Newbie - Need help with calories/macros

stefanie18810 · February 2016

Hi,

I'm new at this posting thing... experienced at dieting and un-dieting. Lol.

Warning - I like (need) to analyze everything. I have a history of binge eating followed by restrictions. Not the healthiest, but really trying to work on stability going forward and hoping this works for me. I have to admit, I can't imagine losing weight while eating more than 1200 calories, but I keep seeing posts/benefits to upoing calories, so I'm giving it a try.

I'm 5'3 and 142 currently. My highest was 178 and I've been struggling the last 8 months with the last 15-20lbs for my goal weight. I've gotten to 131, panicked with the accomplishment, and been tetering between 135-145 since. Generally, its a week of healthy eating followed by a day or two binge to throw it away.

I go to a cardio boxing class 5 times a week and love it!! I used an HRM the first few weeks and estimate roughly 625 calories burned per hour class. I've always been athletic minded, so it really is the perfect workout for me. And, apparently I like hitting things.

So...I used a calculator to estimate what I should be eating based on a sedentary job (I sit in front of a computer), but added that I workout 5 times a week and burn 625 calories. I used 2 different sites so I could compare and make sure they were similar.

The results...

1400-1500 calories
145-155 carbs
110-115 protein
38-55 fat
28-35 fiber

Does this sound about right? It's not super restrictive, but scares me because I can't imagine losing weight eating so much.

Any help, advice, guidance would be appreciated!

Amber_hanson27 · February 2016

Yes ma'am you can still lose :-) I started out at 1200 calories and am back again but now eat most of my exercise calories back. It slowed things down a bit but still losing. And around my time of the month I think I'm starving so I eat at maintenance to avoiding binging and ruining it all. Trial and error. You may see a slight up on the scale from having some extra food contents in your belly. The last bit of weight is stubborn and you may have to cut even more so starting at 1200 doesn't leave you anything to cut from. Good luck to you :-)!!!

DizzyMissIzzy · February 2016

Yeah, that sounds about right. I eat around 1800-2000 calories (exercising 5-6 days a week) and I've been losing a pretty consistent 1.5-2lbs a week.

I am also 5'3 and I started at 150lbs and I'm currently 138lbs, trying to get down to 125lbs. I have a history of eating disorders, though more restrictive than binge eating, so I find counting macros really relieves the stress of eating (I feel really guilty when I eat, so knowing that I can eat this much and still lose weight the HEALTHY way is incredibly liberating to me).

Generally, from my research, you want to have .8-1g of protein per lb of body weight, 0.3-0.6g of fat per lb of body weight, and the rest of the calories of your total calories should come from carbs. You can figure out your total amount of calories by multiplying your body weight by either 11(sedentary), 12 (slightly active), 13 (moderately active) or 14 (extremely active). Working out 5 times a week, I would multiply by 13, which is much higher than 1500, but the macros look about right.

For me (previously mentioned 5'3 and 138lbs) my macros are as follows:
1,705 total calories
150g protein
175g carbs
45g fat

And then I eat back some of my exercise calories because I didn't for a while and I had absolutely no energy whatsoever.

Not quite the exact calculations I mentioned before, but I was given them when I first started, and as they are still working I had been advised to keep them until I see a plateau in progress and then I will lower them (shock the metabolism, etc).

DizzyMissIzzy · February 2016

Also, I must add, that the ideal amount of weight to lose per week is only 1-2lbs purely because it is POSSIBLE to lose weight much faster, but your body won't maintain that weight loss (it won't be fat loss, mostly water weight loss, etc) and for those trying to lose weight for the long run, slow and steady wins the race!

kommodevaran · February 2016

You have to find a way to eat/train that suits you. Calories first: 1400-1500 sounds right, if you use your food diary correctly (weigh everything and use the right entries) and eat back some of your exercise calories. Your fat goal is low and protein and fiber goals high, compared to how I like to eat, but this has to work for you. Try it out and pay attention to how you feel and perform. The most important thing is that the plan is your plan, that you can and do stick to it and don't go to extremes, exhaust yourself, binge and starve. If you follow a plan of 1400-1500 calories per day, you will lose weight.

Yi5hedr3 · February 2016

Carbs and protein could be lower, with more healthy fats. Maybe Lower carbs to 100, protein to 75, rest of calories as fats.

stefanie18810 · February 2016

Thanks for your great replies!! What does it mean to "eat back" calories? Is that going above the 1400-1500 on days I'm working out?

kommodevaran · February 2016

stefanie18810 wrote: »

Thanks for your great replies!! What does it mean to "eat back" calories? Is that going above the 1400-1500 on days I'm working out?

Yes, you add some of those calories that you burn through exercise, to the calories you eat. Just be aware that estimations for calories burned are usually inflated, but if you eat around 50% of what they tell you, you'll be on the safe side.

Of course, there are indefinite ways of eating and meal timing, some people save up calories for the weekends, or do some sort of intermittent fasting - but I think that for you, right now, it would be best to focus on getting in a structure of sameness from day to day, just with a little more food on workout days.

Newbie - Need help with calories/macros

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