Please HELP with calorie goals!

beckbeck
beckbeck Posts: 31
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm actually completely confused at this point about how many calories I should be trying to eat. I am doing P90X and walking about 3 miles a day, 6-7 days a week, plus I have four kids and two of them are under 5 so I am moving, moving all the time. I tried starting out at 1200 calories because I wanted to lose 2 lb. a week. I ALWAYS went over that because I was starving and "bonking" with my intense workouts. And I was still losing weight for a while. Then I plateaued, and I knew it must be because I was not eating ENOUGH. I know the P90X book says I should be eating like 2700 calories a day but that seems so insanely high! So...I just have no idea. I've kind of decided to just do my workouts and eat what I feel I need to. I could use some help! :P Anyone have a formula I should go by?

Replies

  • khskr1
    khskr1 Posts: 392
    What is your protein level at? When I started P90X I had to increase my protein to 30% in order to stay full longer and build the muscle mass. Are you eating your exercise calories? You need to take those in also. I would try those two things and see what happens.
  • Amber030583
    Amber030583 Posts: 490 Member
    From what I have read up on P90X (I am thinking of taking the risk and trying it) you really need to follow the plan to a T. Try eating as many calories as you can to get up to the goal. But make those calories healthy ones. Cause like khskr1 said you want to increase your protien so it will help you gain muscle.

    Maybe you want to look at those protein shakes?

    Just an idea.
  • tammyhoff2004
    tammyhoff2004 Posts: 89
    It might be that you need to eat more to lose. I know that my nutritionist told me to eat 2-3 oz of protien and 1/2 piece of fruit twice a day in addition to your regular meals. It was coming up to 1600-1700 calories a day. With you exercising that much, you truly might need something like that. I would grill a package of chicken on Sunday and bag 2 tenders to a snack size baggie and heat one up in the morning at work with the fruit and then again in the afternoon. You have a very strict, disciplined exercise schedule. Keep it up and God bless you!! :smile:
  • miqisha
    miqisha Posts: 1,534 Member
    1200 calories is deffinitely too low....Not only are you doing P90X whick burns alot of calories, but you are also walking 6-7 days a week. I think you need to up your calories to atleast 1600 calories if you feel the P90X calorie requirement is too high for you

    Goodluck
  • SuzanneRogers
    SuzanneRogers Posts: 250 Member
    1200 calories is the amount of calories you need to function each day. You need to add at least 500 to account for your daily workouts. 40% Carb, 30% fat, 30% protein. Fats should be good fats like nuts and olive oil. You are not getting enough calories, you are putting your body in starvation mode by not consuming enough to fuel your workouts.

    Here is a video that helps give you reason why you might plateau.
    http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/SuzanneRogers?bctid=28237124001
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    Exercising a lot like that means you are going to need to eat a good bit.
    What is your calorie total on days you eat whatever it takes not to be starving and have energy for your workouts? Establish that "baseline" then tweak up or down and see how your body responds.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    You probably need at LEAST 2,000 calories per day. As Amber said, just eat as MUCH as you can. If you're constantly hungry, eating more shouldn't be a challenge. If you eat 4 oz. of chicken at dinner, have 8. That's another 130-150 calories or so and another 25g of protein. Also, if you're doing P90X, you should definitely be doing protein shakes afterwards. If I do JUST the Ab Ripper X video and don't have a shake, omg. HELL. Even if I have a big protein dinner. Lately I've been eating dinner (always high in protein and lately with a side of carbs which is supposed to be good after a work out as well because carbs are the first thing we burn) and then I'll drink my protein shake a little later so I know I have ample protein... last night I made my chocolate with PB so it tasted more like a dessert. :happy:

    Check my diary if you want. I'm only on 1400 but I'm set at 30% protein and I've been trying to get as close as I possibly can so hopefully my diary can give you ideas. Hummus and almonds are great for filling up protein... a serving of each is about 4g of protein and then if you add in something whole grain (pita bread or pita chips, possibly), you should get protein there as well. Since I'm at 30%, with exercise, it usually equals to about 130g per day, so I try to get in about 30g per meal and for the whole snack category maybe about 40% (since I put my shake into the snack category).
  • beckbeck
    beckbeck Posts: 31
    Thank you, guys! :)
  • hpygirl64ColleenLinder
    hpygirl64ColleenLinder Posts: 146 Member
    I'm struggling with trying to figure out the optimum amount of calories/ratios to take in vs how much i'm burning, so reading your posts are helpful. I've been keeping my calories to about 1600 with doubles 3 x's a week and wonder if that is too low. I'll try
    playing around with it as well. Thanks girls!
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