Confused about how many calories I should be eating..help?

eugovogue
eugovogue Posts: 75
in Food and Nutrition
I'm in the final stretch of a workplace weight loss challenge and the prize is money (which is GREAT for Christmas season).

I am conflicted, though. In the beginning my game plan was to eat as little as possible (1000-1,200 cals) and work out for 30 mins to an hour everyday. I lost the recommended 1-2lbs a week with this, but was constantly hungry.

Than a more fit and nutritious pal of mine was like "1200 calories a day?! No way. Please eat more to sustain all your exercise"
So I did. I ate more good things like bananas, sweet potatoes, and nuts. Stepped on the scale--nothing. Didn't lose a thing. And worked out at the same or even higher intensity.

Then I did a google search that said eating A LOT of calories helps people to get out their weight loss plateau (revs the metabolism) So I began eating very nutrient dense things like black bean burgers (no bun), chicken, salmon, brown rice, quinoa. I exercised even harder. AND GAINED WEIGHT.

I don't get it. I want to strike a balance between being able to eat to sustain myself (when I wasn't eating a lot, I was so tired and grumpy), but not eating too much so that I don't lose weight.

One caveat: people have notice me getting smaller even though the scale wont budge. They say its because of lean muscle mass. But to win this thing, the number on the scale is the only thing that matters. And I really wanna win!!! I also think I have a lot of muscle (especially in my legs--my calves), and eat to feed them all. But then I also need to lose fat...

I also want to continue losing after this is over--so any advice is welcomed.

Replies

  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,148 Member
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?
  • ZombieGeezUs
    ZombieGeezUs Posts: 476
    If you are doing it the right way, you aren't going to win that competition. My work has an annual weight loss challenge as well and a lot of them gorge themselves for the first weigh-in and then starve themselves until the second.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    How much weight are you trying to lose? It says 10lbs on your ticker. Set your goal to .5lbs a week. Not 1-2.
    How much calories do you burn a day?

    2lbs a week is far to aggressive for little weight to lose. Eat more, weigh everything and get a HRM!

    ETA: weight loss goal.
  • lovemuffin6
    lovemuffin6 Posts: 49
    Did you actually hit a plateau? It sounds like you should be eating a lot more than 1200cals a day, its just not sustainable and you'll be likely to gain all the weight back. But you need to make sure you're eating at a calorie deficit, try using an online tdee calculator then eat -20% of what it says. In terms of helping with hunger it's better to eat a higher volume of things that aren't calorie dense, fiber and protein can also help you feel fuller .
  • Janice231
    Janice231 Posts: 7 Member
    The only thing I can think of is to bump up your protein and fiber. And watch your carbs. Protein and fiber will help to curb the hunger pangs because your body breaks those down slower than carbs.
  • eugovogue
    eugovogue Posts: 75
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.
  • eugovogue
    eugovogue Posts: 75
    How much weight are you trying to lose? It says 10lbs on your ticker. Set your goal to .5lbs a week. Not 1-2.
    How much calories do you burn a day?

    2lbs a week is far to aggressive for little weight to lose. Eat more, weigh everything and get a HRM!

    ETA: weight loss goal.

    10lbs is my short term goal. Then after that 5 to 7 more lbs would be great. So 20ish pounds overall.
    I burn 300-400 calories every workout.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    Do you workout daily?
    And what is your stats? height, current weight......
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.

    If you don't weight/measure your food then how can you be sure you are staying under calorie? You are probably over shooting the estimate by a large margin, which is why you are gaining. But as someone else said, if you are losing it in a true healthy way then you probably won't win.
    10lbs is my short term goal. Then after that 5 to 7 more lbs would be great. So 20ish pounds overall.
    I burn 300-400 calories every workout.

    Goal loss should still only be about .5-1.0 lbs a week for a realistic goal with so little to lose (that is actually not that much to lose).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.

    If you don't weigh and measure you food and servings, etc then how do you know that what you're logging is even remotely accurate. If you're just eyeballing and logging as 1 serving of X then I guarantee you are underestimating your intake. For example, a "serving" of chicken breast is 4 oz...but if you actually eat a whole chicken breast that's generally closer to 8 oz...so if you ate a whole chicken breast and just logged a 4 oz serving then you've eaten about double what you thought you ate.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Did you give your body more than a week to adjust when you raised your calories? When you stepped on the scale you were probably seeing some extra water/glycogen weight from the increased calories. That would have leveled off and gone away after a little while.

    When you increased a second time how many calories were you eating? Did you calculate your BMR and TDEE? Were you eating above or below your TDEE? Eating more to weigh less still requires you to eat below your TDEE. No matter how much you work out, you cannot lose weight if you're taking in more than your body burns. You also would have been seeing more water weight from the increased intake.

    You need to weigh and measure your foods, otherwise you aren't really counting calories. You're also close enough to your goal weight that your loss is going to slow down. This is why those "Biggest Loser" style contests don't work well in the real world. If anyone else in the competition has more weight to lose than you do they're going to be able to lose at a faster rate.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
    :noway:
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.

    If you don't weigh and measure you food and servings, etc then how do you know that what you're logging is even remotely accurate. If you're just eyeballing and logging as 1 serving of X then I guarantee you are underestimating your intake. For example, a "serving" of chicken breast is 4 oz...but if you actually eat a whole chicken breast that's generally closer to 8 oz...so if you ate a whole chicken breast and just logged a 4 oz serving then you've eaten about double what you thought you ate.

    This is so true! Weighing my food was really an eye opener:noway:

    And not in a good way lol
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member

    One caveat: people have notice me getting smaller even though the scale wont budge. They say its because of lean muscle mass. But to win this thing, the number on the scale is the only thing that matters. And I really wanna win!!! I also think I have a lot of muscle (especially in my legs--my calves), and eat to feed them all. But then I also need to lose fat...

    Isn't this more important than winning a competition?. You may have actually lost some fat if you look skinnier. Get a body fat % measurement.
  • eugovogue
    eugovogue Posts: 75
    Do you workout daily?
    And what is your stats? height, current weight......

    I work out 6 out of 7 days a week formally (as in going to the gym), but I'm always moving about (I especially love dancing around but don't count that as a workout).
    I am 5'3 and 152lbs. My ego says that I weigh so much but look smaller because I have more muscle than others in my height and weight class. But I know I can stand to lose at least 10lbs
  • eugovogue
    eugovogue Posts: 75
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.

    If you don't weigh and measure you food and servings, etc then how do you know that what you're logging is even remotely accurate. If you're just eyeballing and logging as 1 serving of X then I guarantee you are underestimating your intake. For example, a "serving" of chicken breast is 4 oz...but if you actually eat a whole chicken breast that's generally closer to 8 oz...so if you ate a whole chicken breast and just logged a 4 oz serving then you've eaten about double what you thought you ate.

    All right. I'm going to look into measuring my foods after this contest ends. Thanks!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.

    If you don't weigh and measure you food and servings, etc then how do you know that what you're logging is even remotely accurate. If you're just eyeballing and logging as 1 serving of X then I guarantee you are underestimating your intake. For example, a "serving" of chicken breast is 4 oz...but if you actually eat a whole chicken breast that's generally closer to 8 oz...so if you ate a whole chicken breast and just logged a 4 oz serving then you've eaten about double what you thought you ate.

    All right. I'm going to look into measuring my foods after this contest ends. Thanks!

    Out of curiosity, why wait? Even if you want to wait before buying a food scale, there's a lot that you can do now to be more accurate than not measuring at all.
  • JoJo__Fit
    JoJo__Fit Posts: 258 Member
    Weigh Your Food
    Count Macros
    Drink 1 gallon of water
    Plyo workouts
  • eugovogue
    eugovogue Posts: 75
    Opening your diary will help. The more info, the better. Do you weigh/measure all the food you eat?

    I don't, no.
    I just count calories.

    If you don't weigh and measure you food and servings, etc then how do you know that what you're logging is even remotely accurate. If you're just eyeballing and logging as 1 serving of X then I guarantee you are underestimating your intake. For example, a "serving" of chicken breast is 4 oz...but if you actually eat a whole chicken breast that's generally closer to 8 oz...so if you ate a whole chicken breast and just logged a 4 oz serving then you've eaten about double what you thought you ate.

    All right. I'm going to look into measuring my foods after this contest ends. Thanks!

    Out of curiosity, why wait? Even if you want to wait before buying a food scale, there's a lot that you can do now to be more accurate than not measuring at all.

    Well I want to wait until next Tuesday for 3 reasons. 1) Xmas shopping. I know food scales aren't expensive, but I have purchasing priorities right now 2) the weight loss challenge ends Friday. I'm going to restrict calories heavily and work out a lot for a chance at the money (yes I know this is not sustainable which is why its only going to happen for 3.5 days) and then 3) we have our office Xmas party next Monday and I want to enjoy myself without having to weigh my food around everyone.

    Given all this, I'd prefer to start fresh next Tues without the pressure of a contest and without the guilt of holiday eating.

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