Am I eating too few cals with a Primal / Paleo lifestyle?

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  • FK1983
    FK1983 Posts: 186 Member
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    would not his Maintance cal leve be what his body maintains on? who decides what number that is? who picks 2000.
    is that a magic everything number like 1200
    Exactly! the number of calories to maintain is completely different for everyone, mine may sound low but it works for me perfectly and that's all what matters!
  • FK1983
    FK1983 Posts: 186 Member
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    what i want to know is how you managed to lose 120 pounds with your terribly slow metabolism.


    (just for the record notice the dripping sarcasm, and note it is not at you but the other)_
    Must be magic! :laugh:
  • tjnahm
    tjnahm Posts: 73 Member
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    Exactly! the number of calories to maintain is completely different for everyone, mine may sound low but it works for me perfectly and that's all what matters!

    Exactly! I appreciate all the answers here from a myriad of beliefs and methods. Ultimately we all need to find what works for us and our own bodies. I am thankful I was able to find a great source of responses, most of which applied to what is working for my own body.

    Have a blessed day everyone and thanks for the great help!
  • tjnahm
    tjnahm Posts: 73 Member
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    @FK1983

    ROCK ON MAN! Losing 120lbs is amazing regardless of how you do it!! I am on pace to hit one of my big goals, lose 100lbs by Christmas, and unless anything changes between now and then I should actually hit it by Thanksgiving. Then on to my total goal of around 160lbs lost.

    Congrats again brother! That is an amazing accomplishment that took a great deal of work, dedication, and devotion.
  • FK1983
    FK1983 Posts: 186 Member
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    @FK1983

    ROCK ON MAN! Losing 120lbs is amazing regardless of how you do it!! I am on pace to hit one of my big goals, lose 100lbs by Christmas, and unless anything changes between now and then I should actually hit it by Thanksgiving. Then on to my total goal of around 160lbs lost.

    Congrats again brother! That is an amazing accomplishment that took a great deal of work, dedication, and devotion.
    Thank you for the kind words!
    Your doing fantastic too and is why I said don't change what your doing as its clearly working!
    If I would have listened to some of the "advice" I was given I would still be trying to lose my first 10lbs now, but doing my own thing (which works perfectly for me) i'm now 120lbs lighter and in the best shape I have ever been in!

    You have to be careful with advice on here sometimes (same with any website) only because there are so many mixed views and opinions on how to lose weight it can get difficult to know which to follow and which to ignore, you'll get used to it!
  • Drunkadelic
    Drunkadelic Posts: 948 Member
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    Congrats on your progress, but if you are only losing slow on 1400 cals your metabolism has already slowed down. What is going to happen once you go back on maintenance cals (probably 2000ish/day plus exercise calories)

    and the LMAO comment, since the glutes are mainly muscle, and you most likely lost a lot of muscle only eat 1200 cals/day, probably did end up losing your A, along with what could have been a fast metabolism if you ate at a smaller deficit and lost the weight slower.
    LOL, nice how you try and twist pretty much everything when someone questions you, I've noticed you doing this in many topics on this site.

    Rather than worrying about me and my "terribly slow metabolism" (lol) maybe you should concentrate more on the "advice" you throw around these forums, while some of is very informative and helpful a lot of it isn't.

    I'm gonna go ahead and give you a :love: as well :)
  • FK1983
    FK1983 Posts: 186 Member
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    I'm gonna go ahead and give you a :love: as well :)
    Oh! I feel honored! :blushing:
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,714 Member
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    Thanks for looking everyone! A few details to lay out first before the meat of the question... get it... MEAT! I crack myself up... haha :P

    I am 40 years old, former minor league athlete (hockey) that got himself fat after nine surgeries and moderate depression over the past ten years of "retirement" from sports. I am 6'2", currently 307.6 as of this morning, and have lost 81lbs since 22 June, 2011... a little over 15 weeks. I walk approximately 2 miles a day, strength train 2-3 times per week, sprint once a week, and do a CrossFit style high intensity workout 1-2 times a week.

    As mentioned in the subject, I eat a Primal / Paleo style diet and love it. No sugars, no grains at all, no processed food. I only eat beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts, and limited dairy. I eat a large breakfast, moderate lunch, and light dinner. Sometimes I will eat a fruit snack after dinner, but that is really only if I am hungry.

    I eat when I am hungry and I stop when I am full. I do not count calories or macro-nutrients on a daily basis, though I do typically average a week of tracking per month to see where I am in hindsight.

    I have been tracking this week and I am finding that I am hitting the following approximate numbers on average for the week:

    Calories: 1200
    Protein: 90gr = 35%
    Fat: 75gr = 55%
    Carbs: 45gr = 10%

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/tjnahm

    So the question... Even though I am eating when hungry and stopping when full. On the days I have a particularly strenuous workout (estimated 800-1000 cals burned), my net caloric intake for the day is sometimes near zero.

    So, am I eating enough? Or do I not worry about it right now as I am still obese and still losing weight at an average of 5.2lbs per week for the past 15 weeks?
    If you're basing it on caloric intake, for your size I think you're not eating enough.
  • AdAstra47
    AdAstra47 Posts: 823 Member
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    You have to be careful with advice on here sometimes (same with any website) only because there are so many mixed views and opinions on how to lose weight it can get difficult to know which to follow and which to ignore, you'll get used to it!

    Amen!
    I used to work for the Catholic church, and we had a saying: whenever the Pope says anything, he has to make it sound strict enough so that the Europeans will at least pretend to make an effort to obey, but he has to make it lenient enough that the Americans won't kill themselves trying to obey...

    I know, not everyone here is American, but the majority are, and Americans love rules. The FDA provides "guidelines," and "recommendations," but then people take those and insist that THEY MUST APPLY IN EXACTLY THAT FORM TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON. Which is patently ridiculous, if you think about it. Look at the diversity in the human genome, especially in the American population; and people with different ancestries will have metabolisms that work differently. There is no one-size-fits-all plan!

    Everyone means well. I think a lot of the arguing stems from a genuine desire to help people: "this is what works! It worked for me! I wish to share this wonderful revelation!" But people forget that what worked for them may not necessarily work for everyone else. I admit that I am sometimes guilty of this, too. But I get really annoyed with people telling me that my particular diet is unhealthy and/or unsustainable just because it's different from their diet, or from the "recommended guidelines."

    It just boils down to: find what works for you, and stick with it!
    Best of luck to you!
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
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    The whole point of eating the Paleo Lifestyle way is to learn to eat intuitively and listen to your body. This is where I differ from most of the opinions posted here.

    It is not about the QUANTITY of the calories / food you eat, but the QUALITY that is the most important.

    Naturally, you are eating a CLEAN, WHOLE FOODS Diet and your calories are not going to be near what someone else who is eating processed foods and experiences hunger more often than you do.

    Listen to your body. Eat when your hungry, don't eat when your not. Calorie Counting is for the birds.

    I get what you are saying here, but hunger is not a very good indication of your body's nutritional requirements, and the amount he is eating and exercising would not be enough for my 1 year old son, let alone a 300 lb man over 6 feet tall.

    Question. If he is several pounds a week, aren't those calories being burned also going to fuel him?

    That said, I am eating primal/paleo and, when I track, I'm coming in more around 1400/day. But that's because I drink a lot of tea with heavy cream. :happy:

    You could start taking shots of olive oil or coconut oil if you're really worried about not eating enough. It is hard to eat that much fat, though. It makes me feel full really fast. One morning I was testing a "fudge" recipe with a large amount of coconut oil in it and I ended eating about a tablespoon's worth. I couldn't even think about eating until about 6pm. I just had no desire.
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
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    I used to work for the Catholic church, and we had a saying: whenever the Pope says anything, he has to make it sound strict enough so that the Europeans will at least pretend to make an effort to obey, but he has to make it lenient enough that the Americans won't kill themselves trying to obey...
    That's hilarious! Not all Europeans, though. I lived in France for two years and had some British and German friends. We all had small panic attacks whenever the French people weren't "obeying the rules" (not jaywalking, standing in a proper line, etc.). We're a bit uptight sometimes....
  • PreshelledPistachio
    PreshelledPistachio Posts: 14
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    Congrats on your progress, but if you are only losing slow on 1400 cals your metabolism has already slowed down. What is going to happen once you go back on maintenance cals (probably 2000ish/day plus exercise calories)

    Where did he say it was coming off slowly? He said he didn't have much more to lose but he didn't say if that was happening fast or slow. Also why would he increase his calories to 2000 per day if he's not hungry enough to eat that much?
  • tjnahm
    tjnahm Posts: 73 Member
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    Just an update for the past 4 days of testing I performed on myself... haha

    I was pretty confident that I was very good with eating when hungry and stopping when full even though it was only 1200 calories for the day. "In the name of science" I decided that I would take a few days to try eating more to see how it affects my body... so I increased my caloric intake from 1200 per day to around 1800-2000 and maintained my workouts as normal... and I gained three pounds and felt bloated and lethargic over the weekend.

    Back to my normal eating habits for sure!

    Thanks again for all the support everyone! Have a blessed day!
  • Grokette
    Grokette Posts: 3,330 Member
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    Just an update for the past 4 days of testing I performed on myself... haha

    I was pretty confident that I was very good with eating when hungry and stopping when full even though it was only 1200 calories for the day. "In the name of science" I decided that I would take a few days to try eating more to see how it affects my body... so I increased my caloric intake from 1200 per day to around 1800-2000 and maintained my workouts as normal... and I gained three pounds and felt bloated and lethargic over the weekend.

    Back to my normal eating habits for sure!

    Thanks again for all the support everyone! Have a blessed day!

    Yes, isn't Intuitive Eating the greatest!!!! Listening to our bodies just like any other animal is the way to go.

    We humans are too analytical and hung up on "numbers".........
  • lockef
    lockef Posts: 466
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    Just an update for the past 4 days of testing I performed on myself... haha

    I was pretty confident that I was very good with eating when hungry and stopping when full even though it was only 1200 calories for the day. "In the name of science" I decided that I would take a few days to try eating more to see how it affects my body... so I increased my caloric intake from 1200 per day to around 1800-2000 and maintained my workouts as normal... and I gained three pounds and felt bloated and lethargic over the weekend.

    Back to my normal eating habits for sure!

    Thanks again for all the support everyone! Have a blessed day!

    Did you increase your calories from eating the same foods? I'm guessing no.

    It's highly unlikely that the 3 pounds you gained over 4 days was fat gain and more likely just your body retaining water from carbs (just guessing carbs because you say you felt bloated).

    In my opinion, I really think you are under estimating how much you eat, and over estimating your workout calories if you say some days you're netting 0 calories or anywhere close to it.

    but meh, if it's working for you.
  • TheBraveryLover
    TheBraveryLover Posts: 1,217 Member
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    I'd say you're losing a lot of muscle by netting so low. You might not care about sustaining muscle until you get closer to your goal, but you'd look a lot slimmer near your goal if you net more, than if you keep this up for your last 80 or so pounds.
  • TheBraveryLover
    TheBraveryLover Posts: 1,217 Member
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    Just an update for the past 4 days of testing I performed on myself... haha

    I was pretty confident that I was very good with eating when hungry and stopping when full even though it was only 1200 calories for the day. "In the name of science" I decided that I would take a few days to try eating more to see how it affects my body... so I increased my caloric intake from 1200 per day to around 1800-2000 and maintained my workouts as normal... and I gained three pounds and felt bloated and lethargic over the weekend.

    Back to my normal eating habits for sure!

    Thanks again for all the support everyone! Have a blessed day!

    The same thing happened to me when I went from 1200-1300 cals to 1600 and guess what? I gained 2 pounds, stayed the same for another week and then lost 5 pounds by that 3rd week. You have to give your body a chance to get used to something new. Whenever you change anything about your diet or exercise routine, you should allow it at least 3-4 weeks to really gauge if it's successful or not.

    But I understand your frustration. Trust me I do. If you ever do stop losing on the 0 net cals and decide to go up again, please take my advice and give it a few weeks before giving up on it. Good job with your success thus far.:flowerforyou:
  • tjnahm
    tjnahm Posts: 73 Member
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    Actually based on my body fat index, and strength training, I am gaining in lean muscle mass (not losing it at all). As for the poster referencing carbs, I eat a primal/paleo diet and I do not eat sugar, grains, or processed foods at all. I was increasing my food intake by eating more of the same foods that I have been eating (meat, chicken, eggs, fish, veggies, limited fruit nuts and dairy.

    Thanks everyone!
  • Drunkadelic
    Drunkadelic Posts: 948 Member
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    Just do what feels good to you! These people aren't nutritionists, and even if they were, you are already way past the "Standard" way of eating :)

    In all reality, the body is way to complex for anyone to completely understand. You are lucky that you found something that is working for you! And, it's easy since you just eat till you are satisfied :) Keep up the good work!

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