Questions about total calories and about Carbs??

emstgm

I joined MFP in November. I have some questions - mainly about total calories, and about low carbs vs balanced diet.

I generally subscribe to the 'Eat Less/Move More' plan - before joining, I did not exercise at all, and ate 2000 to 3000 calories a day. So I've cut out the regular indulging in the junk food and try to exercise 5-6 times a week. I probably jumped in with too much gusto and followed 1200 - 1500 calories a day initially. I lost 20 pounds between early November and Christmas, and then pretty much stalled after New Year's and have barely lost since then. (Fluctuates up and down.) I was disappointed to see the stall, and I have done lots of reading on the board. Based on countless feedback posts to others, I have readjusted my calories to be above my BMR (1708 for me), so I am eating closer to 1700 and 1800 a day. Still waiting for the weight loss to pick up again. Trying to hang in there, but I question if I am on the right track.

Am I eating too much? Am I eating too little? I think I was eating too little, but I see SOOOO many folks eating 1200 calories or less and losing weight, so it's hard not to just be tempted to cut back more.

So a couple of areas I still question:

1. Many on this site say you should never eat less than your BMR. Can someone provide a reference or a link to that, so I can understand it better? It's a hard adjustment to make, when for years, a 1200 calorie diet has been used and has been successful for people.

2. Low carb vs balanced diet: First, are "Paleo", "Primal" and "Low Carb" basically the same thing? I am currently following what I hope is a healthy balanced diet. However, those "Primal' people tell me that it's all about the carbs, it's scientifically proven that reducing carbs is the key. I've also read that it's scientifically proven that a calorie is a calorie, right? So which is correct? Again, can someone point me to a reference or a resource (outside of MFP)?

My diary is open - I welcome any feedback or tips to get this weight loss moving again. Thanks! :flowerforyou:

eksb

One thing that jumps out from your diary is your sodium levels are through the roof! Try to cut back on sodium-filled foods and drink lots of water and see if that helps any.

emstgm

Yikes, I just looked going about 2 weeks back and it has been really high for the past 10 days. Seems like each day I eat something that is loaded with sodium. I did better going about 10 days back, so thanks for pointing that out.

Acg67

1. Many on this site say you should never eat less than your BMR. Can someone provide a reference or a link to that, so I can understand it better? It's a hard adjustment to make, when for years, a 1200 calorie diet has been used and has been successful for people.

You can eat at larger deficit even below your BMR for extended periods of time, the reason why people will say not to, is that the lower amount of daily cals makes it harder to get in adequate nutrition and the longer you run it, the greater the chance of metabolic slowdown but not to the extent of the so called starvation mode people like to throw around

2. Low carb vs balanced diet: First, are "Paleo", "Primal" and "Low Carb" basically the same thing? I am currently following what I hope is a healthy balanced diet. However, those "Primal' people tell me that it's all about the carbs, it's scientifically proven that reducing carbs is the key. I've also read that it's scientifically proven that a calorie is a calorie, right? So which is correct? Again, can someone point me to a reference or a resource (outside of MFP)?

All diets work the same way, a caloric deficit. I've yet to see any studies showing people losing weight while eating in a consistent surplus regardless of how you manipulate your macros.

tross0924

2. Low carb vs balanced diet: First, are "Paleo", "Primal" and "Low Carb" basically the same thing? I am currently following what I hope is a healthy balanced diet. However, those "Primal' people tell me that it's all about the carbs, it's scientifically proven that reducing carbs is the key. I've also read that it's scientifically proven that a calorie is a calorie, right? So which is correct? Again, can someone point me to a reference or a resource (outside of MFP)?

I saw a you tube video once of a Stanford University professor presenting his findings in a study he'd done. (sorry long time ago and there's almost no chance I could find it again, so no external link) For those with out any sort of insulin resistance it didn't matter at all if they ate high carb, low carb, or in between carbs, they all lost about the same amount of weight on about the same calorie deficits. For those that were diabetic, or insulin resistant, the low carb diet work loads better than the higher carb one, and the low carbers lost 2 and 3 times as much as the higher carbers.

Sublog

I joined MFP in November. I have some questions - mainly about total calories, and about low carbs vs balanced diet.

I generally subscribe to the 'Eat Less/Move More' plan - before joining, I did not exercise at all, and ate 2000 to 3000 calories a day. So I've cut out the regular indulging in the junk food and try to exercise 5-6 times a week. I probably jumped in with too much gusto and followed 1200 - 1500 calories a day initially. I lost 20 pounds between early November and Christmas, and then pretty much stalled after New Year's and have barely lost since then. (Fluctuates up and down.) I was disappointed to see the stall, and I have done lots of reading on the board. Based on countless feedback posts to others, I have readjusted my calories to be above my BMR (1708 for me), so I am eating closer to 1700 and 1800 a day. Still waiting for the weight loss to pick up again. Trying to hang in there, but I question if I am on the right track.

Am I eating too much? Am I eating too little? I think I was eating too little, but I see SOOOO many folks eating 1200 calories or less and losing weight, so it's hard not to just be tempted to cut back more.

So a couple of areas I still question:

1. Many on this site say you should never eat less than your BMR. Can someone provide a reference or a link to that, so I can understand it better? It's a hard adjustment to make, when for years, a 1200 calorie diet has been used and has been successful for people.

2. Low carb vs balanced diet: First, are "Paleo", "Primal" and "Low Carb" basically the same thing? I am currently following what I hope is a healthy balanced diet. However, those "Primal' people tell me that it's all about the carbs, it's scientifically proven that reducing carbs is the key. I've also read that it's scientifically proven that a calorie is a calorie, right? So which is correct? Again, can someone point me to a reference or a resource (outside of MFP)?

My diary is open - I welcome any feedback or tips to get this weight loss moving again. Thanks! :flowerforyou:

Never ever heard of any peer reviewed studies that indicated that eating less calories than your BMR permantly damaged your metabolism. I ate under my BMR for 6 months and I had to end up eating more calories as I leaned out because I was losing weight too fast. It never affected my metabolism at all, and I ate under my BMR for at least 6-9 months straight.

The issue is there is a limit to the amount your body can metabolize for energy needs, and it's proportional to your total fat mass. If you try to burn more fat than your body can get from fat cells, it can breakdown muscle tissue to generate energy which is a very bad thing for body composition purposes. Also, nutrient deficiencies are prevalent when eating less than BMR, as well as some weird things with your horomones.

2. Read this on insulin/carbs

http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

And then this:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/is-a-calorie-a-calorie.html

All diets work the same way. Low carb diets offer no metabolic advantage for the healthy.

How sure are you that you're only eating 1700 calories? Do you weigh all foods (solids) down to the grams? Do you ever eat anything that you aren't 100% sure of the ingredients? Do you do any resistance training?

emstgm

How sure are you that you're only eating 1700 calories? Do you weigh all foods (solids) down to the grams? Do you ever eat anything that you aren't 100% sure of the ingredients? Do you do any resistance training?

First, thank you for the references and information - I will check those out. As for calories, I do weigh all of my food to the grams even salad dressing, peanut butter, etc. The exceptions are when I eat out. If it's a chain, I go by their nutrition info. If it's a restaurant that does not post such info, I have to guess. These times are rare though. I go to Chipotle once or twice a week, and if they are being generous with portions, then I may be eating more that I think . But I log everything I eat. There are times that I eat things that I'm not sure of the ingredients, such as a piece of cake at a birthday party - ate a small piece, and then chose something general off the MFP list that seemed to fit. For the most part though, I have labels and info for about 95% of what I eat. I do see huge variations of calories listed in the MFP database.

I have not yet incorporated resistance training yet. I have 3 Jillian DVD's but have not started to use them yet.

emstgm

bump

Sublog

In the end, all of these formulas are predictions based on a bunch of things. They have error of margins.

If you're comfortable thinking you're calculating your intake correctly, you might just have a slower than predicted metabolism. Have you had your thyroid checked to ensure it's operating within normal parameters? Sometimes, eating more is not the answer.

I'd definitely suggest starting to do resistance training. Do you eat back your exercise calories? If you do, may I suggest not to? I've always found the calories they list has being over aggressive.

emstgm

In the end, all of these formulas are predictions based on a bunch of things. They have error of margins.

If you're comfortable thinking you're calculating your intake correctly, you might just have a slower than predicted metabolism. Have you had your thyroid checked to ensure it's operating within normal parameters? Sometimes, eating more is not the answer.

I'd definitely suggest starting to do resistance training. Do you eat back your exercise calories? If you do, may I suggest not to? I've always found the calories they list has being over aggressive.

Little nervous about eating back all of my exercise calories, as I do not have a HRM, but I do go by what my machine says, which is way lower than what MFP says for Elliptical. But even so, for me, eating 1700 calories a day, AND exercising, I should be losing. Something. I have had my thyroid checked in the past and never had an issue.