Hello, and some help understanding everything! :)

missmeags

Hey everyone My name is Meags and Im new here. Been doing the food and excercise diary for a week now and finding it abit confusing and wondering if some of you guys could offer some advice..!

Im finding it hard to reach my calorie goals. Some days I consume 900 and other days its up to around 1300 - 1400. Im excercising 6 days a week for roughly 30 - 45 mins each session. Once I put this in my diary it tells me that I have extra calories to consume..
My calorie goal per day is 1700 but when I do excercise it gives me more and im struggling to eat more as I think that less food = better results.
So am I putting my body into "starvation mode" by doing this?
I am eating a mostly sensible diet and feel quite good.. My typical day is eggs on toast and a small yoghurt pot for breaky, fruit for morning tea, salad roll or similar for lunch, dry biscuits/nuts/fruit for arvo tea and vegies/chicken or similar or a weight watchers meal for dinner. I drink plenty of water, also drink tea and coffee...
Im just not sure what to do.
Any help or advice greatly appreciated!!

SimonLondon

Exercise calories are a nightmare to work out for sure. On here it could say 600 calories burnt but my Heart rate monitor might say 300.

You should eat at least some of the calories and if you can afford it get a heart rate monitor (the one with a chest strap!) as I'm guessing it is probably more accurate.

If you don't eat enough your body will go into starvation mode which is not a good thing and will stop the weight loss!

dore0021

Check out other people's diaries for some new food idea's that may help boost your total calorie intake. It is important to eat at least 1200.
Also, eat more calories/carbs in the morning, eating less as the day goes on to help avoid that guilty feeling you have of eating too much equaling less results.

This site is pretty good at explaining how your body deals with carbs.
http://www.projectswole.com/diet/how-many-carbs-should-i-eat-in-a-day/

Good luck! You're doing wonderful!

summersmi

What Simon Says is right on. I wish I could afford a HRM but am forced to do it the old fashioned way (finger on pulse for 15 seconds....) anyway as I've lost weight and exercised I've noticed a difference in HR and calories burned.

bjberry

That heart rate thingee sounds interesting!
Meanwhile, back to the subject! Lots of liquids, keep the Saturated Fats fairly low. Here's a web site that gives an example day at 1200 calories. Take some of the food from your meal areas to ut in the snack areas. The notes on the side are very helpful:
http://www.stronghealth.com/services/primarycare/toolkitfiles/1200.cfm.

I limit my Saturated fats to 8g/day and my Fats to 27g/day. I eat lots of fruit and veggies and lo-cal, good carbs (whole wheat, rice, oatmeal, etc.), and skinless chicken, fish, non-deli meats (and an egg a couple of times a week). Grill, bake, boil, microwave the foods. I try to eat all my 1200 calories--and you are right, it is difficult to do, some days. And a few times a month, I go over my calories on purpose. This keeps the body confused and it stays out of starvation mode. As long as I continue to lose about a pound a week, I am happy. Oh, and my almost 6yo grandson is my 'exerciser.' We play Tag and other fast-paced games outside after school.

missmeags

Thankyou for the replies! Ok so im starting to understand it all... I read a couple of other threads on here which kinda explained it all to me.
So im going to be trying to reach my goals now that I have a better understanding. Thanks again