WOW

kindrabbit

I've only gone and lost 5lbs in the first week!!!!

I am new to calorie counting and am a little obsessive at the best of times so calorie counting has sparked a new obsession in me

I have tracked and logged religiously. I have also changed my routine, walking the dog before breakfast so I am using fat stores rather than fuel from my last meal. I'm also now not snacking later in the evening (hard as I often finish work at 10 or 11pm). I ran my first 10k in 1hour 3 minutes on Wednesday!! (and 'earned' 600 calories for the pleasure!)

Anyway, my question is - now I have lost a little weight should my daily calorie allowance go down or should it stay at 1440 until I hit my target?

RodaRose

Stay at 1440 for now.

ruggedshutter

Congratulations on your weight loss!

atypicalsmith

Karen_libert wrote: »

I have also changed my routine, walking the dog before breakfast so I am using fat stores rather than fuel from my last meal.

Your last meal doesn't digest for several hours. It doesn't matter when you eat or when you exercise. Calories in, calories out. Think of it as gas in a car which idles all day then uses more gas when you drive it. Doesn't matter when you fill it with gas, how long it idles, or when you drive it; the gas burned is going to be the same amount.

kindrabbit

I think it has more to go with glucose and insulin levels etc. From what I understood (the conversation was more like a biology lesson!) if you exercise when you are in the process of digesting your food your body will take the 'energy' from the food. If you exercise on an empty stomach your body will take the fuel from your fat stores. Of course you still need energy to fuel your muscles so he's not suggesting I work out on an empty stomach but doing low level exercise like walking is fine. I think that is way over simplified but that was the basics of what he was saying.

It actually fits in with my routine more anyway as I can concentrate on getting my daughter out the door and can sit down and eat my breakfast in peace!

atypicalsmith

Hey, as long as it works, keep doing it!!!

JSurita2

Keep doing what you're doing. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

psuLemon

Karen_libert wrote: »

I think it has more to go with glucose and insulin levels etc. From what I understood (the conversation was more like a biology lesson!) if you exercise when you are in the process of digesting your food your body will take the 'energy' from the food. If you exercise on an empty stomach your body will take the fuel from your fat stores. Of course you still need energy to fuel your muscles so he's not suggesting I work out on an empty stomach but doing low level exercise like walking is fine. I think that is way over simplified but that was the basics of what he was saying.

It actually fits in with my routine more anyway as I can concentrate on getting my daughter out the door and can sit down and eat my breakfast in peace!

Your body will constantly fluctuate between fat burning or burning glycogen. If your maintain the same deficit, your loss will be the same. So in reality, there is very little, if any, difference in working out fasted. Personally, my performance is significantly hindered when I work out fasted.

Additionally, the big loss is very common the first week or two. This is because most people tend to eat more nutrient dense foods which are lower in sodium.

amandastock

Awesome!! I'm excited too because everyday I wake up and the scale is showing a lower number. So it's really motivating me to keep it up.

LAWoman72

Keep doing what you're doing and congratulations! Isn't it a great feeling?