Curious over calories..
griffen01
Posts: 3
Hi guys and girls please help me out here as I'm new to Paleo. Fitness pal says I should eat 1300 cals to lose weight a day but I always though on Paleo you should ignore numbers ... I have been consuming about 2000 cal per day recently on paleo. Im 163cm tall, 63kg, 33 year old female. Its really easy for the calories to creep up with a small handful of almonds etc..
And.. does this mean when I exercise I eat 1300, plus the calories I burn from exercise too e.g add another 200 cal on if I go for an hr walk?
And.. does this mean when I exercise I eat 1300, plus the calories I burn from exercise too e.g add another 200 cal on if I go for an hr walk?
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If you're trying to lose weight, then you have to take calories into consideration. When I started Paleo 4 months ago, I thought the same thing, I maintained my weight because I was eating too many calories for the amount of exercise I am doing. Using MFP helps to track your calories and amount of exercise- it's helped me finally start to drop some pounds for the first time. Once you start logging in your daily food & exercise , it will show you how much extra calories you've earned just for the exercise you've done. I'm on 1200 calories a day but with a 60 min. workout I usually get an extra 250 calories.0
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Welcome both of you, first thing I would say is MFP is not going to lead you straight about Calories and such, it is okay to track calories if you feel the need but the true Paleo lifestyle doesn't require tracking or encourage it, that said I tracked for the last 6+ months except when I was doing a Whole30 then after that tried to do it for awhile and just stopped a week or so ago. The point of Paleo/Primal is to listen to your body, this takes some getting used to but it is doable, but do track until you are tuned in. I am at my goal weight (actually shot past it) and have gone through the food sensitivity process and seem to be functioning fine.
I would recommend reading one of the many books on this and invest some time on the many websites to help tune this lifestyle in to what works best for you. I recently read The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor which has also helped me immensely, it is a short book but really focus's on how we process food internally and as the title suggests there are a ton of myths about this which we all bought into.0 -
I came into a paleo way of eating after years of conting calories. What I noticed was I can eat more paleo calories and still lose weight, but that if I eat too many I will maintain and not lose any more weight. Before I was eating 1200-1600 and exercising 6 times a week; I was lucky to lose 1 pound a month. After I started paleo I was eating 1800-2000 claories and maintained my same exercise schedule and I lost 10 pounds the first month. What really mattered for me was where my carbs were coming from and eating good whole, unprocessed foods. My carb intake remained about the same at 120 grams or so per day, so it wasn't that I went lower carb eating paleo.
I can definitely eat a lot more than MFP "allows" and still lose weight. And I highly encgourage you to "eat back" any exercise calories.0 -
Hi there- Clutchbone thanks for the welcome, & thanks Brakeman for adding me. I haven't been eating "clean" for very long- only about 4 months, so I guess my body is adjusting to the big changes. I was a big carb eater & had a sweethtooth as well so really it's been a big change from all that. I didn't lose any weight when I began the Paleo lifestyle.Was stuck at the same weight(140 for 3 months) Desperate to get the scale to budge, I did a 2 week Dr. Oz quick weight loss plan- which helped me to lose a couple of pounds. I have the book by Robb Wolfe-Paleo Solution and also read on Marks Daily Apple sometimes but its groups like this that helps to understand from all perspectives about different issues of Paleo in our daily life. I think as far as losing weight, it helps me to really look at what I'm eating in terms of calories,carbs,fats, etc and see it , & the exercise really makes a difference. I like the fact that logging the food keeps me on track. Just in the last week because of this tracking, I've lost 2 pounds. I appreciate any input/suggestions from all.
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According to the Primal Blueprint of Mark's Daily Apple, we're not supposed to worry about calories or macros as long as we are eating fresh whole foods in amounts that satisfy us. I don't know... I'm so used to worrying about calories and macros that I find it hard to not feel guilty about not tracking.0
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Ok, my favourite topic at the moment. Calories.
Stop counting them. Instead focus on WHAT you eat only (keeping in mind that many of us need to keep carbs, especially from starch and sugar, minimized).
I've been here almost 2 years and I made the mistake of following MFP calorie recommendations in the beginning. They had me eating 1600 calories at 220 pounds. When I got under 200, their recommendations soon were getting down to almost 1200. Under eating in the beginning, combined with initial rapid weight loss (a lot was probably muscle!), has lead to where I am for the past 7 months: completely stuck. I am NOT losing weight even though I am supposedly in a calorie deficit. Minor trespasses lead to substantial fat gain very rapidly (my body wants to store fat because it thinks there's a food shortage). I maintained the calorie deficit but let my food choices get less focused on healthy food (too many treats and high starch/high sugar days) and didn't push enough to build/maintain muscle.
Our ancestors were not obese and they NEVER counted calories. However, all of their food was supplied by nature and they ate whatever was available and in whatever quantities were available (some Inuit were known to eat 10 pounds of animal fat at a sitting!- extreme example and food supply was very inconsistent, but makes my point). Sometimes there was abundance sometimes there was starvation but the human metabolism can weather it all without us messing up the system! The secret is the FOOD and lifestyle. When we eat healthy food only our body will heal. For some people the healing will be quick, but for others (like me) it is going to take years and years. A healthy body WILL eventually shed the excess fat. PATIENCE, and if the scale is an obsession and gets you down, get rid of it. It's a crappy measure of short term success and health improvements.
I'm only just waking up to the absolute futility of calorie restriction. Food quality matters first and foremost. We absolutely can trust our body to manage our metabolism if we feed it right and improve other lifestyle factors (activity, strength building, sleep, etc) and commit permanently. PATIENCE and COMMITMENT.0 -
One hundred years ago people had no concept of calories, much less counting them! We survived millions of years without counting calories. Agree with the rest of the group: stop counting calories! Focus on your food as source of nutrition and fuel for your body - eat whole foods, avoid processed, prepackaged foods.0
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I'm so used to worrying about calories and macros that I find it hard to not feel guilty about not tracking.
OK, I'm over it. :laugh:0 -
Well I think you're right about not worrying so much about the calories and instead focus on eating a clean diet, it's just hard for me to be patient about weight loss, I feel like I want it to happen much more quickly :ohwell:0
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Wow good posts, and even though I am not counting or weighing or recording my exercise anymore I am still active and welcome anyone who wants one more friend for support.0
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Cor blimey real helpful thanks everyone! I think the great thing that I will gain from this site is all the support avaliable and also the fact that recording what I eat ensures I am mindful of what I put in my mouth. Last night I nearly did my usual after dinner binge of 1/2 of a litre tub of unsweetened yoghurt snack and a couple of apples but because I had to record them in fitpal I stopped after I had gobbled a handful of ham only - that's a milestone!!! I will follow the calorie guide for a month to see what happens... at the moment with exercise Im getting about 1800 cals a day which is actually quite a lot if I eat clean!0
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Cor blimey real helpful thanks everyone! I think the great thing that I will gain from this site is all the support avaliable and also the fact that recording what I eat ensures I am mindful of what I put in my mouth. Last night I nearly did my usual after dinner binge of 1/2 of a litre tub of unsweetened yoghurt snack and a couple of apples but because I had to record them in fitpal I stopped after I had gobbled a handful of ham only - that's a milestone!!! I will follow the calorie guide for a month to see what happens... at the moment with exercise Im getting about 1800 cals a day which is actually quite a lot if I eat clean!
It is a process we all can get through, we are here to help each other, Lord knows I needed help when I got here and am just stepping out from my old routines after 6 months.0 -
It's a good thing to make the distinction between the paleo/primal eating philosophy and science, and the weight loss or "dieting." I ate paleo for more than two years for health reasons before coming to MFP to lose weight. While I was adjusting to paleo, I lost 40 pounds, but I wasn't trying to - I was just trying to eat without misery and pain and recover some health.
Well after paleo had become a natural part of my life and I had stopped losing weight from the adjustment, I decided to use MFP to manage calories, exercise, and macronutrients so that I could continue to lose the weight that I need to lose. I've never tried to do that before, but it's working. MFP isn't totally accurate, so it's a ballpark, but it makes me conscious of what I'm doing, which is the important part.
I'm not at the point yet where I can abandon the tracking, though once I reach my goal weight I'm optimistic about just eating paleo-naturally.
If you're starting both paleo/primal AND weight loss, you want to acknowledge that you're making TWO different, and difficult, changes. You need time to adjust and get into the rhythm of a new lifestyle.0 -
Here is a challenge anyone can take while at the grocery store. go to the canned food isle and pick up a high quality can of beans and a generic can of the same type we'll say pinto. read the labels you will notice a large difference in the nutrient's values, this is because of how it is being handled and how long before it is processed and possibly the quality of the soil. This is also why data bases like MFP are highly unreliable, but the ballpark analogy is correct and useful for tracking if you need it, just do not put much faith in it. I used it until I was ready to walk away from it and I would never judge anyone for using it as long as they need it.0
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It's a good thing to make the distinction between the paleo/primal eating philosophy and science, and the weight loss or "dieting." I ate paleo for more than two years for health reasons before coming to MFP to lose weight. While I was adjusting to paleo, I lost 40 pounds, but I wasn't trying to - I was just trying to eat without misery and pain and recover some health.
Well after paleo had become a natural part of my life and I had stopped losing weight from the adjustment, I decided to use MFP to manage calories, exercise, and macronutrients so that I could continue to lose the weight that I need to lose. I've never tried to do that before, but it's working. MFP isn't totally accurate, so it's a ballpark, but it makes me conscious of what I'm doing, which is the important part.
I'm not at the point yet where I can abandon the tracking, though once I reach my goal weight I'm optimistic about just eating paleo-naturally.
If you're starting both paleo/primal AND weight loss, you want to acknowledge that you're making TWO different, and difficult, changes. You need time to adjust and get into the rhythm of a new lifestyle.
I don't agree (after a lifetime of battling obesity and health problems) that health (Primal/Paleo) and weight loss are separate issues. A fat body is a sick body. Primal/Paleo improves health issues completely. However, the length of time that it takes and the level of commitment required (some people do ok with frequent "cheats", others not so much) varies greatly from person to person. You lost 40 pounds without trying but I think you would lose the rest (albeit maybe incredibly slowly) by continuing to focus on food quality, not quantity, and making lifestyle choices that would improve metabolism.
I'm not about to say that tracking doesn't have it's place- I've been doing it for 2 years, but even in a supposed calorie deficit (but with less commitment to being strict with my food, too many treats and cheats) I've stopped losing weight, and actually GAINED fat, in the last seven months. The calories from food are not all created equal and the way our body burns calories has little to do with total calories consumed. However WHAT we eat determines how our body metabolizes the energy, how much fat it stores or burns, etc. Also, muscle. No doubt much of my rapid weight loss was loss of muscle which is great news if one is only going by the scale but BAD news if one really wants to be healthy and rid excess body fat.
Counting calories, in the end, has proven futile and has done me more damage than good because now I'm faced with "how do I heal my metabolism?"; a metabolism that was already incredibly disordered at the start. I've actually done more damage by losing weight by restricting calories than just focusing on food QUALITY. So here I am, looking good and feeling good but my body feels driven to store more fat; if I keep focusing on calorie counting I am going to lose the battle over the long term. I want life-long ideal health, not short term success dictated by the correct number showing on the scale.0 -
Well I believe everyones body/metabolism is different and what works for one may not work for another, genetics plays an important part also, I know from my experience and family history how my body functions. Since going on a Paleo lifestyle, I feel as if I may be able to change my predisposition to all the diseases that "run in our family" - includes diabetes, high cholestrol, hypertension, heart disease. It will be interesting to have my bloodwork, tests run after I've been Paleo for awhile to compare the before & after. For myself, personally, I've always had this goal of being a specific weight, but now, more importantly it should be focused on being healthy as well as ideal weight/BMI, and for the long term. ClutchBone- I thought canned beans are not Paleo friendly. 0
