you suffer from disease or high blood pressure, excess salt doesn't harm you and it certainly isn't a fat retention problem. We certainly need excess if we're exercising to lose weight considering how much salt you lose from sweat. It always depends on activity level. A guy watching TV all day wouldn't need much as someone trying to lose fat.

I won't even bother with the calories - starvation thing. RatioFitness did justice.

Don't worry too much about losing weight quickly; our consumerist culture tends to obsess about getting everything we want fast and easy, and phrases like "Lose 10 lbs in 1 week!" are the gimmicks for most diets and exercise fads out there, but maintaining a healthy body weight and diet is a pursuit for one's entire life. A single lb of fat is 3,500 calories, so if you want to lose 15 lbs that's 52,500 calories. The only way to go about that is by consuming less calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight each day, thereby forcing your body to use fat for fuel. The basal metabolic rate of a girl your age and height is around 1,600 calories, so if you factored in exercise and went on a standard 1,200 calorie diet you could lose 15 lbs no problem in three months or so. Counting calories is certainly the best way to be precise about the amount you're consuming, but if that's too much of a hassle just watch your portion size and replace all the frozen meals/junk food with vegetables and healthy meals and you should naturally be lowering your caloric intake.

As for maintaining the new weight naturally, the best way is to really get a feel for your body's hunger response system. Our bodies naturally try to be in equilibrium, but through our food culture of junk food, overeating, and massive portions a lot of us have become deaf to our own body's needs. Once you're really in tune with your body's hunger signals you know exactly when you're getting enough calories to be at equilibrium, are undereating, or are overeating. One good way to retrain yourself to listen to your body is to use a hunger/satiation chart, where you rank your level of hunger and level of satiety on a scale of 1-10 for meals. A 5, or "content" is what you should always aim for. Not starving, not full, and not stuffed, but content.

Hey, one more quesion. Should you consume less calories on rest days since you're not working out? Or are you supposed to find the right amount of calories for your weight and stick to it all the time? Thanks! You guys have been very helpful.