How many calories and how much protein do I really need?

mgraciellem
mgraciellem Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I'm a 28 yo Female 5'2. I currently weigh 151, but fluctuate between 147 and 151. I wanted to lose weight and reach my goal of 130 lbs, but now I really just want to shed fat and gain muscle. Or as some say get ripped. I workout 5 days a week, 15 min cardio and a minimum of 45 min weightlifting. I drink a whey protein shake after my workouts as well. I eat a green smoothie for breakfast, lean meat and veggies for lunch and dinner. I drink 74 ounces of water daily and no soda or juice. My calorie intake ranges from 1400-1800 depending on how intense my workouts are. I use a polar ft60 during workouts and try to follow the weight loss program ranges to assure I'm not over doing my workouts or not working out hard enough. I normally burn a minimum of 500 calories per workout, normally around 700. So, I said all of that to say, what am I doing wrong?!! Why am I not seeing results? Do I need to eat more calories? So confused! Any help is welcomed!!!!

Replies

  • mgraciellem
    mgraciellem Posts: 13 Member
    Bump
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
    I have no idea how realistic your goal weight is, so I'll just assume it's fine. That said, in my humble experience, when I'm not seeing results over time, it's probably:

    1) I'm not being completely accurate about my logging. This could mean I'm not measuring, it could mean I'm just plain wrong, or it could mean I'm having adherence issues.
    and/or
    2) My burn isn't what I think it is.

    If your polar device is an hrm, it's probably not logging your weightlifting accurately, and it sounds like you're doing more of that than you are cardio? Of course, you're probably not going to burn much weight lifting by comparison anyway.

    Assuming your intake is reasonable (not sure about someone with your stats, etc), try decreasing your intake by 100 calories for a month and see if there's a result.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    If you want to still lose weight you need a deficet...you can lift weights and eat enough protien to maintain your muscle mass.

    Eat at a deficet to lose 1/2lb a week.

    If you aren't losing check your logging...do you weigh your food? log accurately (correct entries that don't have generic or homemade or an asterick in the name).
  • mgraciellem
    mgraciellem Posts: 13 Member
    I do measure and weigh my food. I'm not sure what you mean by my hrm not logging my weightlifting accurately. I do cardio for 15 min and then lift weights. Today I burned 747 calories according to that, ate 1400 calories so I would have a 747 deficit according to MfP. But I'm really not sure if 1400 cal is an accurate goal? How many calories should I be consuming? Thanks for your replies :)
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
    I do measure and weigh my food. I'm not sure what you mean by my hrm not logging my weightlifting accurately. I do cardio for 15 min and then lift weights. Today I burned 747 calories according to that, ate 1400 calories so I would have a 747 deficit according to MfP. But I'm really not sure if 1400 cal is an accurate goal? How many calories should I be consuming? Thanks for your replies :)

    I mean that HRM's can help with determining burn from stead-state cardio, but they're not suited to measure burn from lifting. I don't know what else you did that day, but I'd bet money that you didn't burn much of that 700+ calories in that hour of exercise.

    If I were doing my lifting routine (full body that takes about an hour) and added 15 minutes of moderate cardio, I would probably log it at around 220-250 calories for the exercise itself. For perspective, I'm male, in my mid 30s, 5'9" and weigh 203 lbs.
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    I'm not sure what you mean by my hrm not logging my weightlifting accurately.

    HRMs are really only useful for steady-state cardio. For weightlifting, you're better off using an equation, but even then, the burn (your muscles repairing themselves) can happen over a 24-48 period. For this reason, I've noticed that a lot of weightlifters choose the TDEE-XX% method instead.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Considering you are not that "big", I doubt you can burn as much as you think you are burning. For weight lifting as main exercise and 151 pounds, I would expect you are burning half that number, possibly even less.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    www.fitnessfrog.com
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    You really aren't burning that much through weighlifting. If you're eating back workout calories from your estimates you're eating too much to lose weight.
  • mgraciellem
    mgraciellem Posts: 13 Member
    Okay so I just chatted with a Polar Heart Rate Monitor Rep. She said that if the product was different like one for a bicycle or GPS than it would not be accurate. But because the FT60 HRM I use calculates calories based on Age, Weight, Height, and heart rate it is very accurate regardless of what type of workout I am doing. I explained to her that I keep my heart rate up in zone 1 or 2 during my weightlifting and monitor to make sure it does not drop below a zone. She said that yes I am burning that many calories while lifting weights. :)

    Also, I do not eat back my calories. Thanks for the input guys!

Categories